Senator Gold: I do not have the information that you have requested.

I will repeat: The government, upon learning of this, took the appropriate remedial action, and expects all of the organizations funded by the government to comply with the appropriate and strict standards.

Senator Gold: Thank you. The government is committed to guaranteeing Canadians access to justice in the official language of their choice. When the Final Report of the French Constitutional Drafting Committee was published in 2022, it set out a draft official French version of certain constitution enactments. We are not talking about a final French version, but about a one-stop resource where lawyers and legal experts can find and refer to constitutional documents in French. I have been assured that the Minister of Justice is fully committed to our official languages —

Senator Gold: Thank you for raising this concern. I will follow up on your question with the Minister of Immigration. The Privacy Act prevents me from discussing the details of this specific case. However, as promised, I will follow up on this.

[English]

Senator Gold: Thank you for the question. A responsible government has an obligation to do many things at once, to balance our commitments to our allies and to democracy, which is at risk in Ukraine and elsewhere, while ensuring that we, here in Canada, have the resources to protect ourselves. That is what the government is trying to do with these two announcements.

[English]

Senator Gold: Thank you. They have not given up. As the polls suggest, Canadians expect the tech giants to pay their fair share and to support news and information sharing in Canada on their platforms. Meta’s decisions are unfortunate, reckless and irresponsible, particularly affecting Canadians who will have come to rely upon their news through those platforms. I’m assured the government remains open to discussions and has sought to work collaboratively with Meta during this period.

[Translation]

Senator Gold: The cost of the passports was not exclusively a function of the design. Security measures necessary to protect Canadians were an important part. Once again, this government took the steps that it thought appropriate to reflect Canada as it has become and is becoming and to provide secure passports for Canadians’ protection abroad.

Senator Gold: No, I completely disagree with that, and I don’t want to get into a discussion about hypocrisy. The government has invested a lot more in National Defence than previous governments, and we will continue to ensure that our Armed Forces are properly equipped and supported by this government.

[English]

Senator Gold: I don’t have that information, senator, but I think that the chamber should understand that the agencies that do the work on behalf of Canadians need to be properly supported and need to do their work as we expect them to do and, as I know, to the best of their ability.

Senator Gold: Thank you for the question. I’m not in a position to know, frankly, what data is being collected, much less analyzed. It is still relatively new, but I can assure this chamber that all lessons from this program will be applied to future ones, and that information — I am sure — about the details of the rollout will be communicated well in advance of its implementation.

[Translation]

Senator Gold: Well, I certainly won’t comment on what mess Pierre Poilievre will clean up, create or otherwise if and when he becomes prime minister.

Again, Bill C-11 was the subject of rigorous study and debate in this chamber. We did our job well. We studied it. We improved it with our amendments. The other house considered them, and the bill was passed into law. There are now further processes under way, and I have confidence in them.

[Translation]

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Honourable senators, as soon as the government learned of the alleged wrongdoing, it engaged a third party expert to conduct a review. The government has received the report. The government takes these findings seriously; that’s why it’s taking immediate, corrective action, including implementing the action plan by December.

As this process continues, the government will monitor the situation. It expects all organizations funded by the government to adhere to the highest standards.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. As has been reported publicly, the Minister of Canadian Heritage has met with Google and Facebook, among other stakeholders, since she became minister. This continues ongoing discussions between the government and tech giants, news organizations, experts and Canadians throughout the initial consultations and the parliamentary process and then leading into the regulatory process that has not yet been finalized. I’m advised this dialogue has been under way throughout.

Colleagues, I also understand that Google has stated in the media that they have submitted comments as part of this regulatory process, and the government looks forward to reviewing the submissions made while working collaboratively with the tech platforms, news organizations and Canadians before finalizing the regulations.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Canadians were not lied to by the government or the CRTC. My understanding is that this is the first stage within the regulatory process, and the criteria that will ultimately develop, as I understand it, will include — as colleagues would recall from our debates — the extent or degree to which initiatives on platforms can be considered properly broadcasters, and that also includes the extent of their reach and of their revenues. Therefore, it is simply not correct to attribute this stage of the regulatory process as a lie.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question.

First of all, Canada’s support for Ukraine is necessary to fight Russia’s invasion of Ukrainian territory. The battle is being fought not only for Ukrainians and their territory, but also for democracy and a society founded on the rule of law.

Second, the government needs to save money, and the National Defence budget is not excluded. In the current economy, however, this will be done carefully and responsibly.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you very much for your question. Every Canadian deserves to have access to good oral health care. Yet the government knows — and Canadians know — that approximately one third of Canadians cannot visit an oral health care professional because they don’t have dental insurance.

I’m advised that the first phase of the government’s plan, the interim Canada Dental Benefit, has already helped over 366,000 children under the age of 12 get the dental care they need.

To answer your question, I am further advised that the Canadian Dental Care Plan is expected to begin rolling out by the end of this year, and by 2025, the Canadian Dental Care Plan will be fully implemented to cover all uninsured Canadians with an annual family income under $90,000. This government remains committed to ensuring that Canadians can get access to quality dental care, which is important, colleagues, as we know, not only for oral health but for overall health. Thank you.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question and thank you for highlighting the importance of ensuring that our Armed Forces continue to have the resources we need to be protected.

That being said, as I’ve explained on a number of occasions, there are certain choices that a responsible government must make in the current economic situation. This applies not only to National Defence, but also to every aspect of the government’s budget, which is now being examined so that we can find the savings needed to remain prudent and responsible. Once again, as I’ve said in this chamber, the government will take a prudent and responsible approach.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. Canadians should be satisfied that there is in place, through legislation that we enacted some years ago, nationwide consumer protection provisions that affect the banking system and which were made more robust through legislation that this government introduced and this chamber passed.

With regard to your particular question, senator, I will certainly bring that to the attention of the relevant minister. I really don’t have further information about those incidents at this juncture.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you. I want to reassure this chamber regarding the matter raised yesterday concerning the RCMP. The Minister of Public Safety will be discussing it directly with the Commissioner of the RCMP. Although I don’t have the timelines you’re asking for regarding the regulations, I have been assured that the government is approaching this exercise with the seriousness it deserves and has been doing so since the bill received Royal Assent.

I want to specifically point out that the government is working with the Commissioner’s office to ensure that it has the resources needed to do its work. The government is also committed to adopting the regulations on Part VII of the Official Languages Act and to consulting Canadians to define what constitutes a strong francophone presence, in order to give concrete expression to the right to work and to be served in French. The government expects the RCMP to live up to this principle and to fill bilingual positions with bilingual staff.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. I don’t believe you were implying that consulting Canadians through surveys on an ongoing basis was somehow not a worthwhile exercise or that the voices of individual Canadians should not count.

As I mentioned in this chamber, when passports are redesigned every 10 years or so, the images are changed. The governments of the day make their choices. It is simply not the case that the passport images — with which we have become familiar over the last 10 years and which many of us hold dear — necessarily reflected the full diversity of our history, and certainly not a history or an image of Canada in which increasing numbers of Canadians could see themselves. The decision to change those images was made in the light of the changes in our country and after consultation with Canadians.