The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, pursuant to rule 9-10(7), the sitting is suspended. The bells will start ringing at 5:15 to call in the senators for a vote at 5:30 p.m.

(The sitting of the Senate was suspended.)

(The sitting of the Senate was resumed.)

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On the Order:

Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Gold, P.C., seconded by the Honourable Senator LaBoucane-Benson:

That, notwithstanding any provisions of the Rules, previous order or usual practice, the provisions of the order of November 25, 2021, concerning hybrid sittings of the Senate and committees, and other matters, extended on March 31, 2022, have effect until the end of the day on June 30, 2022, subject to the following adjustments:

1.subparagraph 7(a) to (e) of the order of November 25, 2021, be replaced by the following:

“(a)when the Senate sits on a Monday, the sitting:

(i)start at 2 p.m.; and

(ii)adjourn at the earlier of the end of Government Business or midnight;

(b)when the Senate sits on a Tuesday, the sitting:

(i)start at 2 p.m.; and

(ii)adjourn at the later of the end of Government Business or 6 p.m.;

(c)when the Senate sits on a Wednesday, the sitting:

(i)start at 2 p.m.; and

(ii)adjourn at the earlier of the end of Government Business or 4 p.m.;

(d)when the Senate sits on a Thursday, the sitting:

(i)start at 2 p.m.; and

(ii)adjourn at the earlier of the end of business for the day or midnight; and

(e)when the Senate sits on a Friday, the sitting:

(i)start at 9 a.m.; and

(ii)adjourn at the earlier of the end of Government Business or 4 p.m.;” and

2.the provisions of paragraphs 12 and 13 of the order of November 25, 2021, cease to have effect, so that the evening suspension be as provided for in rule 3-3(1), including on Mondays, and, consequently, if the Rules require that something take place at 8 p.m., it take place at the time provided for in the Rules; and

That the Senate recognize the need to work towards a return to a schedule of committee meetings reflecting Ottawa-based operations, and call upon the Committee of Selection to continue to work with the leaders and facilitators of all recognized parties and recognized parliamentary groups to advance this objective.

And on the motion in amendment of the Honourable Senator Plett, seconded by the Honourable Senator Carignan, P.C.:

That the motion be not now adopted, but that it be amended:

1. by replacing the words “June 30, 2022” by the words “May 9, 2022”; and

2.by adding the following after the word “objective” at the end of the motion:

“; and

That, before introducing any motion on the extension or resumption of hybrid sittings of the Senate, the Leader of the Government in the Senate must:

1.table in the Senate:

(a)all opinions and guidelines from public health officials from the federal government regarding in-person meetings in the federal public service;

(b)all opinions and guidelines from public health officials from the Ontario and Québec governments regarding in-person meetings;

(c)a letter from the Clerk of the Senate outlining how the Senate sitting in-person only would contravene any opinion or guideline mentioned in points (a) and (b); and

(d)a plan for a transition back to in-person sittings of the Senate as soon as practicable in accordance with the commitment made by the Senate on March 31, 2022; and

2.consult in an open and constructive manner with the leaders and facilitators of all recognized parties and parliamentary groups”.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question, senator. As colleagues may recall, I have had previous questions about the Strategic Innovation Fund. Indeed, I have made inquiries on your previous question with regard to that. Regrettably, I have yet to hear back from the government. Pursuant to your question, I will add a query that is specific to the province of Saskatchewan and I hope to provide an answer in that regard in a timely manner.

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

(On motion of Senator Gold, bill placed on the Orders of the Day for second reading two days hence.)

(At 5:42 p.m., the Senate was continued until tomorrow at 2 p.m.)

Hon. Judith G. Seidman: Honourable senators, my question is for the government leader in the Senate.

Last year, both the Auditor General and an independent review panel released reports which looked into Canada’s early warning system for threats to public health, known as the Global Public Health Intelligence Network.

The Auditor General found that changes to this network in 2018 significantly decreased the number of alerts, and, of course, as we know, no alert was issued to provide early warning of the COVID-19 virus. Among its findings, the independent review panel found deficiencies within the chain of decision making and the system’s risk assessment, as did the Auditor General.

Leader, since these reports were released last year, what specific steps has your government undertaken to overhaul the Global Public Health Intelligence Network?

Senator Marwah: Thank you, Senator Batters. I think that’s a fair question, but I think we’ve heard time and time again in this chamber that the bottleneck is not technicians; it’s not broadcasting services or clerks or capacity. The bottleneck is translation and interpretation services. We did increase capacity last year. We hired one more — I think it’s called an MMS technician, with which the House of Commons helped us. We hired one which allowed us to go from two simultaneous virtual meetings to three. Beyond that, there was no point in hiring additional technicians or increasing other capacity because we couldn’t get additional interpretation services. That is the bottleneck, Senator Batters. If that is resolved, other capacity can be increased. Otherwise we’ll be increasing and spending money for no benefit.

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

Hon. Colin Deacon: Senator Gold, the launch of the Government of Canada’s COVID Alert app was a missed opportunity in the earlier stages of the pandemic and ultimately failed due to a very low adoption rate. It is estimated that only 17% of Canadians downloaded the app, of which only half of those were estimated to be active at the peak. Senators Moodie, Dasko and I conducted a survey that found that five times that many, or 80% of Canadians, wanted to use their mobile device data to notify others they had been close to if they tested positive for COVID-19.

The app is now in a zombie state between the low adoption rate and the fact that it is now useless given it requires a polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, test confirmation to input the positive case data.

Does the government have a plan to retire this application and, importantly, conduct a post-mortem? Can you speak to why Canada had such low download and adoption rates compared to, for example, New Zealand at 60%?

I can’t understand why there was no plan to use partnerships with businesses that could benefit from the app to encourage its use, for example, airlines. Can you speak to that please?

Hon. Pierre J. Dalphond: Honourable senators, five years ago today, after Parliament passed it unanimously, the Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act became law. This was a private member’s bill, championed by MP Ron McKinnon of B.C. Like many such laws in American states, this law means a person cannot be charged with possessing illegal drugs if calling 911 to report an overdose. With the opioid crisis, Health Canada and the police have been promoting this law to the public. Evidence suggests it helps save lives.

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South of the border, the State of Maine is considering extending its good Samaritan immunity for non-violent offences if making the call is to save a life.

Senator Gold, will the government consider extending Canada’s good Samaritan drug overdose laws to nonviolent offences in order to help save lives?

Hon. Diane Bellemare introduced Bill S-244, An Act to amend the Department of Employment and Social Development Act and the Employment Insurance Act (Employment Insurance Council).

(Bill read first time.)

Hon. Denise Batters: Honourable senators, my question is for the Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration, Senator Marwah.

Senator Marwah, last Friday, senators and Senate staff received a memo from the committee announcing the reopening of the Senate gym and yoga room in the Victoria Building. I didn’t even know we had one of those.

Despite vigorous activity in close quarters in these rooms with the potential for the spread of a lot of droplets, masks there are only recommended, not required. Meanwhile, mandatory masking still applies in common areas in the Senate, including this chamber and, according to a March 25 press release, “entrances, hallways, washrooms and break rooms.” Why the double standard?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you, colleague, for the question and for reminding us how important it is. Preventive measures, including warnings, are an important part of keeping us safe. The government values the input of the reports and studies to which you referred and is considering all of those steps seriously.

I don’t know what the actual state of progress is. I will make every effort to find out and be happy to report back as soon as I can.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of the family of the Honourable Senator Forest-Niesing: her husband, Robert Niesing; mother, Marie-Paule Forest; daughter, Véronique Niesing; and sisters, Sylvie Palkovits and Dominique Forest.

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

Senator Francis: Thank you, Senator Downe. As mentioned before, the current work plan of the Aboriginal Peoples Committee will touch upon the federal implementation of matters impacting the social and economic rights of Indigenous people. Due to time constraints related to the pandemic and other factors, the committee cannot address all conflicts and urgent issues impacting our communities. I really wish we had more time and resources to do our work. My hope is that an increase from one to two weekly meetings in the fall will enable our committee to undertake more studies. I also hope more committees will commit to studying issues impacting the rights of Indigenous people which are under their respective mandates. There is much work to be done, and together we can make a difference.

Hon. Brent Cotter: Honourable senators, despite the excellent answers by committee chairs today, my question is for Senator Gold.

The Government of Canada — wisely, in my view — established the Strategic Innovation Fund a few years ago and to date it has made available over $5.6 billion to fund innovative business initiatives across the country.

Despite a number of high-quality applications from Saskatchewan businesses, some of which I have reviewed, so far, of the $5.6 billion and 103 projects approved, a total of one project from Saskatchewan has been funded, in 2018, to Evraz, a Russian oligarch-owned business. This represents less than 1% of approved projects and barely two thirds of 1% of the funding from the Strategic Innovation Fund to Saskatchewan projects. At a certain point, this unbalanced distribution of funding for innovative projects across the country stops becoming an anomaly and becomes a statistical impossibility.

Why are deserving Saskatchewan businesses doing so poorly in terms of receiving support from the Strategic Innovation Fund?

Senator Gold: Thank you for your question. With respect, esteemed colleague, the government has taken action to support victims of sexual exploitation. I note that in Quebec, for example, the government supports the organization Alliance-Jeunesse Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, and that it is also working with Maison Marie-Frédéric and other community partners to provide a range of services and activities for youth between the ages of 16 and 30 who are victims of sexual exploitation or human trafficking on the south shore and in the Quebec City area.

The Minister of Justice has also provided financial assistance through the Victims Fund. The Government of Canada is committed to protecting the rights of all Canadians and providing better access to justice to the vulnerable.

[English]

Hon. Brian Francis: Senator Downe, the short answer to your question is that, in the coming months, the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples intends to undertake a review of federal implementation of past legislation impacting Indigenous people which will directly or indirectly touch upon the areas you have identified. Before the summer, the committee hopes to report on the federal implementation of former Bill S-3, which was concerned with inequities under the Indian Act.

We are also working to narrow the focus of an in-depth term study on the federal government’s implementation of the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, which was released in 2019 and outlines changes needed to ensure the safety, social, economic, political and cultural health and prosperity of Indigenous women and girls, as well as LGBTQ2S people.

In the fall, we will turn our attention to former Bill C-15, which requires federal laws, policies and practices to be in harmony with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Article 3, in particular, acknowledges that Indigenous peoples have the right to freely pursue our own economic, social and cultural development. The Aboriginal Peoples Committee is interested in receiving an update on the development of the action plan which is under way and will consider whether its subsequent implementation will result in tangible improvements in the lives of present and future generations. I hope that answers your question.

Senator Seidman: In its report, the independent review panel recommended that the government restore the position of technical adviser to the Global Public Health Intelligence Network to ensure the network’s analysts and subscribers receive necessary and timely technical support and advice. This position had been phased out in 2017.

The independent review panel also stated it had been informed that the network had received an additional $830,000 through the Fall Economic Statement 2020.

Leader, how has this funding been expended? Did any of it go towards hiring a technical adviser?

Senator Gold: Thank you again. I will add those specific questions to my inquiry. I hope to have an answer as quickly as I can.

Hon. Sabi Marwah: Thank you, senator, for that question. I don’t think it is really a double standard. I don’t think you can compare doing an exercise workout to sitting in the Senate Chamber or in the hallways. There you are going through an exercise. You are exhaling. And it’s also recommended that masking should be required unless you can keep the two-metre distancing. The change rooms all have mandatory masking. All of the aspects of the gym are mandatory masking, except when you are exercising. I think that’s an appropriate application of the guidelines.