Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Honourable senators, it seems the older one is, the faster time moves. Here we are at the end of June, after another year of uncertainty. As happened in the previous year and due to the newest variant of COVID-19, 2022 had us working under many of the same constraints. But with experience came some degree of ease of management, and the knowledge acquired from 2020 forward allowed us to plot our course more easily.

Committees were still unable to meet as often as during pre‑pandemic years, and resources and manpower continued to be at a premium. But the work got done and we managed to accomplish much, in no small measure because of our dedicated Senate support staff. Without our pages, table officers and Senate clerks, there would be no business conducted in this chamber. At risk to their own health, they were physically present every sitting day, regardless of how sparsely filled the Senate seats might be. Thank you all for your loyalty and dedication.

While our committee schedule was cut back considerably, our committee clerks and attendants were present at each and every committee meeting, even if only one or two senators were in the room and all others were attending virtually. You also deserve our gratitude.

Thank you to our IT staff, who ensured that witnesses could connect from anywhere on the planet, that we, non-tech savvy senators, could participate in the chamber or in committee from our homes and that all involved could be seen and heard.

I want to offer a special shout-out to the interpreters. Some of us have spoken to those professionals about the unforeseen issues that they’ve suffered. We’ve also read and heard about the physical toll that this situation has taken on them. I want to thank each and every one of you on behalf of the Senate of Canada. Without your expertise and competence, we simply truly could not function.

Thank you as well to the men and women of the Parliamentary Protective Service. For you, this was a year like no other. You have our thanks for all you did and all you experienced.

Senator Furey, the Speaker of the Senate, is charged with all decisions relating to this place. You have navigated these troubled waters with the firm hand of an experienced captain, all the while understanding that the work must never stop. Your guidance during yet another year of operating in a hybrid fashion — or in February, when access to this building was sporadic and when human resources were at a premium — ensured that the business of the Senate on behalf of all Canadians didn’t take a break. Thank you, Your Honour, for taking on these challenges and responsibilities, which I’m quite certain weren’t in your original job description.

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Honourable senators, the end of the parliamentary session presents us with an opportunity to reflect on the last few months. And you can believe me when I say it has been wonderful to find ourselves face to face in large numbers in person in this chamber. Hybrid Parliament was meant to be a temporary measure in response to unusual circumstances. Sadly, the government moved that our hybrid sittings carry on longer than anticipated. The resulting effects weren’t minimal and meant that our capacities were reduced. Our committee meetings were reduced, which, regrettably, led to less parliamentary oversight and decreased accountability.

I also want to thank our interpreters, who have gone above and beyond in providing exceptional service. Hybrid sittings have taken a toll on them, and we have heard this over and over again. The technical difficulties we faced caused them more grief than anyone else in this chamber. While they were often stretched thin in their personal capacities, when hearing their voices on the audio, no one would have known. Thank you for your perseverance this year.

Senator McCallum: Honourable senators, I rise today to speak to Bill C-28, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (self‑induced extreme intoxication).

As is true with many in this chamber and many in the general public, I, as a First Nations woman, have substantial concern and misgivings about the haste with which we are dealing with this legislation. I do not know if there are those in this chamber who can honestly say that the Senate has done due diligence on Bill C-28. I, for one, cannot make that assertion.

It is a very unusual and dangerous practice that we are engaging in, both here and in the other place. I understand that a House of Commons committee has been tasked with studying the subject matter of this bill in the fall. I also note Minister Lametti’s support for the Senate to undertake a similar committee study following a question by Senator Carignan during Committee of the Whole. However, I find it highly concerning that Parliament has agreed to do this process backwards. Studying the contents of a bill and thereby understanding the perspectives of the experts in this field only after that bill has become law is ill-advised.

One can argue that it treads dangerously close to impacting our collective privilege in fulfilling our senatorial duties. How can we vote competently on legislation if we have not been given the chance to adequately study and consider its merits and shortcomings?

This is especially true for me, colleagues, as a non-affiliated senator. Senator Plett, in his remarks on Motion 53, referenced it as not being time allocation as it had unanimity in its support. At no point was I consulted, informed or approached about the process around this bill or any other such legislative matters.

I can only assume the same was true for my non-affiliated colleagues. This long-standing subjugation of the unaffiliated has removed my voice and opinion from larger decisions of the Senate, including Bill C-28. I take exception to that.

Colleagues, I would like to state that I support the concept of this bill; I do not support the practice. Self-induced extreme intoxication should never be accepted as a viable defence for heinous and criminal acts. It is a loophole that needs to be closed. The closing of this loophole is intended, of course, to ensure guilty parties do not elude punishment on what constitutes a technicality. It is also, of equal importance, intended as a protection for the victims, who are largely women, from the criminal acts that tend to flow from self-induced extreme intoxication.

Honourable senators, given the extremely short time frame between the Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling on this matter and the introduction of this legislation in the House being a little over a month, it should come as no surprise that the issue of inadequate consultation has been a big one. I note that the issue of inadequate consultation is also not a new one.

As it pertains to Bill C-28, this issue has been raised by one of the groups that had actually been consulted, the National Association of Women in the Law, or NAWL. They contest that they, as well as many other interested stakeholders, have faced a lack of meaningful consultation. They also rightly state that the Senate, through the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, would greatly benefit from hearing from medical experts, women’s groups and Crown prosecutors whose job it is to prosecute on behalf of victims.

When questioned on this shortcoming by Senator White during Committee of the Whole, Minister Lametti responded by saying:

We did the consultations we could do in the time that we had from the date of the Supreme Court decision. We reached out.

You must admit, honourable senators, that this is a less‑than‑confidence‑inspiring response.

Honourable senators, beyond the issue of consultation, it has been raised that there are serious concerns that Bill C-28 represents a flawed piece of legislation. This concern, at its core, is that Bill C-28 will not accomplish what it seeks to. This is due to the fact that the burden of proof, which regrettably falls on the Crown and the victim, is a threshold that is nearly impossible to meet.

The National Association of Women in the Law registered a very valid concern around the stringent requirements for prosecutors to prove beyond a reasonable doubt both that the loss of control after the consumption of intoxicants was reasonably foreseeable, as well as the foreseeability of harm. In their words, through their June 21 press release, NAWL indicates:

Indeed, NAWL is concerned that this reform will prove impossible for the prosecution to implement. And that in the end, the heavy burden of men’s extremely intoxicated violence will fall predominantly on the women they harm. This is because the Crown must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a reasonable person could have foreseen that the accused’s consumption of a given intoxicant could cause loss of voluntary control, even though reasonable people may not actually know the effects of the intoxicants they are consuming, particularly with respect to quantities and combinations of intoxicants. Further, the Crown must now also prove that the reasonable person could have foreseen that the consumption of the intoxicants could lead them to become violent and harm others, even though there appears to be little scientific evidence to support the claim that any particular drug makes violence more likely.

As some of you will know, this concern has also been echoed to senators’ offices by the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters, known as ACWS, an organization that supports over 50 shelters across the province of Alberta for women, children and seniors facing domestic abuse. In their words, they are working “. . . to end domestic violence through culture-shifting violence prevention programs, collective data and research, and front-line training.”

Colleagues, our Senate committee would have done well to learn from groups like NAWL and ACWS and Indigenous organizations, due to their expertise and boots-on-the-ground work.

If such organizations register concern with the process and content of this legislation, we would be wise to heed their words.

As Minister Lametti stated before the Senate:

You may have been aware of the reaction to the Supreme Court decision. It was pretty much universal across Canada. . . .“You need to act quickly.”

Honourable senators, it is a fine line that exists between acting quickly and acting negligently. I am worried that we find ourselves on the wrong side of that line when it comes to Bill C-28. We have heard senators during Committee of the Whole make remarks to the minister by saying such things as, “The law would be entirely ineffective due to the burden placed on prosecutors,” and:

. . . what I worry about here is that the proposal . . . will miss the mark and almost nobody will be able to be convicted under this provision.

Honourable senators, I believe this bill is yet another form of violence against women, and particularly Indigenous women. And do I trust the government? Do Indigenous women trust the government? I would say no. Why would we place our trust in such an institution?

Let us ensure we do the right thing for Canadians and not the convenient thing for parliamentarians as we prepare to vote on Bill C-28. Thank you. Kinanâskomitin.

Senator Gold: Senators Gagné and LaBoucane-Benson are the best Government Representative Office, or GRO, colleagues I could hope for — talented parliamentarians, sounding boards, arbiters of debate, patient voices of reason and wisdom and just good friends to me. Thank you for your professionalism, common good sense and friendship. Of course, we all three admit and know that our jobs are made much easier — in fact, made possible — by the incredible team that we have working with us in the GRO. Teams of professionals who advise us, write for us, do research for us, and if they’re listening — and I hope they’re doing more fun things than listening to me talk at this hour — thank you so much.

To my leadership colleagues, Senator Plett, Senator Saint-Germain, Senator Tannas and Senator Cordy, we may not always agree. Tonight, though, was pretty good. Sometimes we disagree quite passionately, or vehemently on occasion, but I want to thank all of you for all the hours that you have put in and that have we spent together, hammering out how to best do the work for which we were summoned. Sometimes it feels as though we spend more time talking to each other than to any other person in our lives — at least that’s what my wife complains about — but it’s really worth it in the end to accomplish what we’ve accomplished and what we’re expected to accomplish on behalf of Canadians.

And speaking of my wife, to my dear wife, Nancy, thank you for putting up with me, supporting me and being without me, as I am without you, in these long sittings, so I couldn’t do it without you. Thank you, my darling.

In order for us to all come back in good form next September, let me conclude by wishing you all a peaceful summer. Spend it with those who matter most to you. Thank you for everything.

Hon. Kim Pate: Honourable senators, I commend the Minister of Justice on his laudable intentions with this bill. I have no doubt that protecting victims of violent crime and sexual assault is an objective that we all share. Given the importance of this objective, it is vital that we not take any shortcuts, but rather give the bill the full consideration and analysis that it is due, particularly in light of the evolving information regarding the serious flaws in the government’s consultation process, and the significant and substantial concerns raised by numerous groups. It is greatly and deeply concerning — and, frankly, irresponsible — for the Senate to vote on this matter without first having heard from the relevant parties and becoming more fully informed on the implications of passing this bill.

In an understandable attempt to act expeditiously, the minister is rushing Bill C-28 through the legislative process with a somewhat staggering disregard for standard procedure and due process. This push has given way to what can only be considered a disconcerting lack of government transparency. The government claims it must act with urgency, but also acknowledges that cases involving intoxication amounting to automatism are incredibly rare.

Why is this, colleagues? A few home truths. Most accused who are charged with violent offences are poor, racialized and represented by legal aid lawyers. They can’t afford the incredible defence teams, the medical reports and the legal gymnastics that are required to make the types of arguments that were brought before the Supreme Court of Canada in this matter. That’s why the cases are rare, my friends.

They are also rare because they, staggeringly, strain the credulity of the claims. Yet, we have due process requirements, and those due process requirements require — as Senator Simons so aptly put it — that even those individuals with the greatest privilege have those opportunities to raise those cases.

Is this bill in the interests of public safety — I encourage us all to consider this — or, as many of us feel, a result of politically motivated social pressure? Let us be clear, honourable colleagues, the government knew the need for this legislation was coming. They knew whom to consult, they knew where they were and they could have conducted full consultations in preparation for whatever decision came down from the Supreme Court of Canada.

The supposed consultations which took place in the crafting of this bill may serve to highlight my point. The content of these consultations with women’s organizations, victims’ advocacy groups and criminal law experts have yet to be made available to our offices. Despite repeated requests, aside from one press release, we have received no details about the submissions, opinions or advice put forward by these groups or others.

The fact that we only keep hearing about repeated reference to one press statement from one group is indeed, honourable colleagues, instructive. The hurried nature of this process raises further questions about its efficacy. According to some of the witnesses listed by the minister, consultation was not only wholly inadequate, the participants didn’t even know the phone call they engaged in was considered a consultation. Significant procedural and due process concerns were actually raised by many of those groups, and apparently ignored or disregarded.

As correspondence and pleas over the past few days underscore, concerns raised by witnesses were evidently not meaningfully considered in the drafting of this bill. How are we meant to serve our purpose of providing sober second thought when we lack the information required to make a knowledgeable and carefully considered decision? The purpose of committee study is significant and multifold. Beyond the political, it allows us to learn about the impacts and implications of proposed legislation from experts who can highlight that which may not be intuitive to us individually and, more importantly, how it may affect the most vulnerable and marginalized people. In this case, sexual assault victims, almost always women.

We learn from these processes and, more importantly, we then alter our legislation accordingly. We don’t do it the opposite way. Bill C-28 is not yet law, and already we are aware of overlooked issues. As many of my colleagues have pointed out, one of the most noted concerns is the increased legal burden on the Crown to prove criminal negligence. The minister has acknowledged this question and highlights for us that, under the proposed law, the accused will need to first raise the issue of extreme intoxication. Still, the onus of disproving this highly subjective, specialized, scientific defence will rest with the Crown.

Our ability to further research the matter has been stifled. We are left to wonder how severe the impact of this problem will actually be. In fact, at this stage, we’re advised by many groups — apparently consulted by the Department of Justice — that don’t know whether proving objective foreseeability beyond a reasonable doubt will prove to be a prohibitive hurdle for prosecutors.

I want to take a moment to briefly highlight that these concerns are not mine alone. Informed stakeholders and experts have been vocal in expressing fear that it’s unclear at which point one becomes negligent for simply taking a drug, one that does not put the rest of their friends or family into a state of automatism. Can we truly prove that in consumption of an intoxicant, there may be an objectively foreseeable risk that the user will lose control and become violent? That, dear friends, is one of the suggestions in this legislation.

The onus to make these points will be on the Crown, despite the amendments recommended by groups like the National Association of Women and the Law and shelters. We have not considered those options. Allow us not to fail those groups, but instead to acknowledge the validity in these critiques. As responsible lawmakers, we have this responsibility.

Much has been made of the need for haste following the Supreme Court’s ruling, although we seem to overlook the fact that, even in the decision itself, the Court suggested we study — that we study — and then we legislate. For many of us, skipping these important steps amounts to an abdication of our responsibility, and for me, personally, it’s reminiscent of where we were three years ago on another important Charter issue: solitary confinement.

Instead of chasing this runaway train with a “woulda, coulda, shoulda” review after the fact, please, honourable colleagues, let us pause, double-check the track we’re on, correct it if necessary and continue responsibly.

Our primary role here in the Senate is to provide sober second thought, so before I yield my time, I ask you all: How can we provide sober second thought without the opportunity for thought itself? Meegwetch. Thank you.

[Translation]

Hon. Jane Cordy: Honourable senators, on behalf of the Progressive Senate Group, I would like to take a moment to offer heartfelt thanks to those who have allowed us to do our jobs despite the challenges of the past few years. The list is a long one. It takes a village to do these hybrid proceedings successfully.

Firstly, there is our tech support at information services and our interpreters who face the real possibility of injury every day doing their job. Interpreters — who would have thought? Our wonderful, talented pages are young people who always make me feel so positive about our future. There is also the Usher of the Black Rod, Greg Peters, our table officers, our clerks, all employees in the Chamber Operations and Procedure Office, Senate communications and broadcasting, protective services and corporate security, maintenance and building staff, all other employees of the Senate Administration as well as the staff in each and every senator’s office. We rely on all of you every single day. For 25 months, you have gone above and beyond the call of duty. Without you, we could not be here. My progressive colleagues and I wish you a restful summer of fun and relaxation. We are blessed to have your experience and wisdom.

I would also like to thank my fellow leaders and facilitators, Senators Gold, Plett and Tannas and, in particular, my newest colleague, Senator Saint-Germain, who helps put us one step closer to gender parity among leadership.

Senator Cordy: Together over the last few months, the five of us have had some disagreements and at times some very tense meetings — or as Senator Gold says, “passionate meetings” — but we have always come together in the end with a view as to what is best for serving Canadians no matter which part of the country we call home.

By the way, disagreements are a good thing because you are forced to look at perspectives that are different from your own and that you may not have considered. Thank you, Speaker Furey, for your wisdom and patience in guiding us through our deliberations. Of course, thank you to our Speaker pro tempore, Senator Ringuette, for the job that you do.

Finally, I would like to thank my caucus colleagues for the joy that our small but mighty group gives us. To our leadership team, Pierre Dalphond, Pat Bovey and Brian Francis, thank you for your support, guidance and friendship. To all members of the Progressives, it truly is a pleasure to work with you each and every day. We have frank and serious discussions where all views are shared and heard, and we do it all with a sense of common purpose, with respect for one another and often with a lot of laughter. We truly enjoy working together, and I have no doubt that is evident in everything that we do. I am honoured to be working with you, and I ask that you take time to relax and enjoy time with your families over the next few weeks. Love you, all.

To our Progressive staffers, you are amazing people. You give us support for all our work and even make us look pretty good. So love to all of you, also. I know you work hard. You play hard. Please take some time to relax this summer.

To all honourable senators and to all staff, I wish you a safe and restful summer. I hope you spend more time with your families and with your friends, and, please, take the time to recharge before September. As Senator Gold said, time passes far too quickly. Maybe it is our age, Senator Gold, since we’re pretty close in age.

I look forward to working with all of you and maybe some brand-new senators when we return in the fall. Have a wonderful summer. Best wishes and thank you to each and every one of you.

Hon. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu: Honourable senators, I had planned on making a speech at third reading, but I will not. Contrary to what I said at second reading, and having listened to my colleagues who support Indigenous communities, I will be voting against this bill.

[English]

Hon. Raymonde Gagné (Legislative Deputy to the Government Representative in the Senate), pursuant to notice of June 22, 2022, moved:

That, until the end of the current session, any return, report or other paper deposited with the Clerk of the Senate pursuant to rule 14-1(6), may be deposited electronically.

An Hon. Senator: On division.

(Motion agreed to and bill read third time and passed, on division.)

Hon. Dennis Dawson moved second reading of Bill C-11, An Act to amend the Broadcasting Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts.

(On motion of Senator Dawson, debate adjourned.)

Senator Plett: The last few months, colleagues, have been challenging for Canadians. We’re seeing record-level inflation. Canadian families are having trouble affording day-to-day necessities. News headlines reflect the heaviness of world events. The war waged by Russia in Ukraine has shaken the world and brought about tragedy and uncertainty for many. My heart goes out to those who have found this year particularly demanding.

Colleagues, it is not my intent to take this time to criticize the government, but an honest reflection on this session requires me to at least acknowledge the unique challenges we have faced and continue to face. I sincerely make these comments when I say I am disappointed by steps this government has taken that have restricted freedoms of Canadians, sowed division in our country and reduced the efficiency of our Parliament. We have witnessed — not pointing fingers — one of the most contentious moments in our country’s history, brought about by the culminating frustration of Canadians after rough years caused by the pandemic, not by a government, but by the pandemic. We witnessed the shameful unprecedented use, quite frankly, of the Emergencies Act. My sentiments on this are no secret, colleagues, and I remain deeply concerned about the precedent that was set by an unjustified invocation of the Emergencies Act.

That being said, colleagues, I am proud of our collaboration in this chamber to ensure the respect of Canadians and of the Charter. I am especially proud of my own caucus, the opposition, and the role we have played in this important session. I truly believe that our interventions and lively debates on this matter contributed to the eventual revocation of the Emergencies Act and served the best interests of Canadians.

To be sure, colleagues, some moments were worth celebrating — moments when we have come together and passed legislation that will act to best serve Canadians, including this very evening, colleagues. Although we do not always agree, I know our debates are always conducted in good faith and with the objective of serving this great country to the best of our abilities.

Colleagues, you have all gotten to know me over the last years. I shoot from the hips. But let me be clear: I have the utmost respect for each and every person in this chamber.

Senator Yussuff and I went to dinner, and if you just indulge me for a few minutes — we’re going to be gone until September 20, so I think we can take a few minutes. Senator Yussuff invited me to dinner a week and a half ago. Now here is the former president of Unifor and the former president of the Conservative Party of Canada — not the pair that you would likely normally expect to be sitting and breaking bread. And I thank him for that because we had something in common when he said, “Don, you and I believe in Canada. You and I would do anything for our country.” He said, “We may not agree on the path to get there, but we do agree on the love for our country.” Senator Yussuff, thank you for that.

I want to offer a special thanks to my leadership colleagues as well. Senator Gold, I know you’re already missing the questions that I have been asking and I know you will long for those questions in the next while. Give Nancy my regards, but I know that Nancy will not be of equal substitute to the questions that I have been asking.

As you have the summer, though it was never our goal to be agreeable on government business, it continues to be a pleasure to work with you and, Senator Gold, I look forward to resuming our lively debates and Question Period come September.

Senator Saint-Germain, it has been a pleasure. It really has been. We have collaborated. We have worked together. Senator Saint-Germain, you and I developed what Senator Tannas called a programming motion. I do not agree with the concept, but we have worked well together. I have enjoyed every minute of it. I wish you and all of your colleagues a great summer.

Senator Cordy, what I regret the most is that we have seen too much of each other in here and not enough of one another in Florida. My golf has continued more than yours has. I wish you and Bob a great summer, and hopefully we can play a game of golf this summer.

Senator Tannas, I know that you have lost your way a little bit, but I pray that you will find your way back. It was a pleasure working with you, Senator Tannas, in our caucus and it has been a pleasure working together with you in your caucus. I wish you a great summer as well.

Although we are often on different sides of an issue, all of your discussions and negotiations have been invaluable. I thank you and wish you all a great summer break.

Senator Furey, I do want to play that nine-hole golf course that you were talking about. I wish you and your family well, Senator Furey. I appreciate your fair deliberations and your fair running of this chamber. It is not an easy task. I could say especially with this government, but I will leave that for another day. Senator Furey, thank you for all that you have done, I wish you a great summer break.

I want to echo Senator Gold’s comments about the Speaker pro tempore as well. Senator Ringuette, you have done a remarkable job, especially when we have been in a Committee of the Whole. You have no idea how much I have appreciated your fairness and the way that you have taken ministers to task and cut ministers off. I have appreciated that more than you will ever have imagined. Especially a few ministers that I could name.

A special thank you to the Black Rod, his office and pages. What a great group of pages we have had. Greg Peters, thank you for your work, appreciate that. Your dedication and professionalism to the chamber are remarkable.

To our security and our Parliamentary Protective Service, I feel safe walking into this building. I feel safe walking around this building. The other day when we had a fire alarm, they told me, you go ahead and go back to your office, don’t worry about it. I am not sure whether they hoped that I would get stuck in my office or whether everything was okay, but nevertheless I do appreciate everything that they do for us.

Hon. Raymonde Saint-Germain: This evening, it is the fifth year that I am pleased to see at this pre-eminent moment that we are first and foremost an institution of human beings, of people who have much in common, indeed much more than we may let on during our debates.

This evening, it is time to thank people. First, I wish to thank the Speaker of the Senate, the Honourable Senator George Furey, who shoulders heavy responsibilities with great dignity and an infallible democratic spirit. Personally, I appreciate your wisdom and excellent guidance when pointing out our misinterpretation of the Senate’s rules and practices, no matter our seniority or place in this chamber. I also want to thank Senator Ringuette, our Speaker pro tempore, who conducts herself with respect for the same values of dignity, justice and fairness.

I also wish to congratulate senators of all groups and caucuses who distinguished themselves during this parliamentary session by receiving honours and accolades from institutions, organizations, civil society groups and even, in some cases, institutions outside Canada. Congratulations to each and every one of you. Your expertise and dedication make you a credit to the Senate.

Like the Speaker, the Speaker pro tempore and all senators, you discreetly challenge us to ensure that our personal conduct does not tarnish the institution or the work we do every day.

I am so appreciative of my colleagues, the leaders of all of the other groups, and the Government Representative, Senator Gold, and his team. Thank you, Marc.

I also thank the illustrious Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Senator Plett. Thank you, Don. I want to thank and congratulate all of them. What Senator Plett said is true. Quite often, with good will and honesty, we’ve been able to find solutions. It’s teamwork, I think, and as they say, opposites attract. It’s interesting to see it from this perspective.

I also want to thank the other woman among the group of Senate leaders, Jane Cordy, who is always open and willing to work together. Jane, I truly appreciate you. I also want to thank Scott Tannas. I’ve found the way for him. I’m not sure if he’s gotten lost, but I’ve found my way. I also enjoyed our conversations and the fact that we often have different opinions but we always want to be effective and work in the best interests of the Senate.

[English]

At the end of the day — literally — I’m proud to say that all of us have operated in a way that has allowed the Senate to fulfill its duties in a responsible manner. Despite having to adapt to the challenges of many of us working remotely, hybrid sittings and hybrid committee meetings — which included but were not limited to forgetting to press the “mute” button and being reminded too often to switch channels before speaking — I still believe we delivered a solid performance.

For that, we must also thank the employees of the Senate Administration that have supported us in these challenging times. I will not repeat because my colleagues did it before me, and I’m conscious that we are at the end of the day, but I wish to convey a truly heartfelt thanks to everyone who makes our work in committees and in Parliament possible.

Even if Don highlighted this, a special word in this special time for the Parliamentary Protective Service. With the current cynicism of our political discourse, you have risen up to the task of tackling threats to our parliamentarians and our democratic institutions. Your service is essential not only to us but also to Canadian democracy.

While I believe that we have been up to the task in this period of uncertainty, we always need to strive for the best, as Canadians expect us to do. We must prioritize and always keep in mind the added value we can bring to the work of the other place.

As such, many challenges still lie ahead. I will keep some suspense for the fall. This page is with regard to the many challenges, so in September, I will be back with those.

In the meantime, I wish that we leave today in a positive spirit, with hopes of a return to more normality when we come back in September but also with a duty to remember the Canadians who suffered and are suffering from this pandemic and the colleagues we lost along the way.

Colleagues, myself and all the members of the Independent Senators Group — especially my colleagues in the facilitation team, Senators Dean and Petitclerc and Senator Duncan in the bright Whitehorse, Yukon, today — wish you all a restful summer with your families and friends. Come back in good shape. Challenges await us. Thank you, meegwetch.

Senator Plett: It is perhaps fair to say the following events that have transpired so far, and during these challenging times, there is an increasing appetite among Canadians for competent, transparent and accountable governance. Honourable senators, it is truly an honour to represent these values under the Conservative Party of Canada. I am proud to be a Conservative. I am proud of my team. I am proud of the fights and the best efforts of Canadians from coast to coast to coast. I am lucky to be part of a Conservative caucus who treats the role of the opposition with the respect it deserves. Canadians have full confidence that the Conservative Party will continue to hold the government to account for another year or so.

I also want to take the opportunity to thank our entire caucus — my caucus — for the diligent and excellent work that they have accomplished over the last few months, and continue to accomplish. Our group is getting smaller, but we are getting closer and we are fighting together. Thank you. I appreciate working with you.

I personally want to thank our staff, my staff and all of our staff for everything that they do behind the scenes. We all look in the mirror in the morning and think, “Now there’s someone really good.” We are nothing without our staff. Nothing. I am the first one to admit that I am nothing without my staff.

To my leadership, my deputy leader, Senator Yonah Martin; our whip, Senator Judith Seidman; our caucus chair, Senator Rose-May Poirier; and deputy whip, Senator Leo Housakos, thank you. Thank you to all of you.

I want to mention that our prayers should be with Senator Leo Housakos and his family. Leo is going through some difficult times with his mother, as many of us do as people get older. His mother is struggling with cancer, and that is why he is not here today.

To the Senate Administration, thank you for the crucial support you provide to us as senators and for ensuring smooth functioning of this institution. To all of those who work to keep our building running from security to cleaning, your work does not go unnoticed. It is appreciated by everyone in this chamber.

Honourable senators, it has truly been a pleasure to sit alongside you and serve Canadians with you in this chamber. Whether we agree or disagree, it is a pleasure to work with each and every one of you. I bid you all a safe and restful summer, and look forward to seeing you all again very soon. God bless.

Senator Tannas: I think we earned a lot of respect that day.

We continue to do what we need to do to support Canadians who are experiencing financial hardship. We have, perhaps, become a little bit inured to the amount of money that we have put in the hands of Canadian families and businesses to see them through these difficult times. I hope that era is over, for everybody’s sake.

One of the most striking memories will be Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and his historic address to our Parliament. He shared his powerful, inspiring words. I was not here; I was at home. But I cried with my wife as we listened to his words, and I felt like I was a part of history.

Some past good work that continues to show itself is in the form of the interim report on the implementation of Bill S-3 that deals with eliminating gender discrimination in the registration provisions of the Indian Act. It will be tabled shortly and it will likely be historic in its impact.

Senator Patterson: Hear, hear.

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

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