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.

Senator Martin: Government leader, not everyone has an inflation-proof job. The number of Canadian families seeking debt relief is increasing. In September alone, the number of insolvencies rose by 3.1% — and they are not alone.

In the third quarter, the total number of Canadian business insolvencies increased by 48.5% compared to last year: almost 50%. Increased borrowing costs, inflation, production and labour issues, as well as a government that won’t cap its own spending have created the perfect storm. Leader, when will the government cap their spending and cancel their planned tax hikes?

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. 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.

Hon. Amina Gerba: Honourable senators, my question is for the Government Representative in the Senate. Senator Gold, the Minister of Foreign Affairs unveiled Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, which has a budget of $2.3 billion over five years, last Sunday in Vancouver. I welcome this strategy, which will help diversify opportunities for Canadian businesses.

However, I would like to point out that Africa is also a large market, uniting around a free trade area worth over $3 trillion in GDP and with 1.4 billion consumers. That number will rise to 2.5 billion consumers by 2050.

Senator Gold, when will the Canadian government present its long-awaited and much-anticipated strategy for Africa?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question. As the government continues to develop Canada’s strategy for Africa, it also continues to work with key partners to advance our shared priorities, including peace, security and prosperity.

That is why the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs visited South Africa, Malawi, Tanzania, Egypt, Morocco, Senegal and Nigeria this year to strengthen those ties. That is also why the government announced the opening of a new Office of the High Commission in Kigali and the establishment of a dedicated mission and permanent observer to the African Union. I’m told that the government will soon have more to say about the next steps in the Africa strategy.

Senator Gold: Thank you for the question. As I said, the government is currently developing the strategy and will announce details soon.

[English]

Hon. Raymonde Saint-Germain: Honourable senators, Lawyers Without Borders Canada, a non-profit organization based in my hometown of Quebec City, recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. That is 20 years of solidarity, international cooperation and commitment to the mission of giving access to justice to those who need it most and who could not otherwise access it.

Lawyers Without Borders Canada was founded in October 2002 by Dominique-Anne Roy, Pierre Brun and Pascal Paradis. These three committed lawyers from Quebec decided to join forces and participate, on a voluntary basis, I should note, in international solidarity efforts for justice. Lawyers Without Borders Canada is now an internationally recognized cooperative organization, known for its expertise, its credibility and its dedication to the promotion and protection of human rights. This organization makes a meaningful contribution, on the ground, to strengthening access to justice and legal representation.

Over the years, Lawyers Without Borders Canada has launched 52 projects in 32 countries with many local partners, helping hundreds of thousands of people. That is very commendable. Right now, Lawyers Without Borders Canada has 140 employees and volunteers in Bamako, Bogota, Guatemala City, Montreal, Port-au-Prince, Quebec City, San Salvador and Tegucigalpa. A total of 18 international cooperation projects are under way with 135 global partners.

[English]

Lawyers Without Borders Canada is a pioneer in the field of international legal cooperation. Its great achievement is to have allowed more than 100 lawyers from here to get involved elsewhere in service of those who need it the most. This pro bono commitment amounts to $7 million of non-billed legal work over the past five years. This involvement of our lawyers allows their expertise and dedication to shine through — without borders.

For all these reasons, dear colleagues, I salute in this chamber the 20 years of success of this remarkable organization, an organization born here and now serving throughout the world. Thank you, meegwetch.