Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): The short answer is, Senator Plett — and thank you for your question — there clearly is inconsistent information being provided both, as you described, at the site in Laval and, perhaps, elsewhere. The information I have was the answer that I gave you the other day, and that’s the only information I have.

It is a deplorable situation. I will try to find out, to the best of my ability, what’s happening in that particular centre. It is a busy one, but it is not the only one that is plagued with problems. I’ll do my best to sort it out if I can.

Senator Plett: Hopefully, the minister can give you the correct information.

Our passport system, leader, is in utter chaos. No one in the Trudeau government knows how to fix it, and each day it seems to get worse. I hate to think what will happen next week when most schools close for the summer and more families start travelling. As I said yesterday, over 18,000 Service Canada employees who process passports still work from home as a pandemic precaution.

The insistence of this Trudeau government to prolong the pandemic as long as possible while the rest of Canada, and indeed the rest of the world, has moved on means the government can’t keep pace with its citizens.

Fewer than 48,000 passports were issued last week, leader. The average before the pandemic was more than 90,000 passports per week — almost double.

Leader, a written answer tabled in the House of Commons states that as of May 12, 2022, 249 Service Canada employees were on leave in relation to the vaccine requirement.

How many of these workers process passports, Senator Gold, and are they now back at their jobs?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. The government is of the view that the labels that provide information to consumers are an important tool so that Canadians can make choices as to how they want to eat and to understand better the consequences of the choices they make.

The government will continue to work with experts in the scientific community, but also with stakeholders to make sure that the information that is communicated to Canadians is appropriate.

These labels work. For example, in Chile, which introduced labelling, they saw major improvements in healthy eating in the country just a year and a half after the implementation.

I cannot generalize about every household in Canada, but I can assure you that in our household we continue to eat beef but over the years we have moderated our consumption of certain foods and replaced them with others out of consideration for our own health. In my household we continue to enjoy beef, but we have also made choices based upon what we now understand is best for our health, in terms of immediate and long-term effects.

The approach that the government is taking with regard to beef and pork is exactly that: to provide Canadians with the information that they need and deserve to make the free choices that they can and should make in terms of what they want to eat.