The Hon. the Speaker: Senator Woo, you will run out of time in 10 seconds. Will you be asking for more time to answer the question?

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

Hon. Senators: Agreed.

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

(On motion of Senator Duncan, bill, as amended, placed on the Orders of the Day for third reading at the next sitting of the Senate.)

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Pate, seconded by the Honourable Senator Dean, for the second reading of Bill S-233, An Act to develop a national framework for a guaranteed livable basic income.

Hon. Scott Tannas: Honourable senators, my question is for Senator Gold.

In August, the Clerk of the Privy Council released the Twenty‑Ninth Annual Report to the Prime Minister on the Public Service of Canada. The report includes updated demographics of the federal public service, including gender and race statistics, as well as a breakdown of the number of public servants in each province. Notably, 42.2% of public servants live in the National Capital Region. This percentage is relatively unchanged over the last number of years.

My question for you, Senator Gold, is this: With the rise of more remote working — and we have heard that the government is working on a strategy for more remote working — does the government intend to have more public service jobs outside the National Capital Region?

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Jennifer May, Ambassador-Designate to the People’s Republic of China. She is the guest of the Honourable Senator Boehm.

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

Senator Gold: I’m not in a position to answer that, but I’ll make inquiries.

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear.

Senator Tannas: Is the government satisfied with having 42.2% of its workforce located here in Ottawa?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question. I’ll have to make inquiries as to what the implications are of the government’s approach to the public service and whether there are plans along those lines. I’ll certainly make inquiries and report back.

Senator Gold: Thank you for the question. My understanding, senator, is that the government is considering these general themes, and that these are informing the development of the national adaptation strategy. The government looks forward to announcing its strategy in due course.

[Translation]

Senator Coyle: Senator Gold, this month the Federation of Canadian Municipalities also released its own recommendations for that national adaptation strategy. They have called for a scaling-up investment in resilient public infrastructure and a focus on nature-based solutions to climate change. They suggested investing in mechanisms such as the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund, the National Infrastructure Fund and the Green Municipal Fund.

Senator Gold, could you tell us if the government is considering these recommendations and, if so, how will the government be incorporating these into the national adaptation strategy?

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

Senator Woo: If you allow me a minute, I can answer the question.

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Dawson, seconded by the Honourable Senator Bovey, for the second reading of Bill C-11, An Act to amend the Broadcasting Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts.

Hon. Denise Batters: Senator Gold, last week many of us stood in this place to pay tribute to the victims of the horrible murders in James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon in my home province of Saskatchewan. However, the victims of this terrible attack deserve action, not just words.

Last weekend, Global News produced a lengthy and alarming article in which we learned that Skye Sanderson, the wife of one of the perpetrators, called 911 to report her husband, Damien, and his brother Myles 24 hours before the murders began. According to the article, Skye believed “the only way to stop them from doing something ’stupid’ was to get them both locked up.”

The article further reads:

. . . her pleas fell on deaf ears. RCMP members arrived and returned her car to her but didn’t do enough to locate Damien and Myles — despite the pair’s outstanding arrest warrants.

Twenty-four hours later . . . 10 people were dead, 18 people were injured, and the Sanderson brothers were prime suspects in one of the worst mass killings in Canada’s history.

The RCMP refuses to answer questions about this shocking new information. Senator Gold, will the Trudeau government demand that the RCMP provide the answers that these victims, their families, the people of Saskatchewan and the whole country deserve?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): I’ll have to make inquiries in response to your question, but I would say, senator, first of all, that one can never express their condolences and sympathy too often to the families and communities who are still grieving. I know that’s shared by everyone here.

Policing in Indigenous communities is critical. It can mean the difference between prevention and tragedy, and that’s why the government is co-developing legislation to recognize First Nations and Indigenous policing as an essential service.

The government is scaling up its efforts. It is providing over $181 million for Indigenous policing services in 426 Indigenous communities across Canada. This is all part of its effort. Nothing can take away the loss of life or the tragedy that occurred. One hopes that this is a step in the right direction.

Senator Batters: Senator Gold, there is no way that these victims should have to wait for months, and potentially years, for answers to these questions. Myles and Damien Sanderson are dead, and they won’t be judged in a public criminal trial. Some questions about this case will require a more detailed response and process, but there are other questions that need to be answered now. The entire province of Saskatchewan was terrorized for days by these killings. The public needs reassurance and peace, and the RCMP has a responsibility to give Canadians confidence in their own safety.

When will we get these critical answers, and what immediate steps is the Minister of Public Safety taking with the RCMP to ensure that this never happens again?

Hon. Leo Housakos: Honourable senators, my question is for the government leader in the Senate.

Senator Gold, as Canadians are looking at yet another hike in interest rates between now and the end of October, in an attempt to get skyrocketing “JustinFlation” under some sort of control, your government continues to defend the Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem, despite his abysmal performance.

I’m sure you are going to give me the talking points about how we need to respect our institutions and the independence of the Bank of Canada. But considering that we have a Prime Minister who has acknowledged that he doesn’t spend his time thinking about monetary policy, and we have a Minister of Finance who — in this chamber less than a year ago — said, in response to my question, that inflation isn’t a real concern, and considering that the Bank of Canada also recently weighed in on social media in support for the partisan agenda of this current Trudeau government, don’t you think, government leader, that if you don’t fire the Governor of the Bank of Canada, at the bare minimum you should ask for his resignation?

Hon. Robert Black, pursuant to notice of September 22, 2022, moved:

That the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry be permitted, notwithstanding usual practices, to deposit with the Clerk of the Senate, no later than November 10, 2022, an interim report relating to its study on issues relating to agriculture and forestry generally, if the Senate is not then sitting, and that the report be deemed to have been tabled in the Senate.