Senator Gold: The government is serious about inflation, and it is taking measures necessary to address it while helping Canadians weather the storm at the same time.

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

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Mr. Sunny Sodhi. He is the guest of the Honourable Senator Marwah.

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

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear!

[Translation]

Hon. Senators: Agreed.

(At 3:19 p.m., the Senate was continued until tomorrow at 2 p.m.)

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear!

(On motion of Senator Martin, debate adjourned.)

[English]

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Dalphond, seconded by the Honourable Senator Harder, P.C., for the second reading of Bill C-233, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Judges Act (violence against an intimate partner).

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of His Excellency Fahad Saeed Al Raqbani, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Canada. He is the guest of the Honourable Senator Ravalia.

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

Hon. Pat Duncan: Honourable senators, I note that this item is at day 15, and I’m not ready to speak to it at this time. Therefore, with leave of the Senate and notwithstanding rule 4-15(3), I move the adjournment of the debate for the balance of my time.

(On motion of Senator Duncan, debate adjourned.)

[Translation]

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question.

The government respects the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer and its views, but the government, as Minister Freeland has stated publicly, doesn’t agree with that assessment. The government, through prudent management of the economy and the resources available to it, has made a responsible decision to invest some — although not all — in helping Canadians through the difficult times, properly underlined by you and others in this chamber, in the face of cost of living challenges for all Canadians.

This government is responsible. It takes its responsibility seriously. That means having to do many things at once, such as managing the economy in a fiscally prudent way — especially coming out of the extraordinary expenditures that we in this chamber authorized to help Canadians through the pandemic — while at the same time helping Canadians as they struggle with the inevitably higher cost of living that worldwide inflation, inflation in Canada and other measures impose.

Hon. Mobina S. B. Jaffer: Senator Patterson, thank you very much for your question — it’s a very important one.

As you know, until very recently, we were studying Bill C-5, which is a government bill; it took many weeks to study. And then we had Bill C-210 which was a bill we had left since last June to finish. We finished that bill, and we’re presently studying Bill S-205, and, after that, the steering committee will look at when we will do the study.

The study is very much on our minds, but we’ve had many other challenges, and you are not a stranger to the work of the Legal Committee. We have many bills to take care of, and we haven’t forgotten it. We know that March is the deadline.

We’re also aware that the House has started studying it, and we’re working with the House as to when we should start the study. Thank you very much for raising it today.

Hon. Dennis Glen Patterson: My question is for the Honourable Senator Jaffer as Chair of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee.

Senator, when Bill C-28 on extreme intoxication was rushed through both chambers in June — and I know you’ll remember those debates we had here — it was with the promise that both houses would take the unusual step of retroactively reviewing the legislation for any potential loopholes in light of concerns from victims’ advocacy groups and women’s legal organizations.

I note that the other place has already proceeded with their review. Senator Jaffer, can you tell us when we can expect your committee to begin looking into this issue?

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Leader, since the finance minister unveiled her Fall Economic Statement earlier this month, we’ve heard repeated assurances from your government that it has been fiscally prudent. You’ve stated that here. This was challenged by the Parliamentary Budget Officer, or PBO, when he and the finance minister appeared before the House of Commons Finance Committee on Monday. The PBO’s office calculated that the government had announced $52 billion in net new measures over the span of six years. Allow me to quote from the PBO directly:

Would I qualify this as restrained spending growth? The answer is unsurprisingly, no. When the government has $81 billion in fiscal room and spends $52 billion of that, even after taking into account new tax measures, it’s not called keeping one’s powder dry.

Senator Gold, why is your government not exercising any fiscal restraint in the face of the upcoming economic uncertainty?

Hon. Lucie Moncion: Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the fifth report of the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration entitled Financial Statements of the Senate of Canada for the year ended March 31, 2022.

Hon. Ratna Omidvar: Honourable senators, I give notice that, at the next sitting of the Senate, I will move:

That, notwithstanding the order of the Senate adopted on Thursday, April 28, 2022, the date for the final report of the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology in relation to its study on the Federal Framework for Suicide Prevention be extended from December 16, 2022, to June 30, 2023.

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.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. The government takes this backlog very seriously and is applying itself diligently to address it. It is a real problem, and we understand the difficulty and hardship that it causes to people who cannot get answers as quickly as they would like and as they should.

The government remains committed and is continuing — and will continue — to address this problem to the fullest extent possible.

Senator Plett: Senator Gold, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada — IRCC — has been named in 709 mandamus applications filed in Federal Court this fiscal year. The fiscal year started in April.

This, Senator Gold, is outrageous. It’s a sad day when people are having to seek a judicial order that compels IRCC to finish processing their applications. Yet, Senator Gold, just a few weeks ago, your government announced a massive immigration increase of half a million people in 2025.

Senator Gold, does your government even have a plan on how they’re going to deal with this recent announcement? How will you address the backlog and the increase in immigration at the same time?

Senator Gold: Thank you for the question. The government is committed to increasing immigration to Canada to address the labour needs of this country, our need for the economy to continue to grow and to continue to attract talented, competent, able people to enrich our society.

With regard to the immigration processes, again, the government acknowledges the backlogs are serious. The government is applying itself to them and will continue to do so, even as it seeks to welcome more immigrants to Canada.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you. The problems that Canadians are feeling, whether it’s expressed in insolvency, regrettable as it is, or in increased costs of living and housing, are a serious preoccupation of this government. Indeed, all governments — provincial, territorial and municipal — are addressing them to the fullest extent possible.

Canada has put in place a fiscal policy which includes both tax measures, incentive measures and benefits. It is a balanced and prudent one, and it is helping Canadians each and every day, and it’s helping our economy generally progress forward.