The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Peter Ittinuar, who was the first Inuk to be elected as a Member of Parliament. He is the guest of the Honourable Senator Patterson (Nunavut).

On behalf of all honourable senators, I welcome you to the Senate of Canada.

Hon. Marty Klyne: Honourable senators, I rise to speak about an important project in my province of Saskatchewan.

On September 20, the Government of Saskatchewan announced they are committing up to $200 million towards Saskatchewan Polytechnic’s new centralized campus at Innovation Place in Saskatoon. I was delighted to see this announcement; an investment in post-secondary infrastructure is an investment in the future of our students and our country.

Saskatchewan Polytechnic President and CEO Larry Rosia said:

A new Saskatchewan Polytechnic campus in Saskatoon is a once-in-a generation opportunity to create a 21st century, modern learning environment that supplies the expert workforce for existing and emerging industries. . . .

That includes net-zero opportunities. Mr. Rosia added that:

It will increase program capacity and create a skilled talent pipeline to help grow the economy and increase our competitiveness in attracting investment to Saskatchewan and Canada.

Honourable senators, polytechnic schools are vital to Canada’s success. They help make our country more innovative, train workers for our growing economy and provide Canadians with the skills necessary to succeed in a changing economy.

Currently, 1 out of every 19 jobs in Saskatchewan is supported by the activities of Saskatchewan Polytechnic and its students, contributing approximately $2.6 billion in income to the provincial economy.

The Saskatchewan Polytechnic project, also known as Sask Polytech, will unlock significant economic and social benefits, including those for many Indigenous students and their communities. This is a key strategic infrastructure project that generates the skilled workforce needed for reaching net zero, building housing, maintaining our health care system and furthering economic reconciliation.

The new Sask Polytech campus will attract more students and more investment to Saskatchewan and foster greater research opportunities. It will help prepare job-ready graduates who can support vital public services and contribute to our strong and growing economy.

Sask Polytech’s overall graduate employment rate stands at 95%, with 91% of graduates remaining in the province. The new campus will support and strengthen the innovation corridor in Saskatchewan that brings together businesses, entrepreneurs, students and other learning institutions to create a centre of excellence in applied learning and research.

Honourable senators, I congratulate Sask Polytechnic on all of their success and the hard work that they’ve done to date to move this project forward. I extend that congratulations to the Government of Saskatchewan as well. I trust other stakeholders will rally behind this and share in the imminent success. Thank you, hiy kitatamihin.

Hon. Marty Deacon: Honourable senators, I received notice of a statement vacancy just a few moments ago, so this might be a shorter statement than you are accustomed to from me, and I am so sorry to disappoint you in that regard. You are going to be okay, but sometimes opportunities come to us in our busy schedules, and we just need to make room for them. I would like to make all of you aware of an opportunity to which each of you will be invited early next week.

Right across the bridge, at the Canadian Museum of History, for the first time ever, a very special event is taking place on October 19 from 10:00 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. It is the sixty‑seventh annual Order of Sport Awards. It is a spectacular facility, a place where all of Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame archives will now be digitally housed. This is Canada’s premier collection of sport. It will spotlight the values, the positive impacts and the role that sport plays throughout our country. Many have highlighted the importance of sport and activity in the Senate.

On October 19, in person, we can celebrate this Class of 2023, which will consist of five athletes, two builders of sport and some exceptional Canadians who represent women, Indigenous athletes, para-athletes and Olympians. These recipients are Danielle Peers, athlete in wheelchair basketball; Georges St‑Pierre for mixed martial arts; Hiroshi Nakamura, a very colourful builder of judo; Oren Lyons, a builder in lacrosse; Phyllis Bomberry for softball; Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir — you may have heard of them once or twice — and the “Ferbey Four,” team athletes in curling.

Finally, colleagues, in addition to attending this new museum location that will house these digital archives, to being witness to incredible and diverse inductees, this Order of Sport Awards presentation will be co-hosted by none other than the Honourable Chantal Petitclerc, alongside Scott Russell from CBC Sports.

Senators, watch for the invite, and please join us to celebrate the achievements and the impact of outstanding Canadians. I encourage you all to find time in your schedules to join us at this great event. Thank you.

Hon. Dennis Glen Patterson: Honourable senators, unusakut. In a week where we celebrate the first Black Speaker of the House of Commons and first Indigenous premier of a Canadian province, I rise to note another historic first: the election of Peter Freuchen Ittinuar, the first Inuk Member of Parliament and the first MP to speak Inuktitut in the House of Commons — yet another historic first which happened in October 1979. Peter was elected in 1979 to represent the then-constituency of Nunatsiaq until 1984.

Peter was born in the small Hudson Bay community of Chesterfield Inlet. He is the grandson of the renowned Danish Arctic explorer Peter Freuchen, who lived for many years in Thule, Greenland.

I vividly remember travelling to Nuuk, Greenland, with Mr. Ittinuar and an official delegation from the Northwest Territories in 1981. Mr. Ittinuar was warmly welcomed there as the returning prodigal son.

Peter’s early life was not without turmoil. He was wrenched, as a young boy, from his family to be educated in Ottawa with two childhood friends, Zebedee Nungak and Eric Tagoona, who also became important advocates for the rights of the Inuit. Unbeknownst to them, they’d all been relocated to Ottawa by federal authorities as an experiment in cultural assimilation — a story told in the compelling documentary The Experimental Eskimos.

Peter Ittinuar was elected as a New Democratic Party MP, and, yes, I was one of three members of his campaign committee and his official agent. He became disillusioned with the party’s lack of support for our vision for the creation of Nunavut, so in November of 1982, he crossed the floor to sit with Pierre Trudeau’s Liberals. A plebiscite earlier that year had resulted in a majority of residents supporting division of the N.W.T. It was in that same month of November 1982 that Minister John Munro announced federal support for the creation of Nunavut with conditions, which included the parallel settling of the Nunavut land claim.

Mr. Ittinuar’s crossing of the floor was not popular in some quarters, but that crossing and the concessions he extracted from the government of the Right Honourable Pierre Trudeau was a pivotal moment in the long journey to the creation of Nunavut.

Thank you for your service, Peter Ittinuar.

Qujannamiik. Taima.

Hon. Julie Miville-Dechêne: Honourable senators, today, October 5, is the International Day of No Prostitution, which is observed by people around the world who believe that, in most cases, sex workers are victims of sexual exploitation.

On September 18, the Ontario Superior Court tacitly supported this view by upholding the constitutionality of the federal law on prostitution, which criminalizes clients but not sex workers. In its ruling, the court stated that the federal law is, and I quote:

 . . . a carefully crafted legislative scheme that prohibits the most exploitive aspects of the sex trade while immunizing sex workers from prosecution.

The judge went on to say, and I quote:

Even where a sex worker has entered the sex trade by choice, there is a significant possibility that she has become subject to the control of an exploiter or a trafficker.

I know that this ruling won’t put an end to the debate between advocates of decriminalization, who believe that prostitution is a job like any other, and those who believe that, on the contrary, we can reduce demand and thus the exploitation of women by criminalizing clients.

Moving beyond this ideological dispute, the voices of survivors are those we hear the least. I want to pay tribute to one of them here, a woman named Tricia Murray, who shared her harrowing tale with MPs today at noon on the Hill at the invitation of the Coalition for Women’s Equality, which includes the Concertation des luttes contre l’exploitation sexuelle and the London Abused Women’s Centre. Ms. Murray describes the hell she endured as follows, and I quote:

I still remember, as if it were yesterday, that long night in February 2020 when I thought I was going to die at the hands of my abuser, after multiple assaults. At the time, dying would have been a relief. Still, the fear of dying alone in a condo leaves deep marks.

I averaged 10 clients a day for several months. That works out to hundreds of abusive customers who took advantage of a young woman’s vulnerability. Men with power, fathers, married men, some on vacation and some in town for work.

They were paying me, so these abusers did whatever they wanted with me. They felt they had the right.

My mind and my body remember them all. I’m scarred for life by all the violence I experienced during these long nights that went on for many long months.

I was exploited right here, not far away, in hotels and Airbnbs in Gatineau and Ottawa, just a few blocks away from this Parliament where I’m speaking today. We all have a role to play in ensuring that no one has to relive the atrocities I experienced.

Tricia Murray got out. Generous women supported her. She turned her life around. Her pimp was convicted. She even ran in an election. I truly admire you, Ms. Murray.

Thank you.

[English]

Hon. Patti LaBoucane-Benson (Legislative Deputy to the Government Representative in the Senate): Honourable senators, I give notice that, at the next sitting of the Senate, I will move:

That, for the purposes of its consideration of Bill C-21, An Act to amend certain Acts and to make certain consequential amendments (firearms), the Standing Senate Committee on National Security, Defence and Veterans Affairs have the power to meet, even though the Senate may then be sitting or adjourned, and that rules 12-18(1) and 12-18(2) be suspended in relation thereto.

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Senator Gold, although Canadians have much to be grateful for, this Thanksgiving, there are too many people in our country struggling to survive. We should never forget that.

On Tuesday, a food bank in Montreal said they’re unable to keep up with demand. For the first time in 37 years, they have had to turn people away. Their executive director calls this a disaster, Senator Gold, saying:

We see more people who have jobs, we see more students who can’t make ends meet, families, everyone is knocking on our door.

The Prime Minister is a Montreal member of Parliament, Senator Gold. It’s hard for him to relate to suffering in his own backyard when his Easter vacation cost taxpayers $230,000. Isn’t that right, leader?

Hon. Leo Housakos: My question is for the government leader in the Senate.

Senator Gold, yesterday we learned that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is investigating the outsourcing of a Canada Border Services Agency contract involving the same companies at the centre of the $54 million ArriveCAN boondoggle. This is the same boondoggle that saw Canadians, who were exercising their right to return home, slapped with fines as high as $8,500. Then they were threatened with more fines if they were caught breaking the quarantine — as high as $750,000.

It was bad enough when we thought these fees were being levied to pay for your government’s complete failure in awarding this outrageous contract in the first place, but now it’s looking less like a failure and more like a deliberate get-rich-quick scheme for those with connections to the Trudeau government.

Senator Gold, what assurances can you give me and Canadians that Canadians weren’t unlawfully detained just so your government’s friends could line their pockets with taxpayers’ cash?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. The problems of food insecurity facing Canadians are very serious, and that’s why the government has put in place many measures in order to address this, such as an initial commitment from Canada’s five top grocers to take concrete action to stabilize prices. The government is taking measures to strengthen the Office of Consumer Affairs. The government is also calling on all grocers to adopt a grocery code of conduct to improve transparency in the industry, and it will also improve the availability and accessibility of data on food prices and a cost breakdown throughout the food chain.

Indeed, as I think I’ve mentioned before and I will mention again, we will be studying Bill C-56 in due course, where important improvements to the competition law are being introduced. All of these measures will be important steps towards helping Canadians deal with this crisis.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of officials from the Lao People’s Democratic Republic Department of Intellectual Property. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Housakos.

On behalf of all honourable senators, I welcome you to the Senate of Canada.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you, senator, for raising this question.

I’m advised that the ongoing consultations that the government is and continues to do build upon the government’s work over the past several years. This work included — and continues to include — collaboration with the provinces and territories, as well as extensive, high-quality engagement with organizations and persons with disabilities from a wide variety of backgrounds and circumstances.

In the spirit of Nothing Without Us, the government is committed to meaningful engagement that allows all offices to be heard.

So, with regard to your question, I will raise that particular concern with the minister and am sure it will be well received.

Hon. Tony Loffreda: My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.

Senator Gold, as you know, last spring, Parliament adopted Bill C-47, a budget implementation act. As you might recall, our National Finance Committee made an observation at the time about Division 22 of Part 4, which dealt with the temporary extension of rail interswitching in the Prairie provinces. I continue to believe that this pilot project is a good idea, but we know that the Railway Association of Canada and its members continue to advocate for this measure to be repealed. They argue that this policy incentivizes congestion, not competition.

As I understand it, the pilot project has already started. Can you confirm that the interswitching extension has, indeed, already begun, and can you provide us with an update on how many times the option was used by shippers?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question, senator, and thank you for continuing to raise this issue, having sponsored Bill C-47 — which you did in exemplary fashion.

I understand the pilot project was based upon the report of the Supply Chain Task Force from late 2022 that was aimed at supporting shippers in the Prairie provinces. My understanding is also that the pilot was expected to begin in September 2023, but I don’t have more details on it at this juncture. When the results of the pilot project are known, I’m sure that the results will inform the next steps taken nationally.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you, Senator Tannas, for the question and for the very interesting suggestion.

I will certainly discuss it, not only with my team but with other leaders — you, of course, being one of them. We will see where we land on that. Thank you for that. I appreciate it.

Hon. Marty Klyne: Senator Gold, the 2023 federal budget allocated $80 billion to support clean electricity and green infrastructure to help achieve a net-zero electricity grid by 2035 and net-zero emissions by 2050. However, while 80% of Canada’s population is served by clean hydro power, Saskatchewan has no access to large-scale hydro power to support intermittent renewables like wind and solar. Three coal plants and two natural gas power stations provide 80% of Saskatchewan’s electricity. Of the 10 natural gas power plants in Saskatchewan, half are less than 15 years old and the newest one cost $605 million to build in 2019.

Saskatchewan faces a dilemma through our lack of hydro power and the risk of stranding billions in power-generation assets. Senator Gold, how will the federal government address our province’s unique challenge in considering an equitable path to net zero for all Canadians?

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

Every province has unique challenges, as we all know, in terms of contributing to our transition to a cleaner economy. Thank you for underlining the commitment the federal government has made — $80 billion — to support this.

What the Government of Canada has been and will continue doing is work with its partners — the provinces. It is not the intention of this government to unilaterally assume it knows best, whether for the government or people of Saskatchewan or those of any other province.

The Government of Canada looks forward to working collaboratively with the Province of Saskatchewan and the sectors within the province who have the expertise close to the ground in order to deliver on the promise, premise and importance of cleaner, more sustainable energy for the people of Saskatchewan.

Hon. Scott Tannas: My question is for Senator Gold.

The annual report on the Statutes Repeal Act was tabled in this chamber earlier this year. It lists sections in 21 different laws passed by Parliament that the government has not yet brought into effect.

The government typically waits until the last sitting weeks in December to move a motion to defer the repeal of these uncommenced laws for another year, and we’ve developed a bit of a bad habit in this chamber of just agreeing to it and waving it through.

Senator Gold, would you consider bringing such a motion earlier this time, to allow it to be referred to a committee where senators can get some more information from officials about why these sections — some of which have been on the books for three decades — have not yet been brought into effect?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): The assurance I can give you, Senator Housakos, is that all measures the government has in place were designed to protect Canadians, to facilitate entry into Canada and provide security for both those who enter and those who receive them. It is inappropriate and unseemly to allege or insinuate that this was about lining pockets. This was about protecting Canadians and doing the responsible thing in times of great crisis.

Hon. Ratna Omidvar: My question is for Senator Gold. I wish to follow up on the question from a few days ago from Senator Cotter on the implementation of Bill C-22.

When we studied the bill at the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology, we took the promise of then-Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, Carla Qualtrough, for the co-creation of regulations as a promise that would be fulfilled. More disturbingly, the disabled community is telling us that — instead of a co-creation model — they are seeing standard round tables and online surveys, which are in no way “inclusionary” in the way they understood it.

Will the government change course and create a truly collaborative co-creation process for the implementation of Bill C-22?

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

Canada is concerned about the treatment of people who identify as 2SLGBTQI+ and who are fleeing violence in their country or living in unacceptable conditions. That is why the Government of Canada is working closely with organizations such as Rainbow Refugee, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and other organizations to help sponsor 2SLGBTQI+ refugees from abroad.

I’m told that Canada supports at least 55 service providers that help refugees feel at home in Canada. Canada will continue to ensure that 2SLGBTQI+ refugees are safe and supported.