Hon. Yvonne Boyer: Honourable senators, I’m pleased to be here today to pay tribute to Senator Dan Christmas. We all know the impact that serving in the Senate can have on our families, especially those who must travel to Ottawa from far parts of the country. So today, I would like to begin this tribute by taking a minute to thank Senator Christmas’s children, Peter, Lacey and Gail, as well as his grandchildren, Rawlin and Arya. To them, on behalf of all senators, I say thank you for sharing your father and grandfather with us and all of Canada. His work has truly made a difference, and we are beyond fortunate to have benefitted from his wisdom and contributions for all these years.

Senator Christmas’s accomplishments during both his time in the Senate and his prior life just can’t be fit into a three-minute tribute. Through his work on legislation to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Canada and as chair and deputy chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Indigenous Peoples, Senator Christmas played a significant role in shaping some of the most important legislation impacting Indigenous peoples and, indeed, all of Canada. He leaves not just shoes but gigantic shoes to fill.

I would also like to take a minute to talk about Senator Christmas as a community leader — an advocate of the Mi’kmaq community of Membertou in Nova Scotia. He is so dedicated to his community and his people that he has spent his entire professional life serving them in countless different capacities. For instance, I had the opportunity to visit Membertou in July of 2019 to talk with his community about the issue of forced and coerced sterilization. As I’m sure all senators can imagine, meetings on this issue are difficult and emotional. Throughout this meeting and in the conversations afterwards, I was able to see just how connected he was with his community and the respect and admiration he gave them and that he, in turn, received from them.

Senator Christmas will be remembered for many things, but for me, I will remember how, more than anything else, he was always there for his community and ready to tackle the tough questions and help in any way that he could.

Now, after serving his nation and indeed all First Nations, Métis and Inuit across Canada, he can go back to focusing on the most important job of all, and that is being a father and a grandfather. Chi-Meegwetch, my friend. I wish you well.

Hon. Colin Deacon: Honourable senators, I rise to pay tribute to this chamber’s first Mi’kmaw senator, Senator Dan Christmas. Senator Christmas once reminded us of where he had come from and described his focus:

As an Indigenous Senator, I can tell you that realizing true reconciliation is a key component to Senate modernization and an increasingly independent Upper Chamber. For many of us, beginning real, frank, and open dialogue about the critical and destructive laws, conventions and institutions in Canada’s history is essential to reconciliation between Canada and Indigenous peoples.

Senator Christmas knows of what he speaks. His home community of Membertou struggled to overcome the destructive constraints of the Indian Act and other systemic barriers. Their success was thanks to the fact that Senator Christmas, together with Membertou’s other entrepreneurial community leaders, dared to opt out of the Indian Act and create their own self-governance and regulatory capabilities. The opportunity created by Membertou’s leadership is often said to be a miracle. It was not a miracle. It was a product of leadership committed to adaptability, perseverance and accountability.

Here are just three examples from a countless list: First, to initially encourage major corporations to build facilities and services in their community, Membertou did the hard work of becoming ISO quality management certified. This foresight and overcoming the complex challenge of achieving this certification demonstrated the leadership’s commitment to hold themselves accountable to global standards.

Second, just over 100 years ago, the people of Membertou were expelled from their ancestral land on the Sydney Harbour called the Kings Road Reserve due to the efforts of a member of Parliament. Remarkably, the community bought back their land in a commercial real estate transaction in 2016. I marvel at the perseverance and strategic brilliance that resulted in the community reacquiring its ancestral home.

Third, with the support of an innovative charity called Oceans North, Membertou is now leading the net-zero transformation of the fisheries sector. They recognized that about 70% of the inshore lobster fleet works within 20 kilometres of the shore and so can be powered by battery electric systems. Membertou is demonstrating climate leadership by being adaptable.

Colleagues, we have been honoured to listen to, learn from and work with a key architect and enabler of this remarkable transformation.

Senator Christmas, your adaptability, perseverance, and accountability inspires us all, as does your graciousness, humility, and deep humanity. You’ve left a mark on us all. I want to sincerely thank you for your persistent dedication to entrepreneurship and excellence. I look forward to continuing to learn from you. You’re right, Senator Christmas. It’s about the children and the world we leave them. Wela’lin, Dan. Wela’lioq.

Hon. Kim Pate: Thank you for the privilege and responsibility of allowing me to rise to express my profound admiration, appreciation, respect, awe, love and gratitude to and for our dear colleague and my beloved seatmate.

One month ago we celebrated one of your most recent recognitions, the awarding of your fifth honorary doctorate by Queen’s University. Today, we have the challenging and somewhat heartbreaking task of honouring you as you take your leave of this place to which you have contributed your outstanding and unparalleled First Nations leadership and your countless contributions with and for Indigenous peoples that has always been rooted in the context of kindness, compassion and love, and always in such a calm, quiet, caring manner and so wisely.

When I first visited Membertou First Nation, it was with your cousin Junior Marshall, and the community was struggling on the brink of bankruptcy. Dan’s leadership — your leadership — has been well recognized, as we just heard from so many, as the driving force in helping Membertou flourish into a thriving and vibrant community.

When I had the privilege of last visiting Membertou, you were incredibly and so characteristically generous and took the time to show me around and introduce me to the many folks who so warmly greeted their Senator Dan, whether in your home, Senate office at the mall, the cultural centre, anywhere and everywhere we ventured into the community.

Sitting beside you here and with you in the Indigenous Peoples Committee, I have learned and grown thanks to your brilliant interventions, quiet but oh-so-clear leadership, calm diplomacy and effective advocacy. I love how you are always guided by immense kindness, seemingly endless compassion and patience and your very generous heart.

You are the epitome of inspirational leadership, coalition building and courageous advocacy as all your life you have worked tirelessly to address the persistent challenges that too many face in the hands of discriminatory attitudes and systems that persist.

I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to meet your beloved and so lovely and talented Dozay and your equally talented and fabulous children and precious grandchildren. Thank you for joining us here today, Peter, Lacey, Rawlin, Arya, Gail and wee Wastow. We owe you, all of your family and community, an immense debt of appreciation for sharing your spectacular tata’t and umijgamijl with us for these last six years. We will miss him, his profound wisdom, his clear, kind, patient and thoughtful ideas and the incredible example and inspiration he is to each and all of us. Wela’lin, chi-meegwetch, thank you.

Hon. Mary Coyle: Honourable senators, family, friends of our retiring colleague, we gather today to celebrate Canada’s first Mi’kmaq senator, the honourable, formidable and highly lovable Dan Christmas. Recently, while discussing Senator Christmas with Al Fleming, the word “gravitas” came to my mind. Gravitas was one of the ancient Roman virtues that denotes seriousness, dignity and importance and connotes restraint and moral rigour. It conveys a sense of responsibility and commitment to the task and in Ancient Rome was appreciated as an ideal characteristic in leaders.

Colleagues, Senator Dan Christmas, the intelligent, humble, kind and highly effective leader from Membertou in Unama’ki, embodies gravitas and inspires each one of us to be better people and to undertake our responsibilities, as he does, with wisdom and care.

In his 2017 Father Greg MacLeod Lecture, Dan said:

Perhaps the greatest thing I’ve learned is that to be an effective parliamentarian means having to speak truth to power.

Not by bellowing from a high horse, or prescribing from a position of power and entitlement . . . but by working diligently to provoke meaningful and pragmatic dialogue — not necessarily to dictate a litany of complaints about what is wrong but rather working with others to determine options for the right way forward.

Colleagues, Senator Dan Christmas came to us having had a successful career as a change maker and he heightened that trajectory here in Canada’s upper chamber, contributing to positive change through his roles as Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Indigenous Peoples; ushering into law Bill C-15, the foundational UNDRIP act; his effective sponsorship of Bill C-68, modernizing the Fisheries Act; his important work on the Mi’kmaq moderate livelihood fishery and many other contributions.

For us, Senator Christmas has a guide, a hand extended, helping to point us in the right direction.

In June 2021, remarking on the tragic discovery of the 215 unmarked graves in Kamloops, Dan said:

Today, Canada is a nation awash in a tidal wave of tears, and we must let them flow. Our people, my people and yes, your people . . . are steeped in grief and sorrow. We mourn our lost babies, our lost angels, our lost culture, our lost freedoms, the disassociation from our lands and traditions and the way that we must endlessly struggle to convince Canada to understand, to appreciate and to embrace who we are and to what we continue to aspire.

Senator Dan Christmas, you are, in Mi’kmaq, Kepmi-de’lmut Nikan-es — a highly respected leader. My friend Dan, your legacy is vast. We all thank you. I’m honoured to know you and I wish you and your beautiful family every happiness. Wela’lin, Dan.

Hon. Dan Christmas: What can I say? I wish to thank you, my friends and colleagues, for your many kind words about my time here in the Senate. One of the great benefits of serving in the Senate is the opportunity to meet and to work with so many senators from all parts of Canada, from all walks of life. Each of you is so gifted and talented in so many ways with a multitude of backgrounds and experiences that you are all truly a valuable asset for this great nation.

Before I go on, I would like to take a moment to explain to you my decision to leave the Senate well before my mandatory retirement date.

Three years ago, as was mentioned, my dear wife, Dozay, began her journey to the spirit world. I had at that time seriously considered resigning from the Senate. I had become the single parent of a 9-year-old girl and Wastow the dog. It was unthinkable for me not to be at home during her growing-up years.

However, a dear friend counselled me to take some time to think about it. As it turned out, a few months later COVID happened and we began hybrid sittings. It allowed me to be at home with my daughter and continue my work as a senator at the same time.

Of course, I knew that at some point in-person sittings would resume and then I would have to make that decision. I made that decision a few months ago. But I want to assure you, my dear colleagues, that my decision to resign had nothing to do with the work of the Senate or the opportunity to work with all of you. If my personal circumstances had been otherwise, I would have been very happy to continue to work with you.

Please don’t think that my decision to be with my family is a difficult or challenging one. It is not. There is nothing more rewarding or satisfying in my life than being a father for my three children and a grandfather to my two grandchildren. I thoroughly enjoy being with them, and I look forward to raising my youngest daughter to adulthood.

One of the high points during my time in the Senate was being a member of the Aboriginal Peoples Committee, now called the Indigenous Peoples Committee, and the Fisheries and Oceans Committee. I had the pleasure of working with some outstanding chairpersons: first, former senator Lillian Dyck and, now, my friend and dear colleague Senator Brian Francis at the Indigenous Peoples Committee, and Senator Fabian Manning at the Fisheries and Oceans Committee. I can’t thank each of them enough for their leadership, hard work and their strong sense of fairness. Wela’lioq.

I especially enjoyed working with the Indigenous Peoples Committee. We had the pleasure of working with two outstanding analysts from the Library of Parliament, Sara Fryer and Brittany Collier. The committee had several clerks over the years, but when I assumed the chair in 2020, and Andrea Mugny was appointed as our new clerk, both of us learned on the job together rather quickly. Somehow, we managed to keep our heads above water. I certainly believe that Andrea will be a rising star in the Senate of Canada.

I also enjoyed being a member of the Indigenous Senators Working Group, which was first brought together by former senator Murray Sinclair back in 2018. I want to honour those who preceded me: Senators Patrick Brazeau and Sandra Lovelace Nicholas, and former senators Charlie Watt, Lillian Dyck and Murray Sinclair. I wish to thank the current members: Senators Marty Klyne, Dawn Anderson, Patti Laboucane-Benson, Mary Jane McCallum, Yvonne Boyer, Brian Francis and Michelle Audette. Unfortunately, we lost Senator Josée Forest-Niesing last year.

I thoroughly enjoyed our meetings and our many discussions during those meetings. I will certainly miss them very much.

I also want to express my deep appreciation to my two Mi’kmaq brothers here in Ottawa, Senator Brian Francis and MP Jaime Battiste. They always had my back, and they never hesitated to help when I needed their help — and believe me, I needed it. They are true brothers in every sense of the word. Wela’lioq.

I also appreciated my time with the Independent Senators Group. I joined when the group was first being formed by the late Honourable Elaine McCoy in 2016. Since then, I have also had the pleasure of working with two excellent facilitators, Senator Yuen Pau Woo and Senator Raymonde Saint-Germain. Thank you, colleagues, for allowing me to be part of your group.

I also want to acknowledge my staff who were with me from the very beginning: Alan Fleming, who was more like a brother to me; Carol Pereira, who managed my Ottawa office incredibly well; Karina Matthews-Denny, who looked after our Membertou office; and Rosalie Francis from Sipekne’katik, who provided sound legal advice along the way. How can I thank each of you enough? A senator is only as good as his or her staff. You certainly enabled me to do the best job that I could. Wela’lioq. You are all amazing people.

And how can I thank my family enough for allowing me to do this work? I do not need to explain to you the incredible personal sacrifices that are made to serve as a senator: the long hours, the endless meetings, the many hours of travel and the weeks that we spend away from our loved ones. It is our families who bear the burden of our absences from home.

I lost my wife while I served here. I owe so much to my family: my son Peter; my daughters Lacey and Gail; and my two grandchildren Rawlin and Arya. I worked here with the time that I borrowed from their lives. I can’t repay them for all that they have given me over these six years. The last three years were especially difficult for them and for me, but we made it and we are still very close. I look forward to the next part of our family journey, whatever that may be.

Colleagues, going forward, I wish nothing but the best for each of you. You will always be in my thoughts and prayers. I will continue to check on you from time to time to see how things are going. It is, and has been, the highlight of my life and career to have served with you in this place.

May our Creator bless each and every one of you. Wela’lioq.

Hon. Leo Housakos: My question is for the government leader. Last week, I asked you a question about “Justinflation.” In your answer, you quoted Scotiabank, which says, according to you, that your government did not create “Justinflation.”

Allow me to quote the report in question, which is by economists Jean-François Perreault and René Lalonde. They state that “. . . it is also abundantly clear that pandemic support measures could have been rolled back more rapidly at the global level.” They go on to say, “. . . the inflation outcome suggests that consolidation should have occurred at a more rapid pace.”

According to these economists, it is clear that the Trudeau government did not end COVID measures quickly enough and that the inflationary spiral we’re in is a direct result of their delayed response.

Senator Gold, when will you finally admit that “Justinflation” was created by the Trudeau government?

Senator Gold: Thank you for the question. Every time you ask this question, I remind you that the Canadian economy is doing well, very well even, compared to other G7 developed countries. Furthermore, our standing in the financial sector, according to the organizations that evaluate our creditworthiness is very solid. I will repeat that the government did what any government must do when faced with an almost existential crisis for the economy and the lives of Canadians during this pandemic. The government will continue to do what is required to help Canadians.

Senator Gold: Again, thank you for the question and the suggestion. I will add that to my inquiries.

[English]

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question, Senator Woo, and for underlining the impact that this is having on the Chinese Canadian community.

Regrettably, as we know, there is a real concern about Chinese interference in our institutions. It has been underlined by the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians and by others, and, indeed, investigations are under way. It is gratifying to know that there is no evidence that the elections that have been recently held were anything but fair.

The concern you express is a real one. I know that investigations are under way, and in that regard, I’m not aware of the steps the government may be taking or considering to provide some assurance or comfort to those in the Chinese Canadian community who are feeling under the spotlight or under attack. Canadians should rest assured that the government is seriously investigating allegations, and at such time as those investigations are completed, more facts will be disclosed.

Senator Woo: The source of this allegation is a story by Global News that had no named sources and no subsequent validation by any other news outlet. Yet, the story has been repeated ad nauseam by other media and by members of both this chamber and the other place. If the story is, indeed, bogus, it has done serious damage to our democracy. Indeed, this reporting should be understood as a kind of election denialism.

Why is the government not calling out this egregious example of disinformation?

Senator Gold: Thank you for the question.

As I said, the government is investigating these allegations, and until such time as those investigations are completed, it is not possible for the government to characterize the stories one way or the other.

Again, the government takes seriously not only the allegations but also the impact that they are having on the community, and investigations will continue.

Hon. Donna Dasko: Senator Gold, public opinion research commissioned by Senator Omidvar and myself and released this week finds that Canadians strongly support seizing the Canadian-held assets of those Russian officials who are waging war in Ukraine and those Iranian officials who are violating human rights in Iran, and then using these seized assets to assist victims.

In fact, in June of this year, as you know, senator, Bill C-19 enhanced two of Canada’s sanction regimes, the Sergei Magnitsky Law and the Special Economic Measures Act, to go beyond freezing the assets of corrupt foreign officials in order to permit confiscating and redirecting those assets.

My questions are as follows, and I’d like to focus on how these tools are currently being used, particularly against the Russian perpetrators: Is the government using these new tools? What efforts are being made? What steps are being taken? And what plans are developing to repurpose these assets, for example, in possible reparations to Ukraine?

Thank you.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question, senator. It’s an important one.

Starting with the latter part of your question, the government is, as all senators know, using Magnitsky-style sanctions to put pressure on the Russian regime and hold them accountable, but the government now has new measures to go further, not only to seize but to allow for the forfeiture of the assets of the oligarchs and their companies. My understanding, senator, is that efforts are under way to implement the liquidation process, which would allow Canada to compensate victims and support reconstruction. These tools that are now available to us will make Canada a leader in the sanctions regime, if I can use that term, in the G7.

Even as the government is working to implement these tools, it is also taking analogous steps to assist Ukraine. I’ll cite just one example: We know now that the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance recently announced that Canada will transfer $150 million in tariff revenues collected on imports from Russia and Belarus to repair Kyiv’s power grid following the repeated and ongoing attacks by Russia on that.

This is just an example of the commitment Canada has both to hold Russia and its oligarchs to account and to use the tools that Canada now has to make sure that those assets are used both for reconstruction and assistance to Ukraine and for compensation to those who are harmed by the actions of Russia in its illegal invasion.

[Translation]

Hon. Amina Gerba: Honourable senators, my question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.

Senator Gold, for four weeks, the entire planet has been focused on Qatar to follow the World Cup of soccer, which is drawing to a close this weekend.

Here in Canada, we saw the excitement of Canadians, the feeling of coming together as a nation in complete solidarity with our national soccer team, Les Rouges.

In addition to helping improve Canadians’ physical fitness, soccer has also promoted Canada abroad. This sport showcases the diversity of colours and origins of our people and our multicultural nature.

Given Canada’s historical participation in the 2022 World Cup of soccer and the fact that Canada will host the World Cup in 2026 with the United States and Mexico, what is the Government of Canada doing to support this international sport that is not well developed in our country?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question. The government is very proud to be hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2026 in Canada with our North American partners, Mexico and the United States.

Support for sports in Canada involves many stakeholders, including the Government of Canada, the private sector, provincial and territorial governments, national multisport service organizations, or MSOs, national sport organizations, or NSOs, and Canadian sport centres and institutes.

As the major investor in Canada’s amateur sport system, the Government of Canada plays an important role in that system. Through Sport Canada, the government develops programs and policies to help the sport system meet Canadians’ needs. There are many funding programs that support high-performance athletes and Canadian organizations that host sporting events, including the Athlete Assistance Program, the Hosting Program, and the Sport Support Program.

I will point out that under the Sport Support Program, the government has committed $60 million over two years to assist national organizations that currently receive funding and that are struggling financially to implement their programs and services as a result of the COVID-19. Also, there is up to a maximum of $6 million in 2021-22 to assist Olympians and Paralympians with travel costs associated with competition requirements.

Senator Gold: Thank you for the question. The government is very proud of our female athletes.

I want to note that, in Budget 2018, the government announced that it would strive to achieve gender equality in sport at every level by 2035 and allocated $30 million over three years to that end.

I would also note that, in Budget 2021, the government committed $1.9 billion to support the sports sector to encourage growth and contribute to creating good jobs for the middle class.

The Government of Canada continues to work with all sports partners in order to ensure that we collectively create a safe, inclusive sports environment.

As far as women’s soccer is concerned, I would be happy to follow up with the government and come back with a response for the chamber.

[English]

Hon. Percy E. Downe: My question is for Senator Gold. I’m not asking my usual question about written questions not being answered. I have something new to end this session, Senator Gold.

In addition to the Government of China trying to undermine Canadian democracy by having, apparently, alleged police stations on our soil and interference in elections, we also have the Russians. In the 1980s, the then Soviet Union slipped two spies into Canada, stealing the identities of two deceased Canadian children in the process, with this country serving as a way station as they moved towards their goal, which was the United States — undercover sleeper agents waiting to be activated to serve their mother Russia.

The fake Canadians, Donald Heathfield and Tracey Foley, were actually Andrei Bezrukov and Elena Vavilova. When these spies were living in Canada for many years to establish their cover stories — by attending university and having an employment history — the couple had two children.

In 2010, after they moved to the United States, they were among 10 Russian agents caught by the FBI, and they were expelled back to Russia, where they were showered with honours by President Putin and given important positions in their intelligence service.

Why is the Government of Canada continuing to allow these two children, who are now adults, to travel the world as Canadian citizens with Canadian passports, given their citizenship is built on a foundation of lies due to the deceit of their parents? Can their citizenship be revoked?

Senator Downe: I appreciate that, Senator Gold. I look forward to hearing your answer.

You should also be aware that when the American FBI was investigating their parents, they overheard a conversation in the family home — by bugging the home — that the spy children were actually prepared to serve Russia as well.

As I said, these children, with their Canadian passports, are now adults. They can travel anywhere in the world, except the U.S. which will deny them entry. Indeed, they can move to Canada with full protection and rights — free from any restrictions — to operate on behalf of Russia.

Even if they do not want to spy for Russia, would Putin give them any choice, or would they fall out of a window? They might have no choice, but Canada has one: The choice is to adopt what the United Kingdom has done, and recognize the new reality that we are in — that Canada has enemies, like China and Russia, that are trying to undermine our democracy. The United Kingdom passed legislation that if citizenship was obtained by fraud, it can be revoked. Canada should get with the times, and adopt a similar initiative in this case.

Hon. Leo Housakos: My question is for the government leader, and it is regarding an area that the Liberal Trudeau government excels in: breaking the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons. This week, the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner reported to the Parliament that Minister Mary Ng breached the code on two occasions: She gave out two contracts to a Liberal Party insider and a personal friend — tens of thousands of dollars — without any due process.

I know, for independent Senate colleagues who have not been in Parliament that long, there is a general sense in the new Trudeau government that this is acceptable, but in the Westminster parliamentary system, the tradition up to 2015 was that a minister who behaved in an egregious fashion and broke the ethics code was actually held accountable. That’s a foreign idea here with the Trudeau government.

So, the question is simple, government leader: When will Prime Minister Trudeau fire Minister Ng for breaking the ethics code?