Senator Gold: — that I’m not in a position to validate.

Senator Gold: Again, Senator Batters, with the greatest of respect to you and to this chamber, I am not looking to score points or to be cute. All I can say is that I have no further information that I can share with you at this time, or that I am in a position to share with you, or that I know to share with you. In that regard, again, I’m giving my answer to your question. I hope the chamber will accept that as what I am able to do at this juncture.

Senator Dalphond: Thank you very much.

[English]

Hon. Denise Batters: Senator Gold, I noticed that you mentioned pepper spray in the context of mandatory minimum sentences in your speech again, just like in your second-reading speech. After that speech, I asked you how many people in the last five years in Canada were convicted of that pepper spray offence who received the mandatory minimum sentence. I speculated, given the discretion of police prosecutors and courts, that the number would be next to zero. You replied that you didn’t know. I asked why you put it in your speech as an example if you didn’t know. You repeated that you didn’t know and said that I could ask officials at committee.

So I did. The Department of Justice Canada officials couldn’t give me an answer, either that day or via their written response later.

Again, I contend that the number of people who are convicted of a pepper spray offence that attracts a mandatory minimum sentence would be next to zero. Senator Gold, why do you continue to use that pepper spray mandatory minimum sentence example when you have nothing to back it up after weeks?

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Yoanis Menge and Ruben Komangapik. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Patterson.

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

Hon. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu: Therefore, honourable senators, in amendment, I move:

That Bill C-5 be not now read a third time, but that it be amended in clause 14, on page 3, by replacing lines 19 to 21 with the following:

Some Hon. Senators: Hear, hear.

Senator Dalphond: If I understand correctly, it’s the same amendment that was presented to the committee? That list is the one that is currently in the Criminal Code, except for certain elements that were deleted and others that were added?

Senator Boisvenu: Yes, that’s right.

The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: Are honourable senators ready for the question on the amendment as amended?

Hon. Leo Housakos: I request that further debate be adjourned in my name for the balance of my time.

The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: Is leave granted, honourable senators?

Hon Senators: Agreed.

(Debate postponed until the next sitting of the Senate.)

(At 5:10 p.m., the Senate was continued until Tuesday, November 15, 2022, at 2 p.m.)

Some Hon. Senators: Hear, hear.

Hon. Julie Miville-Dechêne: Colleagues, it is my pleasure to welcome to the Senate Dr. Tobias Schmid and Dr. Laura Braam who represent the Media Authority of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany.

I rise to highlight how Germany is ahead of Canada in terms of laws and regulations to protect children and youth from online harm. German media authorities have been very generous in sharing information with me on a subject that is very important to me: protecting children from exposure to online pornography.

Germany has already taken action to block an international porn site in Germany, xHamster, because it did not verify the age of its users to ensure that only adults were accessing the site. The German regulator just won a major court battle against MindGeek, Pornhub’s Montreal-based parent company, which challenged the constitutionality of these actions.

Dr. Schmid and Dr. Braam are determined regulators and citizens who take their mission very seriously. There’s a lot of resistance right now. The major free porn sites don’t yet comply with any laws; they don’t check their clients’ age, be they in Germany or France. The hope is that other countries, such as Canada, Great Britain and Australia, will follow suit. If more countries require porn sites to act responsibly, children will be better protected from being bombarded by pornographic images that can be traumatizing, violent and degrading and that are freely available on the internet.

Thank you.

Senator Dalphond: In the case of the two you deleted, I understand that you agree with the government that they need to be removed?

Hon. Senators: Question.

The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: Are honourable senators ready for the question?

Some Hon. Senators: Agreed.