Senator Dupuis: Thank you. I always listen closely when you speak, and for good reason. Often, we pay more attention to the end of a speech, particularly if it is long. What struck me about the end of your speech is that you invited us to work on the tax reform. You said that the current system dates back to 1967, so there have been successive governments in office since that time.

In your opinion, what should the priority be for this comprehensive tax reform?

[English]

Some Hon. Senators: Yea.

Senator McCallum: I want to go back to your statement about the Natural Resources Transfer Agreement that was done unilaterally without First Nations input. That is now a huge conversation and area of concern for First Nations, and they are going to be bringing it forward. Underneath that lies the Doctrine of Discovery and how it plays into the Constitution.

Is there any way that this portion of the bill could be sent to the Indigenous Peoples Committee to study? That is huge, and I think we need to settle that before you go any further.

Senator Cotter: Ever so briefly, I think the point you make is a matter of legitimate concern, but the Natural Resources Transfer Agreement is a recent Prairie-Alberta-Saskatchewan event that actually creates the same question across the country: Who are the owners of subsurface resources, not just in Alberta and Saskatchewan but more broadly across the country? I think that question, if it were to be studied, would need to be studied on a national basis, and this bill isn’t the right fit for it, with the greatest of respect.

The Hon. the Speaker: I hear a “no.” I apologize, Senator Marshall. You will be given the balance of your time when we resume at 8 p.m. The sitting is suspended until 8 p.m.

(The sitting of the Senate was suspended.)

[Translation]

(The sitting of the Senate was resumed.)

(2000)

The Hon. the Speaker having informed the Senate that there were senators without waiting to be introduced:

The following honourable senators were introduced; presented His Majesty’s writ of summons; took the oath prescribed by law, which was administered by the Clerk of the Senate; and were seated:

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, we were all indeed saddened to learn about the death of the Honourable James Carr, Member of Parliament for Winnipeg South Centre, who passed away yesterday.

I know senators join me in expressing condolences to his family, friends and colleagues. I would now ask you to rise and join me in a minute of silence for our deceased fellow parliamentarian.

(Honourable senators then stood in silent tribute.)

Senator McCallum: Will the senator take another question?

Hon. René Cormier: Senator Gold, thank you for that answer. Parliamentarians from both chambers joined forces last week to form the first ever non-partisan 2SLGBTQI+ caucus in Canada, the Canadian Pride Caucus. The main goals of the caucus include engaging in a dialogue with civil society organizations, working in a non-partisan manner to raise awareness of 2SLGBTQI+ issues among Canadian parliamentarians, and acting as an interlocutor in parliamentary diplomacy on 2SLGBTQI+ rights.

As co-chair of the Canadian Pride Caucus, I would like to know the following. How does the Canadian government welcome the creation of this caucus, and how does it plan to work with us?

Senator Marshall: I cannot agree with you, Senator Loffreda, because the corporation hasn’t been created. There is no corporation there. The bill says, “Give the minister $2 billion so she can buy shares in a subsidiary corporation.” So I said, “Oh, what’s the name of the corporation so I can look it up?” And somebody says, “Oh, don’t worry, it hasn’t been created yet.” There is nothing in the legislation, and for you to look and say, “Oh, we have a backgrounder with information, oh, yes” — listen, I want to see it in the legislation. That’s the right way to do it.

Hon. Claude Carignan: My question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate.

Leader, we’ve learned in the last few hours, following the release of a report by the Commissioner of Official Languages, that nearly half of the commissioner’s recommendations made in response to the shortcomings identified in his reports and investigations have been ignored by federal institutions.

The commissioner listed the organizations, institutions, departments and agencies in order of least to most effective. Air Canada is ranked seventh.

Which department is the worst performer in terms of complying with the commissioner’s recommendations?

Leader, the Privy Council Office, the Prime Minister’s Office, has the worst record. It is the department that hasn’t followed any of the recommendations of the Commissioner of Official Languages.

Leader, I imagine that you’re familiar with the expression “all talk, no action.” Do you think it applies to the Prime Minister of Canada?

Senator Carignan: Leader, after the President and CEO of Air Canada’s English-language speech, the Minister of Official Languages, Ginette Petitpas Taylor, said the following, and I quote:

I acknowledge his apology, but it must be followed up with concrete action to demonstrate that he takes his obligations seriously . . . . It is a question of respect.

The Prime Minister and the Privy Council haven’t taken any concrete action after the Commissioner of Official Languages made his recommendations. Does this mean that they don’t take their obligations seriously and that they don’t respect the Official Languages Act and Canada’s francophones?

Senator Marshall: Thank you very much. Your interpretation of the bill is correct. It allows for the $2 billion that is specifically carved out. That is a statutory payment. There is also a provision that the minister can also requisition money from the Consolidated Revenue Fund, and there is no limit on that at all. We have no idea as to how much money is going to be channelled into that fund once it’s created.

Hon. Raymonde Gagné (Legislative Deputy to the Government Representative in the Senate): Honourable senators, pursuant to the order adopted December 7, 2021, I would like to inform the Senate that Question Period with the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, P.C., M.P., Minister of Natural Resources, will take place on Wednesday, December 14, 2022, at 2:20 p.m.

[English]

Hon. Mary Jane McCallum: Will the senator take a question?

Senator Cotter: Yes.

Senator Plett: Thank you, Senator Bovey. I’m not opposed to the federal government coming and asking Saskatchewan and Manitoba and Alberta, “What can we do to help?” That’s not what they are doing. They don’t need a bill to come and offer their help and their advice. They can just simply offer it.

The premiers have been begging the Prime Minister for a first ministers’ meeting on health. They have been begging, and he hasn’t accepted. Why doesn’t the Prime Minister, if he wants to put his weight behind this bill, go to Manitoba, go to Saskatchewan, go to Alberta, meet with the three premiers and say, “What can I do to help?” instead of, “Here is what I’m going to do”? That’s the difference, Senator Bovey.

In this case, it was MP Carr. I say that respectfully because MP Carr had every right to present a private member’s bill. I have a problem when the Prime Minister puts his weight behind it, but it’s not the first government where a prime minister has put his weight behind private members’ bills, and it probably won’t be the last. But it’s when you get the feeling that the federal government is trying to tell us when we know far better than they do.

Senator Black: In a report on the impact of the war, dated July 20, 2022, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations noted that Ukrainian:

Livestock producers lack physical and economic access to animal health supplies, including commercial veterinary drugs, animal feed and feed additives.

This is concerning, as it may impact the state of chicken products that are brought into Canada.

Senator Gold, can you advise what level of information the CFIA has received from Ukraine since July 2022 to demonstrate that the protocols, policies and critical infrastructure are still in place?

Senator Bovey: I don’t disagree with you at all that Saskatchewan and Alberta have made fine strides in those aspects of the work. But surely, because we’re a nation of regions, each region is going to approach the green economy from a different perspective given what they do and where they are and what their climates are, et cetera.

I fail to see why this bill that the Honourable Jim Carr put forward doesn’t open up that discussion, with our region, to me, being a very important part of a national discussion, and if we’re doing things better than other parts of the country because of where we are, wonderful. Perhaps there is a way that we can all push it a little bit further. When our kids and grandchildren — don’t you agree? — when they make buildings out of LEGO, they need all the pieces of LEGO to create that building. I’m contending that this particular bill is part of that building.

Senator Plett: No, Senator Dupuis, I think your understanding is pretty clear. It’s definitely the federal government getting involved in helping develop a green plan for the Prairies.

The Prairie provinces are saying, “We are doing that, and we are doing it much better than the federal government could do.” As the Province of Quebec very regularly says, “We can run our programs better than the federal government can run our programs.”

In my opinion, the issue here is not whether this is a laudable goal; it probably is. The provinces are saying, “We are well on the way to doing that. We don’t want interference from the federal body. We can govern ourselves on this, and that’s what we want. We don’t want you putting your nose in. To us, this would be Big Brother taking over.”

I really think the only difference here is not a difference of opinion in what should happen in the Prairie provinces. This is a difference of opinion in that I, as a Manitoban, don’t particularly want the federal government — whatever federal government that is — coming in and dictating on an issue that, I believe, Manitobans are better capable of handling themselves.

Senator Moncion: I’ll ask my question in French, if that’s okay. The bill was introduced in the House of Commons on February 7, 2022. We just got it, and we have two days to study it. This past week, the work of many committees was significantly scaled back. Can you tell us why? In light of the thoughtful comments you made in your critique of the bill, regardless of the leaders’ agreement, why shouldn’t the Senate take all the time it needs to study this bill properly?

[English]