Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. At the risk of sounding trite — and it is a serious question — I cannot predict the future. I have confidence, however, that the reviews that were done in the past and those that will be done in the future will be conducted diligently and with the best interests of Canadians at heart. If those reviews show that money or programs have outlived their usefulness or otherwise missed their mark, then I fully expect that those recommendations will be brought forward.

On the other hand, if those reviews show — perhaps surprisingly to some — that, in fact, there are areas where support needs to be increased such that departments — whether it is Canada Border Services Agency, Health Canada or whoever — need more resources to properly serve Canadians and deliver on what Canadians have a right to expect from their governments, then I fully expect governments will have the courage, decency and commitment to do so.

Senator Gold: Thank you for the question. You know, sometimes one lives in the past. Sometimes one lives in the future. Sometimes one must deal with the present.

I cannot predict the future, honourable senators. My constitutional law professor Laurence Tribe once quipped that if you lived by the crystal ball, you would be condemned to eat glass. My stomach is not strong enough to do that.

The Government of Canada has confidence in the justice who will be administering the public inquiry and confidence in the joint parliamentary committee looking into this. Most importantly, it has confidence in the laws of Canada that recognize the necessity for certain kinds of interactions within cabinet to remain confidential. This Government of Canada, previous governments of Canada — and here I will predict — future governments of Canada will insist on the maintenance and integrity of this principle, and will stand in defence of this principle, regardless of, in this case, a dredging up of matters from the past.

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