Senator Gold: I believe I have answered that question, but I will repeat the key points for the benefit of all senators here. The government is making impressive investments in defence and our sovereignty in the Arctic. The government has announced a plan that includes $38.6 billion to modernize our continental defence capabilities. This is the most significant upgrade to our NORAD capabilities in nearly four decades. The government has awarded major contracts to ensure that our northern warning systems are improved, including a $122-million contract to support CFS Alert.

We are conducting exercises in the Arctic, we have procured patrol ships and we have also invested in our intelligence and monitoring capabilities in the Arctic by purchasing 88 aircraft. There is a plan, and that plan is integrated into programs for communities that are also located in the North, with the Rangers and the other communities we rely on to defend our sovereignty.

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear!

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Ms. Djaili Amadou Amal. She is the guest of the Honourable Senator Mégie.

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

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, when shall this bill be read the second time?

(On motion of Senator Gold, bill placed on the Orders of the Day for second reading two days hence.)

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate) introduced Bill S-11, A fourth Act to harmonize federal law with the civil law of Quebec and to amend certain Acts in order to ensure that each language version takes into account the common law and the civil law.

(Bill read first time.)

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear!

[English]

Senator Gignac: Thank you, Senator Gold. Your answer is reassuring, and I agree with you on the independence of the Bank of Canada with respect to political pressure. That said, we find ourselves in the context of a minority government that has the support of the New Democratic Party. Can you assure us that the Bank of Canada will continue to be independent over the next two years and that it will not be subject to constraints related to the context of this coalition?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question. As I’ve said a number of times in response to similar questions, the Government of Canada has made and continues to make considerable historic investments in our Armed Forces. Canada may not have reached the 2% you mentioned, but it’s important to emphasize certain facts. Since coming to power, this government has made additional investments totalling $34 billion in 2015 and $33.67 billion in 2021.

To put all that in context, for those who may not remember exactly, the amounts invested by the Harper government in previous years were 0.99% of the budget in 2013 and 1.01% in 2014. The Government of Canada continued to invest as it was able to spend more, and the percentage is a greater proportion of our GDP when the GDP goes up. This government will continue to invest in our Armed Forces in a manner consistent with Canadians’ interests.

Senator Saint-Germain: Thank you for this response. In addition, I would like to know if applications for reconsideration are being processed more efficiently and if the medical committee that ultimately reviews these applications is willing to meet with victims.

Senator Gold: I will add that to my list of questions.

[English]

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): It is neither one nor the other, frankly, senator. I suppose in my role as the Government Representative in the Senate, I’m fair game for questions about anything that happens, and I accept that. But if and when the issue arises here, we as senators will have our opportunity to pronounce, and we should do so in the spirit of independence that we have from the other place.

Hon. Robert Black: Honourable senators, pursuant to rule 5-10(2), I ask that Notice of Motion No. 83 be withdrawn.

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

Some Hon. Senators: Hear, hear.

[Translation]

Senator Carignan: One of the recommendations was that the Government of Canada amend the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act to explicitly mandate managers and supervisors in federal departments and agencies with a duty to protect and support employees who made a disclosure, any person that helped the employees, as well as witnesses and people mistaken for whistle-blowers. Has this been done, to your knowledge?

Hon Senators: Agreed.

(Notice of motion withdrawn.)

(At 3:31 p.m., the Senate was continued until tomorrow at 2 p.m.)

Hon. Dennis Dawson: Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the report of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie concerning the Bureau Meeting and Forty-seventh Annual Session, held in Kigali, Rwanda, from July 5 to 9, 2022.

Hon. Dennis Dawson: Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the report of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie concerning the Symposium of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie on Contested Democracies, held in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, from September 15 to 16, 2022.

[English]

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Ataullahjan, seconded by the Honourable Senator Plett, for the second reading of Bill S-225, An Act to amend the Prohibiting Cluster Munitions Act (investments).