Hon. Leo Housakos: She does not need a seconder to adjourn the Senate.

Senator Housakos: Senator Gold, I am happy that the government thanks the commissioner for doing his work. All of Parliament thanks the commissioner for doing his work.

Now, we do not need the Prime Minister to thank the commissioner for doing his work. We need the Prime Minister to start doing his work. At the end of the day, in Parliament, we have a responsibility to ensure that ministers behave in the most ethical fashion. When they don’t, this is not kindergarten, where you show up to the principal’s office and apologize and promise not to do it again. We’re talking about taxpayers’ money and the code of ethics of this Parliament and this government.

When will this government start doing its job? Or is the real problem here that the Prime Minister can no longer hold ministers to account because he has breached the code on a couple of occasions, and it would be rather hypocritical for him to get rid of ministers for breaching a code that he has breached? Is that in itself the problem, government leader? How do we address that problem?

Hon. Leo Housakos: Clearly, we acknowledge that this government is corrupt and is unwilling to take responsibility for its egregious behaviour.

My next question, to which I hope to get an answer, has more to do with incompetence. It is a follow-up question to Senator Downe’s question, and we have asked this on a number of occasions. We have seen how the world has become more and more dangerous. We see how democracy is more at risk today than it has ever been. Foreign influence is a real problem on social media. Our institutions are being influenced, academic, political, cultural and otherwise. What is your government doing to combat foreign influence in our institutions and in our country? What are your concrete actions?

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 Housakos: On a vote, but not on an adjournment.