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

That, notwithstanding any provision of the Rules or previous order, for today’s sitting, five additional statements be added at the beginning of Senators’ Statements with regard to the recent attacks in Israel and the situation in the Middle East.

Hon. Patti LaBoucane-Benson (Legislative Deputy to the Government Representative in the Senate): Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government response to the tenth report of the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, entitled Strengthening Canada’s Autonomous Sanctions Architecture: Five-Year Legislative Review of the Sergei Magnitsky Law and the Special Economic Measures Act, tabled in the Senate on May 16, 2023.

Hon. Patti LaBoucane-Benson (Legislative Deputy to the Government Representative in the Senate): Honourable senators, pursuant to the order adopted December 7, 2021, I would like to inform the Senate that Question Period with the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, P.C., M.P., Minister of Public Services and Procurement, will take place on Wednesday, October 18, 2023, at 2:25 p.m.

[Translation]

Hon. Patti LaBoucane-Benson (Legislative Deputy to the Government Representative in the Senate): Just really quickly, Senator Tannas, if you’ll take another question. In the Standing Senate Committee on Indigenous Peoples, we’ve heard extensively of the infrastructure deficit on First Nations communities. I believe it was told to us that it would take 32 years for the government to fund the current infrastructure needs on First Nations. Also, First Nations don’t all have revenue streams, and because they don’t have revenue streams, they can’t borrow money and can’t build the infrastructure they need.

Can you help us understand how this money could alleviate some of the infrastructure issues on-reserve?