Senator Gerba: Senator Gold, thank you for your response.

The Canada Emergency Business Account allowed small businesses to receive a loan that has to be repaid by January 18, 2024. The provincial and territorial premiers recently called for this deadline to be pushed back.

Does the government plan to grant their request?

Senator Arnot: I agree with that observation, Senator Forest, and I think this is the purpose of the inquiry. We need to have a new governance model and a new direct relationship between municipalities and the federal government.

Thank you for that question, and thank you for your support.

Senator Gold: It is harder for young Canadians to buy homes. That is certainly something I understand, having been in the real estate business in a previous life, and having children and grandchildren. That does not mean, however, that it is the exclusive responsibility of the federal government to deal with a national —

Senator Gold: I’m not exactly sure about the timeline for sending revisions and amendments of the bill back to Parliament. As soon as it is publicly announced, the Senate will be notified.

[English]

Senator Gold: I will certainly take your suggestion to the attention of the appropriate minister. I would not assume one way or the other that every violation for which someone was fined was necessarily inappropriate, but I will transmit your suggestion as quickly as I can.

[Translation]

Senator Bellemare: If there are any questions, I’m ready to answer them.

Senator Gold: Thank you. I will certainly be happy to raise this with the government.

To be clear, there is every expectation that we will be able to deal with this issue on Thursday, which is a sitting day when we can devote fulsome debate to the message from the other place. I fully hope that we can dispose of it before we rise on Thursday. Friday is also a day on which, if we have to, we can sit as well to ensure that we respect the deadline.

[Translation]

Senator Arnot: Yes.

Senator Dean: Thank you, Senator Deacon. I have seen organizations with exceedingly heavy regulatory and rule-bound systems, and it is remarkable how those can dissolve — maybe temporarily — when a prime minister or a premier and a head of public service task public servants with getting to an end goal quickly. Those barriers can be removed. I wouldn’t want to create the impression that we need to go through a long period of changing the myriad rules in public service organizations to get to the goal quickly.

Those things should be done, but my advice would be to not get tangled up with that. Let’s clearly identify objectives, put political weight behind them, put public service leadership behind them and get the right people in the right jobs from the right places who have done this before and demonstrated success, and we will move the yardsticks.

(On motion of Senator Martin, debate adjourned.)

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the inquiry of the Honourable Senator Simons, calling the attention of the Senate to the challenges and opportunities that Canadian municipalities face, and to the importance of understanding and redefining the relationships between Canada’s municipalities and the federal government.

Senator Gold: I thank Senator Dalphond for that clarification and for his support for this motion.

[English]

Honourable senators, I rise briefly to speak to the motion in response to the message from the other place concerning the reappointment of the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying.

The objective of reconstituting the committee and the need for adopting this motion in a timely fashion is to fulfill the terms of Recommendation 13 of its second report, which states:

That, five months prior to the coming into force of eligibility for MAID where a mental disorder is the sole underlying medical condition, a Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying be re-established by the House of Commons and the Senate in order to verify the degree of preparedness attained for a safe and adequate application of MAID (in MD-SUMC situations). Following this assessment, the Special Joint Committee will make its final recommendation to the House of Commons and the Senate.

In short, the motion that I have moved in response would simply revive the joint committee under the terms that have prevailed for the duration of this Parliament, an approach that enjoys the support of the Senate’s leadership. I would also note that the message we received from the other place was adopted unanimously.

The committee requires continuity, honourable senators, and the subject matter, as we all know, is a highly sensitive one.

The issue under discussion is a narrow one, that of mental illness as the sole medical condition when requesting an assessment for medical assistance in dying. As we know, colleagues, the implementation of this specific provision was delayed for one year, until March 2024.

I mention the time frame specifically because it is imperative that the committee begin convening as soon as possible. The reporting date for the committee, as I mentioned in reading the motion, is January 31, 2024.

If the chamber, in its wisdom, adopted this motion today, the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying could begin meeting as expeditiously as possible. Therefore, I would urge you to support this motion so that the joint committee can begin undertaking its important and serious work. Thank you, colleagues.

Senator McCallum: Were any of these lands included in land claims?

Senator Sorensen: Thank you. My apologies, but I can’t answer that question right now. I will take that for the briefing I’m expecting.

(On motion of Senator Martin, debate adjourned.)

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Gold, P.C., seconded by the Honourable Senator LaBoucane-Benson:

That, for the remainder of the current session and notwithstanding any provision of the Rules, when the Senate sits on a Thursday, it stand adjourned at the later of 6 p.m. or the end of Government Business, as if that time were, for all purposes, the ordinary time of adjournment provided for in rule 3-4.

Senator Housakos: The only people exercising rhetoric are in your government. Senator Gold, your own Minister of Housing has recognized that this government and Canadians need to lower their expectations. It doesn’t take a genius to realize this — just go out there and speak to young Canadians who can’t rent an apartment, let alone buy a house.

Right now, young Canadians, first-time buyers, need to amortize their mortgage for 200 years to pay for a house in this country. Don’t lecture me about business principles in this country because you know damn well, from speaking to young Canadians, that they have never had it harder than today when it comes to buying a home.

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear!

The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Carolyn Winter. She is the guest of the Honourable Senator Dean.

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

Senator Gold: I will add that to my inquiries.

Senator Miville-Dechêne: Senator Gold, as Nicholas Kristof wrote in the New York Times, states cannot give the impression that there is a hierarchy of human life.

This is a philosophical question, but do you believe that is a risk? If you called for a truce, could balance be restored, diplomatically speaking?

Senator Gold: Thank you for your question. I commend you for elaborating on the marketing phrase that has been rather current lately.

It is not appropriate in this chamber or anywhere else to use the tragic circumstances of the Middle East as a wedge political issue. This government stands on its record of support for Israel, support for the Palestinian people and support for a just solution.

Senator Plett: It would be nice to see where the Prime Minister stands. He’s silent.

Leader, last week you accused me of being too partisan. In fact, internal divisions within the Liberal Party are dictating what the Prime Minister says regarding Israel and Hamas, and what he doesn’t say. After eight long years, Prime Minister Trudeau still has no moral compass and provides no serious leadership, not even to his own caucus. He’s not worth the cost to our country’s principal, is he, leader? Don’t Canadians deserve better?

Senator Gold: There is no risk of repeating myself when the same question is posed to me on so many different occasions. The price on pollution is an integral part of a suite of measures that Canada is pursuing to guide us forward, as is the support that the government is providing farmers and all others who are bearing the cost, as some are indeed, of this measure.

[Translation]