The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Stephen Pike. He is the guest of the Honourable Senator Miville-Dechêne.

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

Hon. Mobina S. B. Jaffer: Honourable senators, as many of us are watching the World Cup, let us also remember 23-year-old Tej Narayan Tharu from Nepal. In August 2018, Tej died working on the Al Wakrah stadium being built for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. His mother Sita expressed anguish with these words:

I’m heartbroken. My son has gone for ever. He’s never coming back. He has a small daughter. Life is long and hard. How will she survive?

Senators, those are the heartbreaking words of one mother. Unfortunately, there are thousands of mothers, like her, of migrant workers in Qatar, working towards the World Cup.

In 2021, Human Rights Watch found that foreign workers continued to suffer from punitive and illegal wage deductions, and faced months of unpaid wages for long hours of grueling work in unsafe conditions, with passport confiscations, high recruitment fees and deceptive recruitment practices continuing to be widespread.

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Qatar has a labour force of more than 2 million working under these conditions. Even more horrifically, a Guardian investigation published last year found that more than 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have died in Qatar since it won the right to host the World Cup.

Sadly, FIFA continues to be complicit in this tragedy. Instead of condemning the regime, they have written to all 32 teams competing at the World Cup, telling them to “now focus on the football!”

Thankfully, certain teams and nations have spoken up. For example, Paris and other French cities are refusing to screen matches in public areas, despite France being the defending champion.

Denmark is wearing “toned-down” shirts in protest, with kit provider Hummel saying they “don’t wish to be visible during a tournament that has cost thousands of people their lives.”

European football associations from Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland have endorsed calls for a compensation fund for migrant workers.

As we become engrossed in these games, let us remember victims like Tej, and 29-year-old Mohammad Shahid Miah, from Bangladesh, who died in one of the numerous, highly unsafe accommodations for migrant workers in Qatar, as the flood water in his room came into contact with an exposed electrical cable, electrocuting him.

While watching the games, let us not forget the senseless loss of life, the families they have left behind and the mothers who will never see their boys return home.

Thank you, senators.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I would now ask that you rise and join me in a moment of silence for our former colleague the late Honourable Jean Lapointe.

(Honourable senators then stood in silent tribute.)

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Ms. Cynthia Black. She is the guest of the Honourable Senator Hartling.

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

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Sarah Laframboise. She is the guest of the Honourable Senator Kutcher.

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

Senator Gold: Thank you for the question, senator.

Unfortunately, no, I’m still waiting for the answer to your question, and as soon as I receive it, I’ll communicate it to the Senate.

[English]

Senator Gold: Well, thank you. I will certainly communicate your concerns and this point of view to the minister. It would be my pleasure to do so.

Hon. Denise Batters: Would Senator Yussuff take a quick question?

Senator Plett: I’ll do the rest when the next speaker gets up or in my speech. Thank you.

(On motion of Senator Martin, debate adjourned.)

[Translation]

Hon. Raymonde Gagné (Legislative Deputy to the Government Representative in the Senate): Honourable senators, with leave of the Senate and notwithstanding rule 5-13(2), I move :

That the Senate do now adjourn.

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

The Hon. the Acting Speaker: Are you asking for five more minutes?

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

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

Hon. Scott Tannas: I would like to thank Senator Verner for putting this motion forward, as well as Senator Miville-Dechêne and others for their support.

Senator Ravalia: With pleasure.

[Translation]

Senator Dupuis: Senator Ravalia, in your analysis of the situation in your province of Newfoundland and Labrador, could you tell us how the Newfoundland and Labrador government views the redefining of the direct relationship between municipalities and the federal government? Because that’s what we’re talking about here.

Did you have the opportunity to find information on the subject or do you know the position of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador on the issue?

[English]

Hon. Renée Dupuis: Would Senator Ravalia take a question?

[English]

Senator Plett: Don’t sound so enthusiastic, Senator Sorensen. When you say things that border on not being correct, then I think you open yourself up to questions.