Hon. Donna Dasko rose pursuant to notice of November 24, 2021:

That she will call the attention of the Senate to the role of leaders’ debates in enhancing democracy by engaging and informing voters.

She said: Honourable senators, I note that this item is at day 15, and I am not prepared to speak at this time. Therefore, I move the adjournment of the debate in my name for the balance of my time.

(On motion of Senator Dasko, debate adjourned.)

(At 5:09 p.m., the Senate was continued until Tuesday, June 7, 2022, at 2 p.m.)

Hon. Robert Black: Minister, I recently met with agricultural industry stakeholders to discuss the Canada Grain Act review process. They highlighted that this review is an important step forward, and I shared that in a letter to you earlier in May.

The What We Heard Report document produced from the government’s consultations also highlights that this process was a half-century in the making, since the last comprehensive amendment took place in 1971. In fact, it is especially important given how dramatically the nature of grain delivery by farmers has changed.

Stakeholders shared their perspective that the review process should move away from an industry-versus-government regulatory scenario, and instead focus on how to support the value chain and ensure Canada’s place as a superpower in the global grain sector, especially in light of the war in Ukraine, which is impacting food security around the world.

Minister, will the government commit to supporting Canadian grain through policy and practice to ensure that Canadian grain remains a trusted brand and solidifies our position as an efficient supplier for the global community?

Hon. Marie-Claude Bibeau, P.C., M.P., Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food: I completely agree. The labour shortage is very difficult, especially for the regions. We have been able to implement specific programs to make it easier and faster for temporary agricultural workers to get permanent resident status, particularly in the Atlantic region. This pilot program has become a popular and permanent program in Atlantic Canada.

There is also a program in Ontario specifically designed for workers in the processing, greenhouse and mushroom industries, and it works well. There is still room for more participation. I would have hoped that such a program could have been created in Quebec, but the situation is different, since the provincial government makes the decisions about economic immigration. It was, however, something we were asked to do.

In my mandate letter, the Prime Minister asked me to develop an agricultural labour strategy. This all obviously requires improvements to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. Investments also need to be made in employment or internship programs for young people to get them interested in the agricultural sector. This sector is not limited to farm work; it also relies on new technologies and science, for example.

The Minister of Finance’s mandate letter also includes tax incentives to keep seniors working longer. By investing in child care services, we are trying to bring workers back to the workplace and to the regions. I come from a region, the Eastern Townships, and housing, which is a problem everywhere, is known to be associated with the labour shortage. As you know, the government is investing billions of dollars through the National Housing Strategy. Our strategy is quite broad, when it comes to labour.

[English]

Hon. Raymonde Saint-Germain: Honourable senators, the few minutes I have for this tribute won’t allow me to adequately recount all the highlights of Senator Wetston’s long and illustrious career. After devotedly serving on the executive side of government, Howard came to the Senate in 2016 to serve on the legislative side as a member of the first wave of independent senators — a historic change to the Senate — which he duly personified, having been appointed in his career to positions by Liberal and Conservative governments, both provincially and federally.

For more than 30 years before joining the Senate, Howard was in pursuit of the public interest, whether as a judge, an enforcement official or as the chair of several administrative tribunals. The prestigious honours he has received over the years are in themselves a testament to his immense contribution to Canadian public life, most notably the Order of Canada for the significant contributions he made as a public servant, jurist and regulator.

Senator Wetston has a breadth of experience and expertise in competition law and policy, securities regulation, energy regulation and administrative law. He has generously shared this expertise, most notably through his work on the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, as well as the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce. His contributions to the Standing Committee on Ethics and Conflict of Interest for Senators should also be highlighted as they are a key sign of his credibility among his peers, particularly because of his sense of justice and profound ethical values.

I would also like to emphasize his remarkable work on the Competition Act. Here is a senator who has taken advantage of the pandemic to accomplish something greatly useful. His consultation paper, entitled Examining the Canadian Competition Act in the Digital Era, is remarkable in that it offers a happy balance between vision and pragmatism. This demonstrates the wisdom of our colleague who understands that politics, being “the art of the possible,” requires one to sometimes deal with it step by step.

I will now conclude on a more personal note and say that being a senator, with all the demands and sacrifices, also brings the privilege of knowing exceptional colleagues. Howard is one of them, not only for his intelligence and wisdom but his great human values. Since childhood, when he was ostracized and experienced, among other things, refugee camps, life has provided him with its share of challenges — challenges that he overcame and which have made him an exceptional human being, open to the world and attentive to others.

Dear Howard, in the name of all members of the Independent Senators Group, thank you for all you have done, and all the best to you as you enjoy more time with your family and loved ones.

Hon. Jean-Guy Dagenais: Minister, Mr. Harper’s Conservative government signed an economic partnership agreement with the United States, Mexico, Australia and Asian countries. That was the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Unfortunately, President Trump tossed aside the agreement, which would have benefited Canadian businesses and our farmers.

Just a few weeks ago, President Joe Biden opened talks for a new economic agreement with a dozen Asian countries, but he didn’t ask Canada to participate, which is an insult, especially given that the Prime Minister considers President Biden to be Canada’s friend and ally. Some friend, right?

The fact is, President Biden is playing for the United States, and only the United States, with his Buy American procurement policies. This will most definitely affect agricultural production in Canada.

Can you explain why the Americans took this unilateral action? How are you going to address the worrisome fact that the Canadian Prime Minister is being left out of these discussions?

Hon. Marie-Claude Bibeau, P.C., M.P., Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food: I would say that we’ve been very successful with free trade agreements in recent years. For instance, we concluded an agreement for the trans-Pacific region with countries in Asia. We also reached agreements with the European Union, the United States and Mexico. It seems to me that Canada is already well covered in terms of relationships and trade agreements with the countries targeted by the United States.

As you know, this file is managed by my colleague Mary Ng, the Minister of International Trade. Obviously, everything related to international trade is a pillar of agriculture, along with research and innovation. This is extremely important to us. We already have some windows of opportunity to develop markets in many countries. There are also business opportunities that we are trying to develop, in partnership with the industry and various associations in the agricultural sectors that have an interest in countries or other jurisdictions. Ultimately, it is our farmers and their associations that set their priorities with respect to the countries where they want to develop their markets. Canada is already very well positioned with these three very important free trade agreements.

[English]

Hon. Judith G. Seidman: Welcome to the Senate, minister.

Minister, my question concerns full and fair compensation for dairy farmers for what they’ve lost under the CUSMA trade agreement. In the April budget, your government said compensation for CUSMA won’t be announced until the fall 2022 Economic and Fiscal Update.

In response, the Dairy Farmers of Canada said, “In tabling Budget 2022 without details, the government missed an opportunity to provide predictability to the industry.”

Minister, the new NAFTA came into force almost two years ago, on July 1, 2020. Why is it taking so long to fulfill this promise to dairy farmers?

Hon. Marie-Françoise Mégie: Good afternoon, minister.

For some agriculture and agri-food businesses, temporary foreign workers have become essential. An article in Le Devoir indicated that 74% of those welcomed through this program do not know French when they arrive in the country, which limits their ability to integrate and understand their rights. All of this creates a double linguistic and economic gap for Quebec and francophone communities in Canada.

Given that Haiti has an abundance of skilled labour, how could you bridge the gap between Haiti and Canada to mutually help our francophone farming populations?

Hon. Marie-Claude Bibeau, P.C., M.P., Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food: Thank you. That is an interesting idea. Our foreign worker programs start with a bilateral agreement between Canada and the source countries, primarily Mexico and Guatemala in the case of temporary foreign worker programs.

That would be the first step, if the country showed an interest. This could be discussed with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. Then, that community could potentially be integrated into the program.

I would like to take this opportunity to say that, as the Minister of Agriculture, my objective is to address the labour shortage through foreign worker programs, but we also have concerns about the safety of these workers. Minister Qualtrough and I want to make sure that we implement the measures needed to ensure that our workers are better integrated despite the language barrier.

I have met a large number of farmers who now speak Spanish very well. Rather than the workers learning French and English, the farmers have learned to speak Spanish so they can communicate properly. We want to ensure that these workers are better integrated. Last year, funding was provided to non-profit organizations such as Actions interculturelles in my region. These organizations have supported workers in their communities.

[English]

Hon. Jean-Guy Dagenais: Minister, China just lifted the ban on canola imports from two of Canada’s largest producers. That is excellent news for our producers, who, for the past three years, have been paying the price for the diplomatic quarrel that followed the arrest of a Huawei executive in Canada. In 2019, Canada supplied 40% of the canola used in China, which means that our industry lost billions of dollars. To justify the ban, the Chinese alleged that something dangerous had been found in canola from the two Canadian suppliers.

Can you tell us if the quality of the canola has changed since 2019 or if this was just a diplomatic excuse? I would also like to know how much this dispute with the Chinese cost the thousands of workers in the industry and Canadian taxpayers as a whole in terms of sales lost, jobs lost and government subsidies.

Hon. Marty Klyne: Minister, my question is on the Lake Diefenbaker Irrigation Projects. As you will know, in 2020, the Province of Saskatchewan announced a $4 billion irrigation investment project at Lake Diefenbaker. Once completed, this project will irrigate up to 500,000 acres of land, which will double the amount of irrigable land in the province. Construction of the Gardiner Dam began in the late 1950s when John Diefenbaker was the Prime Minister. Sixty years later, we still do not have the required water security for the Prairie provinces, and Canada is denied the significant benefits of this project, including positive climate change impact, opportunities to manage flooding and droughts on the Prairies and a just transition to bolster labour and prosperity.

For the sake of bolstering Canada’s food security and economic stability, is the Government of Canada considering partnering with the Province of Saskatchewan to help make this a reality?

Hon. Marie-Claude Bibeau, P.C., M.P., Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food: Our industry has once again proved to be very resilient because the canola sector had a record year in 2019-20, partly because of prices, but also because producers were able to diversify their exports. Since then, two major plants have been built and major investments have been made in processing plants; this is value added here, at home.

It’s true that the two main exporters lost access to the Chinese market, but these business people were able to reposition themselves quite well. We were able to support them in different ways. We had to take the matter before the World Trade Organisation, because we had tried every possible way to have a technical discussion with the Chinese authorities but were unsuccessful. We therefore took the matter all the way to the WTO, which has since authorized those two companies to start doing business again.

Yes, it can be challenging to have discussions based on science, but Canada will always be a country that defends and promotes trade based on rules and science. To answer your question, the canola sector has actually had some very good years.

[English]

Hon. Marie-Claude Bibeau, P.C., M.P., Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food: Fall 2019 and the beginning of COVID were very close. It was our intention in the fall of 2019. This commitment was also coming with a commitment to invest $500 million more in Farm Credit Canada. COVID happened and we needed to shift our priorities and to adapt to the situation. This $500 million has been given to Farm Credit Canada so they were in a position to better support our farmers during COVID. They were able to have more flexibility in their terms with their farming clients. So it was important.

You have noted that in my mandate letter of 2021 the idea of changing the name and maybe reanalyzing the structure is no longer there. I would say that because of COVID and perhaps because of the new situation, we have identified other priorities. But Farm Credit Canada definitely is still an important tool and an important organization in our agricultural environment.

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Pate, seconded by the Honourable Senator Duncan:

That the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance be authorized to examine and report on a road map for post-pandemic economic and social policy to address the human, social and financial costs of economic marginalization and inequality, when and if the committee is formed;

That, given recent calls for action from Indigenous, provincial, territorial and municipal jurisdictions, the committee examine in particular potential national approaches to interjurisdictional collaboration to implement a guaranteed livable basic income; and

That the committee submit its final report no later than December 31, 2022.

(On motion of Senator Martin, for Senator Plett, debate adjourned.)

Senator Simons: Senator Jaffer, one of the challenges you and I have discussed is that it is provincial governments who are responsible for acting as the guardians of these children. It is provincial governments who are often the ones failing to apply for citizenship. Understanding, of course, that we can’t tell provinces what to do, what do you hope your bill will accomplish to encourage provincial governments to actually make these applications in the first place?

Senator Jaffer: Thank you very much, Senator Simons. This is something that I have struggled with a lot, because it is true. We all know that it is the provinces who take the children into care.

But in our wonderful federal system, immigration law is under the federal government. It is something I really believe is our responsibility. So the immigration law can only be changed by the federal government or by us in Parliament. It is the beauty of our federal system that if the federal law changes and becomes the law of the country, the provincial social workers would have to apply to get citizenship.

I have struggled a lot with this, but that’s the only way to do it. The courts have held that as well, because the provinces don’t form immigration laws.

(On motion of Senator Martin, debate adjourned.)

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Klyne, seconded by the Honourable Senator Harder, P.C., for the second reading of Bill S-241, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act (great apes, elephants and certain other animals).

The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: Honourable senators, we welcome today the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, P.C., M.P., Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, to ask questions relating to her ministerial responsibilities.

Pursuant to the order adopted by the Senate on December 7, 2021, senators do not need to stand. Questions are limited to one minute and responses to one and a half minutes. The reading clerk will stand 10 seconds before the expiry of these times. Question Period will last one hour.

[English]

Hon. Senators: Agreed.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Honourable senators, on behalf of my colleagues in the Government Representative Office — feeling slightly bittersweet about this — I am pleased to pay tribute to Senator Howard Wetston.

Senator Wetston came to the Senate in the fall of 2016 as a respected public servant, a distinguished lawyer and jurist and an experienced regulator and executive. He had previously led the Ontario Securities Commission, the Ontario Energy Board and the Competition Bureau.

His passion to update best practices and rules governing publicly traded companies in Canada was clear during his sponsorship of Bill C-25 during the Forty-second Parliament. A main objective of the bill was to increase diversity and the participation of women on corporate boards and within senior management. It also improved corporate transparency, reduced the regulatory burden and increased shareholder democracy.

During committee study, Senator Wetston proposed three important amendments that were ultimately accepted by the government. One change allowed corporations to share information with their shareholders electronically in a broader range of circumstances. Two more amendments created a grace period of 90 days for current directors who were not re-elected under new majority voting rules to continue their duties. This commitment to transparency and fairness is a perfect reflection of the values that Senator Wetston brought with him to this chamber.

Senator Wetston also sponsored Bill C-85, legislation to enable to ratification of a new Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement. The modernized and more robust trade agreement helped enhance the commercial relationship between the two countries.

More recently, as Senator Saint-Germain alluded to, Senator Wetston initiated a consultation process examining the appropriateness of the current Competition Act in the digital age. This initiative represents a really important and timely contribution to the public policy process in Canada and will stand as an important legacy that he has bequeathed us.

On a more personal note, I had the privilege of being sworn into the Senate just a few days after Senator Wetston, and we became friends immediately. He is a kind, sensitive and caring person. As we say in Boston, wicked smart, but not arrogant; gentle in demeanour, but principled and tough-minded; a no‑nonsense person with a great sense of humour. Simply put, a wonderful colleague and a true mensch. Howard, I will miss you terribly. On behalf of all of us in this chamber, we wish you all the best as you embark on this next chapter in your life.

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Honourable senators, I also rise today to pay tribute to our colleague and friend Senator Wetston.

Senator Howard Wetston was appointed to this chamber five and a half years ago. He has served on several committees, but the two committees where I am most familiar with the work he has done are the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce and the Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources.

Today, I wish to recognize the work you have done, Senator Wetston, especially on the Banking Committee report entitled: Cyber assault: It should keep you up at night. This report dealt with important issues for Canadians and showcased the positive work that can be done at the committee level in the Senate of Canada.

Another of your great contributions was your involvement in the committee with the Senate’s record-high number of amendments brought forward on Bill C-69, An Act to enact the Impact Assessment Act and the Canadian Energy Regulator Act, to amend the Navigation Protection Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts. Your expertise and knowledge in regulatory law were beneficial to everyone in this chamber, especially to former Senator Mitchell, who was the sponsor of the bill.

Your competence and past experiences in competition law and policy, securities and energy regulations, and administrative law enriched this chamber with a very specific expertise.

Although we haven’t served together much on committees, I wish to recognize and underline that I have a lot of respect for you and the work you have accomplished in this chamber. And I believe it is important to acknowledge your service to our country.

Howard, I know that we both share a passion for golf. With your imminent retirement, I wish you the very best in your future endeavours. I hope you get that handicap down a bit, and I hope you will be able to enjoy a lot more time on the greens in the weeks and months ahead.

And I am always open and looking forward to an invitation to playing a round of golf with you, Howard. Happy retirement.