Hon. Senators: Hear, hear!

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate) tabled the reply to Question No. 168, dated June 2, 2022, appearing on the Order Paper and Notice Paper in the name of the Honourable Senator Plett, regarding N95 masks — follow-up to written question 70.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate) tabled the reply to Question No. 145, dated March 30, 2022, appearing on the Order Paper and Notice Paper in the name of the Honourable Senator Housakos, regarding the Canada’s Tobacco Strategy — Public Safety Canada.

Hon. Robert Black: Honourable colleagues, at the outset, I would like to offer my condolences to the Royal Family and to all those in this chamber, across Canada and the Commonwealth who have taken time this week to mourn and celebrate the life of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Today, I would like to share with you a little more about what I did over the last few months while away from the Red Chamber.

During the summer recess, I had the opportunity to visit many communities across Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and Saskatchewan to learn more about Canadian agriculture, the challenges and opportunities facing the sector and the communities that support them, in addition to a trip to Scotland to attend the World Congress of Soil Science.

My tours included meetings with municipal officials at the Association of Municipalities Ontario conference, opening numerous rural fairs, tours of post-secondary institutions like the University of Saskatchewan and Olds College in Alberta, both of which are doing great work in agriculture, science, agronomy and agricultural technology.

I also visited with local economic development organizations and toured an oat-processing facility, a creamery, a Hutterite colony and a meat processing facility, among other things.

I’d like to say a very heartfelt thank you to all those who welcomed me to their communities over the past few months.

During the summer, I heard about many concerns and successes, as well as issues surrounding labour, supply chain concerns, food security and, of course, soil health.

Many sectors, including agriculture, are facing increased pressure related to supply chain concerns, rising prices as well as compounding factors such as climate change. This issue will tie specifically into the topic of soil health and how soil can help Canada meet its climate targets. With that in mind, I am extremely proud and excited to share with the chamber this afternoon that the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry began its soil health study this morning.

Yesterday, I also had the opportunity to once again visit an agricultural community just outside of Ottawa to attend the opening ceremonies and parade of the one hundred and third International Plowing Match and Rural Expo in nearby Kemptville.

I look forward to attending events again tomorrow and meeting with a group of young people involved in agriculture who will be there at that time.

Honourable colleagues, Canadians must recognize the important role that agriculture plays and our own role in supporting the many people who make up our food supply chain from coast to coast to coast. We should all be shouting from the rooftops about the great things our farmers and the ag industry are doing and that they have done to help put and keep food on our tables.

A healthy and strong agricultural industry can help Canada continue to be a world leader, have a stable food supply chain and meet important climate targets into the future.

I am hopeful that we will see continued support from all levels of government and the public as agriculture continues to work to enhance and strengthen their operations.

Thank you, meegwetch.

(Pursuant to the order adopted by the Senate on December 7, 2021, to receive a Minister of the Crown, the Honourable Marc Miller, P.C., M.P., Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, appeared before honourable senators during Question Period.)

Senator Housakos: I still have my time, Speaker.

The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: Senator, I’m sorry. Your time has expired.

Senator Plett: It was not.

Hon. Raymonde Gagné (Legislative Deputy to the Government Representative in the Senate), pursuant to notice of September 21, 2022, moved:

That, when the Senate next adjourns after the adoption of this motion, it do stand adjourned until Tuesday, September 27, 2022, at 2 p.m.

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear!

Hon. Tony Dean: Minister, I’m asking this question on behalf of Senator Duncan, who represents the Yukon.

Minister, through the Indigenous Peoples Committee report MAKE IT STOP! we learned that your department does not report on service standards regarding Indian registration applications and whether service standards are met. Senator Duncan has since learned from women who hold a status card that those cards must be renewed periodically with considerable processing delays.

Can you please tell us what you’re doing to establish higher service standards throughout your department, to determine what those service standards are and whether those service standards are, in fact, met?

Hon. Marty Klyne: Minister, the tragic events at James Smith Cree Nation in Saskatchewan have highlighted the problem of police response times in Indigenous communities. With a distance of 45 kilometres between the RCMP detachment and the subject crime scene, we should not expect an acceptable or timely response for any emergency.

Your mandate letter includes co-developing a legislative framework for Indigenous policing, and Budget 2021 provided funding for this response. Such localized policing services, with officers in place for the long term, would significantly and satisfactorily improve response times, not to mention the benefit of local police officers with knowledge and understanding of a community and its needs.

Can you please update us on this work and share an approximate timeline for introducing a government bill?

The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: Senator Omidvar, do you have a question?

Hon. Brian Francis: Welcome, Minister Miller. On August 20, The Canadian Press reported that it had obtained a copy of a 2015 agreement that confirms that Canada not only paid their legal bill but agreed to “forever discharge” Catholic entities from their obligation to raise $25 million for survivors under the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. Could you tell us by whom, why and how this decision was made, and what steps, if any, your government is taking to correct it?

Hon. Marc Miller, P.C., M.P., Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations: I know where he was going, Madam Speaker.

This is a complicated question, and clearly the issue of devolution is top of mind. I would say, as an update, that there has been some strong progress in the last little while. I don’t like to put the cart ahead of the horse, but we’re close on a number of elements.

You mentioned earlier the work that we’re doing with the Inuit-Crown Partnership. One of those was the Inuit Nunangat Policy to make sure that we are actually putting our best foot forward and reminding ourselves internally in the government of our relationship with Inuit, as opposed to Inuit spending the time re-educating others — whether it’s the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, lands and resources or the Department of National Defence — of their obligations and treaty obligations.

When you fold into that the discussion about the territory, and particularly Nunavut, it gets a little more complicated. It is fraught with, obviously, internal politics, and respecting those relationships where the government has to tread a careful path when it comes to creating new areas. I don’t think anyone is in any disagreement with creating protected spaces, but it’s something that has to be done in the spirit of respectful engagement. I don’t think any voices should be left unaccounted for when it comes to that, but you do often see departments tripping over themselves.

Hopefully, if there’s a success or a measure of success of the new Inuit Nunangat Policy that came into effect only a few months ago, it will be whether the departments that aren’t seized of Inuit relations all the time actually respect what is in that policy.

Senator McCallum: Yes.

Hon. Pierre J. Dalphond: Welcome to the Senate, minister. My question is about Bill C-29, which was introduced in the House of Commons just before the summer recess. This bill responds to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action 53 to 56. The purpose of the bill is to have the government monitor and implement the commission’s Calls to Action. This includes Bill C-15, which aims to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

How do see you this new council and government action working together to implement the UN declaration? Will this council be a sort of oversight body for government activity?

Hon. Marc Miller, P.C., M.P., Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations: I am very concerned, not only as a Quebecer or a Canadian, but as a human being. I don’t like to talk about it publicly too much, but I’ll break the rule.

I talk to Joyce Echaquan’s husband, Carol Dubé, fairly frequently. During the election campaign, I saw an individual who was seriously hurting, a man who was very deeply wounded as a human being. I find it really distressing to see that kind of reaction. Obviously, he feels that way because he misses her, but it’s also because of the denial of reality that all Indigenous people encounter.

That is something that I have never felt upon entering a hospital. I never felt an icy fear, the fear of discrimination or even death in this case. There’s work to be done, and it is up to the federal government to continue investing in the health care system to combat systemic racism. Denying the problem won’t make it go away. In fact, it will keep happening. It is happening all over Canada.

This problem exists even in provinces where things are going a little better, such as British Columbia. Recognizing that there’s a problem is a first step. Eradicating it is another. One need only look at the Viens commission report and the coroner’s report to see that this problem has yet to be solved. An election campaign isn’t going to change things.

Hon. Julie Miville-Dechêne: Minister, I want to come back to the aftermath of the atrocious death of Joyce Echaquan two years ago at Joliette hospital. The coroner found that her death was accidental, but that racism and prejudice were contributing factors. The death of this Atikamekw mother of seven children and its consequences have came up again during the election campaign with an obvious lack of sensitivity.

Beyond this controversy, I’d like you to comment on the divide between Indigenous people and the Quebec government concerning the acknowledgement of systemic racism. As you are a Quebecer and minister responsible for this issue, what is your assessment of the progress made in the way Indigenous people are treated in the Quebec health care system? Are you concerned or not?