The Hon. the Speaker: Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, that the sitting be suspended to await the arrival of Her Excellency the Governor General of Canada?

Senator Gold: Thank you again for the question. Again, regretfully, I don’t know. I have no information about the state of the collaborations and consultations. Again, I will certainly look into the matter.

Senator Gold: The availability of properties, whether federally owned or otherwise, is only one element in the process which is sometimes complicated to bring a project to light. I can speak with some experience, having worked for 20 years, in part, in this space.

With regard to your question, again, the federal government is doing its part. More can be done by all levels of government. All levels of government should continue to work together to address this very important crisis and challenge for all Canadians.

The Hon. the Speaker: Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?

Senator Plett: In 2019, the Trudeau government ended the previous federal surplus property program and, instead, created its own Federal Lands Initiative. The website for the Federal Lands Initiative says it’s “. . . a $200-million fund that supports the transfer of surplus federal lands and buildings to eligible proponents” at discounted cost or even at no cost to be developed for use as affordable housing.

If you were to look at this website right now, Senator Gold, you would see that it says in big, bold letters, “There are currently no properties available.”

Leader, how is that possible? The CBC alone owns over $400 million worth of property. How can a $200-million fund not find even one federal property to be turned into housing?

Senator Gold: No, I’m afraid I cannot accept some of the premises, senator, of your question. First of all, the independent Office of Protocol, in response to my inquiry last week, responded, “The Chief of Protocol does not report to the Prime Minister’s Office.” It is simply incorrect to continue to insist that somehow the terribly unfortunate incident was the responsibility of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister apologized on behalf of Parliament to Canada, and my understanding is that communications have taken place and continue to take place with the Government of Ukraine, of which we are a proud and staunch supporter.

Senator Woo: Yes.

Hon. Patti LaBoucane-Benson (Legislative Deputy to the Government Representative in the Senate): Honourable senators, with leave of the Senate, I move:

That, if Her Excellency the Governor General comes to the Senate later today, photographers be allowed in the Senate Chamber to photograph proceedings while Her Excellency is in the Senate, with the least possible disruption to proceedings.

Senator Gold: The information I was given is that the Government of Canada expects the RCMP to take responsibility and meet its obligations under the Official Languages Act. That is what the government expects, and those are the RCMP’s obligations.

[English]

Senator Housakos: Senator Woo, I have two short questions. First, how could you profess that the government — that is, the elected Prime Minister who appoints in this parliamentary chamber and simultaneously appoints the government senators who will also serve in the opposition — could appoint government representatives and opposition representatives simultaneously?

Second, how could this chamber, despite being an appointed body — and there are few left in our modern parliamentary democracies — completely ignore the will of the democratic choice in the other house in choosing the government on one side of this chamber and the opposition on the other, as has been the tradition since 1867?

Senator Francis: Thank you, Senator Gold. I do not have to remind you or the relevant ministers that time is of the essence. Every single day, we are losing survivors, and they, along with their families and communities, deserve justice as soon as possible.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I have the honour to inform you that I have received the following communication from Government House, which reads as follows:

RIDEAU HALL

October 3, 2023

Madam Speaker:

I have the honour to inform you that Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary May Simon, Governor General of Canada, will proceed to the Senate Chamber today, the 3^rd day of October, 2023, at 2:10 p.m., for the purpose of receiving the newly elected Speaker of the House of Commons.

Yours sincerely,

Maia Welbourne

Acting Secretary to the Governor General

The Honourable

The Speaker of the Senate

Ottawa

[Translation]

Senator Woo: I would like to if colleagues agree to grant me more time.

Senator Gold: I could not agree with you more.

The Hon. the Speaker of the Senate answered:

Mr. Speaker, I am commanded by Her Excellency the Governor General to assure you that your words and actions will constantly receive from her the most favourable construction.

[English]

The House of Commons withdrew.

Her Excellency the Governor General was pleased to retire.

Their Speaker, the Honourable Greg Fergus, said:

May it Please Your Excellency,

The House of Commons has elected me their Speaker, though I am but little able to fulfil the important duties thus assigned to me. If, in the performance of those duties, I should at any time fall into error, I pray that the fault may be imputed to me, and not to the Commons, whose servant I am.

Their Speaker, the Honourable Greg Fergus, said:

May it Please Your Excellency,

The House of Commons has elected me their Speaker, though I am but little able to fulfil the important duties thus assigned to me. If, in the performance of those duties, I should at any time fall into error, I pray that the fault may be imputed to me, and not to the Commons, whose servant I am.

The Hon. the Speaker of the Senate answered:

Mr. Speaker, I am commanded by Her Excellency the Governor General to assure you that your words and actions will constantly receive from her the most favourable construction.

[English]

The House of Commons withdrew.

Her Excellency the Governor General was pleased to retire.

The Hon. the Speaker said:

Usher of the Black Rod,

You will proceed to the House of Commons and acquaint that house that it is the pleasure of Her Excellency the Governor General of Canada that they attend her immediately in the Senate chamber.

The House of Commons being come,

Hon. Judith G. Seidman: Honourable senators, imagine John, Jean or Jeanne, the personal aide who can do everything. Charged on our wireless systems once a week, this robot becomes our personal helper who can hold out a steadying arm as we rise from a chair, power up our driverless car, see us across the street on a green light, prepare and bring us our lunch and remind us of all those small things we might forget. Imagine a chat when we are feeling lonely. “Imagine” is the operative word.

Sunday, October 1, was National Seniors Day and coincided with the International Day of Older Persons. On Sunday, I reflected on the important opportunity we have to transform how seniors’ well-being is supported in the future.

Seniors want to age in their communities. A survey conducted by the Canadian Medical Association and the National Institute on Ageing in late 2020 found that 96% of Canadians want to age at home and live independently for as long as possible, and that they will do everything possible to avoid going into long-term care.

Senators, we can and must make this happen, but it demands policy thinking outside the box. We have to think in a transformative way. We must disrupt the stereotypes. We must focus on aging in place, aging in our communities and aging in our own homes with help from our friends, community services, travelling health teams, age-specific technology like robotics and other devices and aides. We have to be innovative and visionary. It is not just a hope but a necessity now.

Honourable senators, to mark National Seniors Day, I invite all of us to imagine a future in which seniors can age safely, happily and with agency, and to commit to the innovation — the transformation — that aging in place requires. Thank you.