The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: We will suspend and resume our sitting at eight o’clock.

(The sitting of the Senate was suspended.)

(The sitting of the Senate was resumed.)

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Moodie, seconded by the Honourable Senator Miville-Dechêne, for the third reading of Bill C-35, An Act respecting early learning and child care in Canada, as amended.

The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: Honourable senators, it is almost six o’clock, and pursuant to rule 3-3(1), I am obliged to leave the chair until eight o’clock when we will resume, unless it is your wish, honourable senators, not to see the clock.

Is it agreed to not see the clock?

Hon. Pierrette Ringuette: Senator Gold, I need to ask you a question. Responsibility for minorities in this country lies in the federal government’s spending power and responsibility. What I am reading here in this amendment is not something we have seen before. In any case, I didn’t see it, and I asked different people if they had seen a copy of the agreement signed between the federal government and the Government of New Brunswick, for example, which, according to you, contains certain obligations.

As Senator Poirier pointed out, the province of New Brunswick provides only 16% of seats when it should be providing 33% of seats for New Brunswick’s francophone community. It is therefore up to the federal government, using this provision, to make up for what it is unable to accomplish through the agreement with the province. That’s where I see the federal government’s responsibility. Apart from New Brunswick, no other province in Canada has a constitutional responsibility to its minority communities. Some provinces have legislation, but in practice, if an agreement exists with a province that does not respect minorities or the commitments made to them, that becomes a federal responsibility.

Hon. Pierrette Ringuette: I would like to ask Senator Cormier a question.