Hon. Ratna Omidvar moved second reading of Bill S-262, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (Oath of Citizenship).

(On motion of Senator Omidvar, debate adjourned.)

On Other Business, Senate Public Bills, Second Reading, Order No. 19:

Second reading of Bill S-263, An Act respecting the National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking.

Hon. Ratna Omidvar: Senator Woo, your remarks about gratitude versus equity evoked a real response in me. When I became a Canadian citizen in 1985, I was told by many to be grateful. It is a poor replacement for equity.

I connect my remarks to your comments on the report by the Rules Committee. I am a member of the Rules Committee, but the study that you spoke about took place before I became a member.

In this chamber and in other committees — Legal, Social, Internal Economy — all committees do important work. In my experience in the Senate, committees vote when a decision has to be made. So I am to understand from your speech that while the majority of the members of the Rules Committee agreed with the motion, because it was not unanimous, the majority was disregarded.

How does the Rules Committee understand consensus? Is it simply that everybody has to agree and therefore it is the lowest common denominator?

Hon. Ratna Omidvar introduced Bill S-262, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (Oath of Citizenship).

(Bill read first time.)

Hon. Ratna Omidvar: My question is for Senator Gold, the Government Representative in the Senate. Senator Gold, last week Statistics Canada released a report that noted that more than 8.3 million people, roughly 23% of our population in Canada, is today either a landed immigrant or were at some point. Most of them, we know, will go on to become citizens.

Today, we learned that the government has a new target for immigration over the next three years: By the year 2025, we will be bringing in 500,000 immigrants per year. I think this is a good thing. Immigration done well benefits us all.

But the really encouraging thing, Senator Gold, in all of this is that immigrants are no longer simply choosing “MTV” — Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver — but going to other places. The Maritimes is a big winner. Wonderful. However, it does not appear that the government is matching the increase in immigration with an increase in settlement funding.

In Nova Scotia, for example, where the increase is significant, the number of immigrants between 2018 and 2021 increased by 51%. Congratulations, Nova Scotia. But the funding for their primary settlement agency, Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia, or ISANS, increased only by 7%. The agency reported to The Globe and Mail that they were having significant challenges keeping up with the pace of demand.

Can you tell us, Senator Gold, if the government is planning to — in a parallel — increase the funding for settlement agencies in Nova Scotia and, indeed, across Canada to keep pace with the increase in immigration?