Hon. Patricia Bovey: Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the report of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association concerning the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly’s Twenty-First Winter Meeting, held by videoconference, from February 24 to 25, 2022.

Hon. Patricia Bovey: Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the report of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association concerning the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly’s Nineteenth Autumn Meeting, held by videoconference, from November 3 to 4, 2021.

Senator Mercer: Get to know your colleagues on both sides. You will all be better off.

In this chamber we can debate and argue, disagree and agree. But out there, outside, remember that we are all people who can celebrate friendships, regardless of where we are on the political spectrum. The grand experiment of the Prime Minister is still just that: an experiment.

What will happen in the future? It’s up to us — really to you now — how to navigate it and what changes to keep. What the Senate will look like in the future is up to you. Please do not forget the past, and please do not think that the past was so horrible, because you may end up going back to it.

My prediction has always been that eventually this place will evolve back to where it was. There will be a group sitting over there as the opposition and there will be a group sitting over here as the government, and I would suggest there will be several other groups like we have now. But I think that’s how the place will evolve. You’ll all figure that out on your own. I won’t be here to guide you, although I would be happy to give you advice.

Honourable senators, I would like to thank all of my family and friends, too many to mention, who have been extremely supportive through the good times and the bad.

My cousin John is in the gallery with his wife, Neena. Without them, Ellen and I would not have been able to transition to Ottawa when we first moved here, and we thank them for that. It made our lives so much easier.

To my wife Ellen, whom I recently celebrated our fiftieth wedding anniversary with, words are not enough. I wouldn’t be here today without you. You are my rock.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question and for underlining an important issue, both for Indigenous communities and for other communities that are reliant on the fishery. The Government of Canada is apprised of this and hopes that a solution can be found to the mutual benefit of all.

Senator Simons: When will that be?

Hon. Vernon White: Honourable senators, I would like to ask a question of the Joint Chair of the Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency.

Senator Boniface, could you briefly walk the chamber through what stage the committee finds itself at this time, and what path the committee will take in comparison to the recently announced inquiry?

Senator Gold: Thank you again for your question. I certainly will communicate to the government not simply your question but the importance of your question, and the passion with which you address it.

The government is committed to the relationship with Indigenous people on a nation-to-nation basis. It has taken important steps, but they are only initial steps. There is a long history to deal with and unravel. Senator Francis, rest assured that I will communicate this to the government with the deepest conviction that I can.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Naomi Woo, the daughter of the Honourable Senator Woo.

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

An Hon. Senator: On division.

(Motion as amended agreed to, on division.)

Hon. Raymonde Gagné (Legislative Deputy to the Government Representative in the Senate): Honourable senators, with leave of the Senate and notwithstanding rule 5-5(j), I move:

That, when the Senate next adjourns after the adoption of this motion, it do stand adjourned until Tuesday, May 10, 2022, at 2 p.m.

Senator Gold: Thank you for the question. The government’s budget is both a plan and a projection as to how it wants to provide for its operations going forward. It is responsible for governments to identify areas where savings are reasonably expected, and it is almost inevitable that life gets in the way sometimes — as the pandemic most certainly did in the period immediately preceding the questions in February 2020 to which you referred.

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Leader, last week I raised with you concerns surrounding your government’s plans to put restrictions on fertilizer use on farms. Today I come to you with a related concern.

Canadian farmers who ordered fertilizer from Russia and Belarus months before sanctions were imposed on March 2 have been hit with a 35% import tariff. I want to be clear, leader: The war in Ukraine is illegal and I support tough sanctions against Russia and its officials. What I don’t support is making Canadian farmers suffer unfairly. Vladimir Putin is not harmed in any way by imposing this 35% tariff on our farmers, as the fertilizer had already been purchased last fall, long before Russia invaded Ukraine.

Leader, will your government exempt Canadian farmers from this 35% import tariff on fertilizer, yes or no?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Honourable colleague, thank you for your question. I don’t know the answer to your question, but I will certainly make inquiries.

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

Some Hon. Senators: Agreed.

Hon. Pierre J. Dalphond: Honourable senators, I will be brief. I want to say that being together is important, and we have seen it this week. This chamber was busy, was full of people, and we have had the pleasure to be together. I know that the debates are much better when we are together in this room. I’m convinced that all my colleagues, from whatever side they are, in this room are looking forward to being back in this chamber to do the work together, including those that have to travel one full day to come here and one full day to go back home, while I have the privilege of not having that burden because I can drive back and forth in two hours.

That being said, I am also mindful that as we speak today, there are still thousands of people in hospitals in Quebec who are suffering from a new wave of COVID. We have some colleagues who are immunosuppressed or who have spouses or children who are also immunosuppressed. I think, at the end of the day, that this motion is a reasonable accommodation for the time being, until the end of June.

But I certainly agree with Senator Tannas and with Senator Plett that we should be together here and that the future is that we should all be back here to work together, because I believe in collegiality. I have seen it in committees. It’s not as it used to be and I look forward to having everybody back and enjoying being together and working together to improve bills, to do reports and to debate. Thank you.

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

Senator Plett: Honourable senators, last week, in the other place, the Minister of Agriculture said she takes this situation seriously and was looking at various options. Leader, the minister has known about this problem for about a month. I would like to know what options are being considered and how much longer it will take to come to a decision. I thank you for saying you will get back to us. I hope you will do that very quickly.

As well, what impact does the minister think the 35% tariff imposed on Canadian farmers will have on food security and the cost of food, or is that of no concern to your government?

Senator Francis: Senator Gold, I do not have to tell you that this matter is of the utmost importance to the Mi’kmaq and all Islanders. I hope you will convey this message as soon as possible. As Chief Bernard of Lennox Island said earlier, if there is any conflict, the federal government will bear full responsibility.

Let me ask you to raise this question: If no relationship is more important than the one with Indigenous peoples and there is a true commitment to working on a nation-to-nation basis, why is the federal government continuing to prevent the Mi’kmaq from exercising their constitutionally protected rights? How many more decades will it take for Canada to uphold the rule of law, including the Constitution and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and at what cost to reconciliation?