Senator Poirier: Thank you. I appreciate it.

Senator Gold, your government also introduced Bill S-14 on October 19. That was a few days before the $30-million announcement from Minister Guilbeault. The timing is interesting, as both announcements on a related issue were made at the same time. As government leader, could you shed light on this? Is the announcement of October 24 related in any way to the measures contained in Bill S-14?

Senator Plett: How many people would be able to get away from the food banks if we hadn’t spent $670,000 on KPMG, $54 million on the “ArriveScam” app, $100 million on Liberal insiders at McKinsey, $256 million to Beijing’s Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and $35 billion for the failed Canada Infrastructure Bank, leader? It’s not worth the cost. How can the Trudeau government justify this waste with a record number of Canadians going hungry?

Senator Gold: The government continues to act in a prudent and responsible way. Listing all of these matters does not change the fact that the government remains committed to helping Canadians, whether it’s through the rising costs of food with the various measures I have outlined on numerous occasions in this chamber.

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Audette, seconded by the Honourable Senator LaBoucane-Benson, for the third reading of Bill C-29, An Act to provide for the establishment of a national council for reconciliation, as amended.

Senator LaBoucane-Benson: Yes, I do agree with you. That is my understanding.

Some Hon. Senators: Hear, hear.

Hon. Rose-May Poirier: Honourable senators, I rise today to pay tribute to Georges R. LeBlanc, an Acadian veteran who passed away in Moncton on October 15 at the age of 100, surrounded by his family.

Born in Memramcook on January 6, 1923, Mr. Leblanc was a veteran of the Second World War and a highly respected member of his community. He fought in the Canadian army in Eastern Europe in 1945 with the Régiment de la Chaudière.

Last January, he was honoured by the Memramcook Golden Age Club for becoming a centenarian. He was one of the two remaining Acadian World War II veterans from Memramcook.

I want to extend my sincere condolences to Mr. Leblanc’s family and friends.

These days, it is becoming increasing important to honour the veterans who are still with us, along with the memory of those who have died. I had the honour to pay tribute to four Acadian veterans from my region when they were awarded the Senate 150th Anniversary Medal in 2017 and the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal last February. All four of them were very active and engaged in their community, and I commend them for that.

They were Léonard Boucher of Bouctouche, a veteran with the Pictou Highlanders, Paul Maillet of Coal Branch, who made a valuable contribution as a volunteer with the Harcourt Legion, Léonard Pitre of Rogersville, who has been active in his community with the air cadets and the legion, and Edmond Daigle of Richibucto. The most senior member of the Richibucto Legion is still actively involved in his community. Mr. Daigle will be celebrating his 98th birthday on November 13, and I want to wish him a wonderful birthday.

I would also like to thank all the brave women and men who protect our freedom and safety in these times of turmoil. This Remembrance Day, we need to pause for a moment to acknowledge all those who have made sacrifices to give us peace and freedom.

Honourable senators, we must keep honouring them every year on Remembrance Day so that their sacrifice and memory live on. Please join me in commemorating all those who served to protect our freedom and in thanking them for their sacrifice. Lest we forget.

Thank you.

[English]

Senator Plett: The Prime Minister is not worth the cost. He has no common sense. He thinks he can outsource leadership. One thing he’s good at, though, is taking care of his friends. In 2016, Liberal MPs voted to shut down a committee study into a tax-evasion scheme involving KPMG. At around the same time, a KPMG executive was named Treasurer for the Liberal Party. What a coincidence. Leader, why is it always Liberal insiders who get ahead under this government, while Canadians struggle to get by?

Senator Marshall: — with the Phoenix system.

Can you assure us that the government has control over this program and that it will be successfully implemented?

Senator Gold: Thank you for raising the subject.

The report of the Auditor General is important. It shines light on a problem that, as I said, has been neglected by governments. This is not to blame previous governments; many governments going back far too long have neglected it.

The government is seized with the issue and will do everything it can to address this.

Senator Loffreda: Thank you for that, Senator Gold.

We clearly need to accelerate the pace to ensure we meet our targets. I know the Treasury Board has been mandated to develop policy guidance and ensure that departments have the tools they need to implement the directive. What are these tools that the government is using to encourage and connect with Indigenous businesses so they are aware of procurement opportunities? What criteria are used to determine what constitutes an Indigenous-led business?

Senator Gold: Briefly, the central program is the Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program, which provides access to capital and other support.

With regard to the criteria, I’m informed that for the purposes of the target, an “Indigenous business” is defined as “Elders, band and tribal councils; businesses registered in the Government of Canada’s Indigenous Business Directory . . .” and “. . . businesses on a beneficiary business list.”

[Translation]

Senator Gold: Thank you. I wish I had the solutions. One thing is clear: Canadians have to understand, as governments do at all levels — federal, provincial and municipal — that we are in the stage of having to mitigate the impact.

Climate change is upon us; the impact is clear. Whatever we do in the future to address climate change has to include mitigating the current and foreseeable impacts of it.

Senator Gold: Yes, I undertake to do that. I see the minister on a weekly basis, and I’ll make a point to bring that to his attention.

Senator Gold: The reliance in the North, as you know better than I, senator, whether on diesel or home oil, is a fact that has to be taken into account in all adaptations of government programs. There are talented people in Canada and the North exploring alternatives, and I’m sure the government will work in partnership with them and the Government of Nunavut to the benefit of the residents in Nunavut.

Senator Housakos: What else is new? This former director general also testified that when he left the CBSA, the price tag he costed for ArriveCAN was $6.3 million. He said he was shocked at the news that it had ballooned to over $54 million — another Canadian realizing Justin Trudeau is just not worth the cost.

Was that a result of putting Deloitte in the penalty box in favour of GC Strategies? Shouldn’t the person who made the decision be held accountable, Senator Gold? Don’t we believe in accountability? Who took this decision, and why aren’t you interested in holding that person to account?

Senator Coyle: I would appreciate hearing more specifics on what that “more” would look like.

Hon. Dennis Glen Patterson: Honourable senators, Nunavut has, without question, the highest cost of living and is the most carbon-intensive region of Canada. You all know the story: no roads, deathly cold early and long winters, and darkness. There is a virtually total reliance on diesel fuel to generate power and to heat both private homes and social housing, where the preponderance of residents live.

We have the highest incidence of food insecurity and the worst social indicators in the country and — in areas like suicide — in the world. So, how is our federal government helping us deal with all these issues? Well, “big daddy Ottawa” added a carbon tax, seemingly heedless of the added cost burdens it imposes on our already sky-high cost of living.

Now, Nunavut did get exempted from paying the tax on aviation fuel for intra-territorial flights. That has been great. But the reality is that everything comes from the South, so we are taxed on it anyway.

We have also been exempted from paying the carbon tax on fuel burned to generate electricity, and it has now been confirmed that on July 1, 2024, the carbon tax will not be levied on home‑heating fuel. That is also good. Thanks to Atlantic Canada.

However, this brief three-year reprieve was meant to buy folks a little more time to transition to cleaner energy sources, and I’m sorry to say transitioning Nunavut to clean energy in three years just isn’t going to happen. Just yesterday, we heard from Jerry DeMarco, Canada’s Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, that Canada is not on track to meet its 2030 emission targets. Canada is the only G7 country that has not achieved any emission reduction since 1990.

Carbon taxes are supposed to change consumer habits and encourage people to seek out alternatives, but the Environment Commissioner’s report confirms that this has not happened since the tax was introduced in 2019. Moreover, in the case of Nunavut, there are no alternatives from which to choose. We can’t go back to dog teams to hunt. We can’t go back to igloos in which to live in the cold. There are still no electric vehicles — not one — in the capital city of Iqaluit. So, Nunavummiut are hurting, and, sadly, there just doesn’t seem to be any end in sight.

Thank you.

Hon. Tony Loffreda: Honourable senators, I rise today to mark National Philanthropy Day.

We set aside November 15 to celebrate this day that seeks to recognize the spirit of giving without expectation of reward, something that is an integral part of who Canadians are.

Thanks to the determination of Senator Mercer and his Bill S-201, we have been celebrating this day since 2012.

[English]

In his second-reading speech, Senator Mercer invited everyone to come together to support his bill and said:

In doing so, we will be saying thank you to our neighbours, our friends and the thousands of strangers who work hard every day to make life better for someone they have not even met.

That, in essence, is the epitome of philanthropy: people helping strangers without any expectation of reward or recognition, people being good. And there is a lot of goodness in Canada, but more troubling still is that there are a lot of people in need of goodness, empathy and support.

According to Imagine Canada, the charitable sector contributes $192 billion in economic activity to Canada annually. The sector employs 2.4 million people, but even more impressive is that 13 million Canadians volunteer nearly 2 billion hours per year to worthy causes.

Honourable colleagues, charities are increasingly relied upon in doing some of the work governments are simply unable to fulfill. They need our support, but I am worried the government may soon be legislating changes to the alternative minimum tax that could hinder the sector. The changes may have unintended consequences and may discourage Canadians from donating, which could result in a drop in charitable revenues.

In 2022, for example, 30% of donations to the charitable sector came from higher-income households. This could have a huge impact on the sector and negatively affect those who benefit from philanthropic donations. These facts should be carefully considered.

Honourable senators, philanthropy helps build strong communities and active civic participation by bringing people together to serve a common goal. Canadians deserve a fair shot at living a life of dignity and quality, which is why it is important to celebrate National Philanthropy Day and honour Canada’s spirit of giving.

Thank you.