Senator Boisvenu: Senator Gold, the floodgates have been opened. In Quebec, nearly a dozen sex offenders, arms traffickers and drug traffickers have been sentenced to house arrest. Yesterday, someone who tried to kill his friend with a screwdriver was sent home to serve 20 months in his living room.

Minister Lametti said that he is trying to ease congestion in the court system, but instead this is emptying out our prisons.

This morning, the federal Minister for Sport once again encouraged athletes who have been the victim of abuse to report their attacker. Senator Gold, my question is fairly simple. Do you agree that, in 2023, we should be allowing rapists, men who assault women, to serve their sentence from the comfort of their own home rather than in prison?

Senator Gold: Thank you for the question. I agree with the legislation as it was adopted because it strikes a balance in the penal system. I have full confidence in our justice system, including the judges who are seized with pertinent facts in every case. I will continue to have confidence in this system.

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Senator Gold: I will certainly make inquiries. Thank you for the question.

Senator Coyle: I think this could have been also asked of my colleague Senator Forest, who spoke about the access issue to the benefit, that there are Canadians who we know are not filing taxes. If we solely rely on that system to be able to provide this benefit to those who need it, we will be missing a lot of vulnerable people and, as I mentioned, also those who may not even have a social insurance number, who need this benefit more than anyone.

The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: Time has expired.

Hon. Renée Dupuis: Would Senator Seidman agree to take a question?

Hon. Senators: Agreed.

Hon. Marilou McPhedran: I have a question for Senator McCallum.

Hon. Senators: Agreed.

The Hon. the Speaker: Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?

The Hon. the Speaker: Senator McCallum is out of time. She will have to ask for more time if you wish to ask a question.

Senator McCallum, are you asking for five more minutes to answer a question?

Senator McCallum: Yes.

Hon. Yonah Martin (Deputy Leader of the Opposition): Leader, Public Safety Canada recently released its annual report on trends and patterns in drug-impaired driving. It shows that police reported 7,454 drug-impaired driving incidents in 2021 — an almost 60% increase in such incidents since 2018 when cannabis was legalized.

The report shows that daily cannabis users are more likely to think cannabis use does not impair driving. Only 25% of Canadians believe it is very likely they will get caught if they drive under the influence of cannabis.

The report points to a B.C. study published last year in the New England Journal of Medicine which showed that people injured while driving under the influence of drugs had higher THC levels in their blood since legalization.

Leader, many concerns that honourable senators have raised during our study of Bill C-45 and Bill C-46 have come to pass. How does your government respond to the report’s findings?

Hon. Chantal Petitclerc: Thank you very much for your well‑thought-out speech, as per usual.

I want your impression on something that I hope we will study in committee: This bill calls for a benefit that will be for working-age persons with disabilities. I have read that about 30% of persons with disabilities are over that working-age group.

Do you think this is something we should spend some time on in order to ensure that they, too, are lifted out of poverty?

Hon. Yonah Martin (Deputy Leader of the Opposition): My question is for the government leader in the Senate.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has given McKinsey & Company consultants contracts worth $24.5 million for so-called management advice. A public servant with this department told Radio-Canada last month:

We had a few presentations on very generic, completely vapid stuff. They arrived with nice colours, nice presentations and said they would revolutionize everything . . . In the end, we don’t have any idea what they did . . .

Leader, the wait times and backlog in this department in recent years are arguably the worst ever. Why did the Trudeau government give McKinsey millions of taxpayer dollars when whatever advice it was providing to the immigration department was obviously not working?

Senator Plett: I don’t doubt that you’re doing your part; it’s the Trudeau government that has a long history of denying Canadians, including parliamentarians, access to information about what their government is doing and how taxpayers’ money is spent. For example, I find it hard to believe that the CBC still doesn’t know how much it spent on its failed lawsuit against the Conservative Party of Canada. My question asking for that information has been on the Order Paper since May 25, 2021.

I also find it hard to believe that no one in this government has any idea on how many middle-class jobs were created in Canada by sending tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to China through the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. That question has been on the Senate Order Paper since March 30, 2021.

Leader, if this situation isn’t a perfect example of the absolute contempt shown by this Trudeau government toward the Senate, Canadians and accountability, then what is it, leader?

Hon. Mobina S. B. Jaffer: I rise today to pay tribute to Senator Viola Léger.

In September 2001, four people were appointed senators — Laurier LaPierre, Viola Léger, Jean Lapointe and I — one week after the September 11 tragedy.

As I was the first Muslim senator, I was worried about the situation because I was hearing negative comments about Muslims in the house.

Viola comforted me and told me that it was not true that all Muslims were like that. She said, “Don’t worry, be patient, take your time and tell your story slowly.” She promised me that one day things would change in the Senate.

Viola was very generous with me.

Senator Léger was first and foremost an accomplished artist. We remember her mainly for her role as La Sagouine, the character created by Antonine Maillet. La Sagouine, a humble cleaning woman and daughter of a fisherman, tells her story and that of Acadia and its people. This role showcases the Acadian culture and language and presents the reality of this group of francophones from the Maritimes to Canadians in the rest of the country.

Between 1971 and 2016, Viola Léger performed this role more than 3,000 times in French and English, and brought her to life right across Canada, the United States and Europe.

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Viola, I want to send you an update on your advice to me. For being patient, I get a C on my report card; taking my time does not come naturally to me; in telling my history about being Muslim, with the help of many other senators — we are now five in the Senate — we have made great progress.

Viola, you were an amazing friend and colleague and I will always remember you fondly. Rest in peace, my friend.

Senator Simons: By all means.

Hon. Amina Gerba: My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.

Senator Gold, we all work to promote our country in the world, and Montreal has become an international showcase that welcomes a multitude of international conferences and investors.

However, delegates who want to participate in this type of conference are being denied visas to enter Canada because Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada believes that they will simply stay in Canada and not return home.

This terrible situation is damaging the reputation of our immigration system and undermining many opportunities.

Senator Gold, when will the government find a way to make it easier to obtain temporary visas, especially for potential investors, professionals and parents of students who are living in our country?

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Leila Sarangi, Athavarn Srikantharajah, Hannah Barrie, Mithilen Mathipalan and Terence Hamilton. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Moodie.

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