Senator Housakos: Senator Gold, to hear your government tell it, you would think that the ArriveCAN app is alleviating some of the pressures at these airports and, somehow, that your measures are contributing in a positive way. It’s actually adding to the delays. We continue to hear horror stories of its inefficiencies and ineffectiveness. Yet your government continues to make use of this app, making it mandatory and insisting that airlines deny boarding to passengers with right of entry into Canada.

Senator Gold, ArriveCAN — like the proof of vaccine requirements — was supposed to be a temporary measure. Is this still the case? Instead of cancelling flights for Canadians who have been waiting for two years to see loved ones or to get work done requiring necessary travel, does your government have a date for when they will be cancelling the ineffective use of this ArriveCAN app and your ineffective proof of vaccine requirements? What date will you take these unnecessary requirements down?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. Canadians are well served by the dedicated men and women of our foreign service, who work hard to promote our values and interests, including the Francophonie, abroad. The bilingual nature of our diplomacy and the presence of two official languages in our embassies, high commissions and missions abroad are also important. I have been assured that an announcement will be made in due course regarding the appointment of ambassadors.

[English]

Senator Klyne: I had a question in there, yes.

I just wonder if you understand that there are not two tiers. All zoos are welcome to apply for a licence, and the minister will attend to that.

So the issue here is that there is no two-tiered system, and I want to know if you were aware that all zoos are eligible to apply for a licence.

[Translation]

Hon. Marty Klyne: Thank you, Senator Boisvenu, for the awareness and for the call to action.

Honourable senators, I have just one question for you: Can you “bee-lieve” it?

Do you feel a buzz in the air? You are not imagining things. Friday is coming, and it’s World Bee Day. If you are not familiar with World Bee Day, it is a celebration that occurs annually on May 20, and its purpose is to celebrate and raise awareness of bees and other pollinators and the important role they play in our ecosystem.

As we all know, bees carry pollen from one flower to another, but they do much more than that. Bees aid in the production of fruits, seeds, nuts and, of course, honey. In fact, a 2015 study by the Senate’s highly regarded Standing Committee on Agriculture and Forestry noted that of the 100 crop species that provide 90% of the world’s food, over 70 are pollinated by bees. That gives you a sense of just how much we rely upon bees to help feed the world.

Unfortunately, bee populations across the globe are in decline. A combination of the overuse of pesticides, changing farming practices and higher temperatures associated with global warming have led to a sharp drop in bee populations.

This is a threat not just to the bees themselves, but to the crops we depend upon for everyday use. It is a global problem, and Canada must do more to reverse this trend. A sting from a bee may hurt, but the long decline of pollinating species will hurt us much more in the long run.

Honourable senators, when it comes to the protection of Canada’s bee population, it is all of our “beeswax.” We need to do more as a country to protect bees both here in Canada and across the world.

I call on the Government of Canada to do everything it can to promote the health and sustainability of Canada’s bee population, and I hope that everyone in this chamber will join me in celebrating World Bee Day on May 20. Thank you.

Senator Plett: I would suspect that there probably are. I think if we go back further, Senator Batters, there would have been an even larger percentage of them in the workforce when your grandfather — and it could have been my father then because you are much younger than me — were that age. For sure they were in the workforce. Many of them didn’t go past grade school, so I think the percentages certainly would have gone down.

Although I don’t have the exact numbers here, Senator Batters, I think even back then, with the percentage I gave you and people filing tax, it did not necessarily mean that they were full time in the workforce. They were in the workforce. Even today, my grandchildren I spoke about are in the workforce in the summertime, and they are in school when it is in session. I think you’re right, yes.

Senator Plett: I’m not sure who is the goose and who is the gander here, but let me try to answer.

I think, Senator McPhedran, that nowhere in my speech did I say I was speaking on behalf of the Conservative Party or Conservative caucus. I was speaking on behalf of myself and my opinion. I didn’t introduce any one of those pieces of legislation, so I stand by what I said.

I believe that legislation such as this, that deals with voting age or electoral processes, should originate in the other chamber, just as I do not support many other private member’s bills for similar reasons, not necessarily because I’m opposed to the objective.

Hon. Raymonde Gagné (Legislative Deputy to the Government Representative in the Senate): Honourable senators, I give notice that, at the next sitting of the Senate, I will move:

That, in accordance with rule 10-11(1), the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages be authorized to examine the subject matter of Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other Acts, introduced in the House of Commons on March 1, 2022, in advance of the said bill coming before the Senate; and

That, for the purposes of this study, the committee be authorized to meet even though the Senate may then be sitting or adjourned, with the application of rules 12-18(1) and 12-18(2) being suspended in relation thereto.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of a group from La Maison des guerrières, a group from the Association des familles de personnes assassinées ou disparues, and Diane Tremblay. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Boisvenu.

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

The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: Senator Klyne, do you have a question?

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear!

[English]

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate) introduced Bill S-8, An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, to make consequential amendments to other Acts and to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.

(Bill read first time.)

Senator Omidvar: Senator Plett, I listened carefully to your comments, and I think you’re drawing a line between the past, present and the future. I’m reminded that Winston Churchill said, “If we open a quarrel between past and present, we shall find that we have lost the future.” This debate is about the future of our young adults, 16, 17, 18 — however you may call them.

My question, though, is about what I think I heard you say, which is that you were speaking as an individual and not as a member of your caucus here. Is it correct, then, to assume that when the question is called to send this bill to committee, your caucus will vote as each individual thinks?

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator McPhedran, seconded by the Honourable Senator White, for the second reading of Bill S-201, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act and the Regulation Adapting the Canada Elections Act for the Purposes of a Referendum (voting age).

Hon. Yonah Martin (Deputy Leader of the Opposition): Honourable senators, my question for the government leader is a follow-up to the leader’s recent response to Senator Ataullahjan regarding the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive. Last month’s budget provided no details on how the NDP-Liberal government would change this program, or when these unknown changes will be in effect. The budget only says the government is exploring options on how to make the program more flexible and responsive for buyers, including single-led households.

Leader, potential first-time home buyers need assistance now. If the NDP-Liberal government is intent on keeping this failed program, why are you only promising vague changes at some unknown date?

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.)

Hon. Pierrette Ringuette: Would Senator Bellemare take a question?

Senator Bellemare: Absolutely.

Hon. Denise Batters: Senator Plett, in your speech you talked about the Lortie commission and how in 1990, I believe it was, when they did that particular study, they talked about the significant number of 16- and 17-year-olds who were in the workforce at that point. Having been someone slightly older than 16 in 1990, I think the number of 16- and 17-year-olds who were in the workforce then, it is probably a lower number of 16- and 17-year-olds who are in the workforce now, given how things have shifted over time. As a result, that would tend to lead credence to the suggestion that an 18-year-old voting component is probably where it should stay at the current time.

I’m wondering if you have any sense of that, whether there are more 16- or 17-year-olds in the workforce now than there would have been in 1990.

Hon. Pat Duncan: Will Senator Plett take an additional question?

Senator Miville-Dechêne: No.

Senator Simons: When you speak about depopulation and decontamination, those are expensive processes for the farmers who not only lose their livestock but have to pay for the cost of cleaning and decontaminating their facilities. Can you tell us what support the federal government is providing to farmers who are affected by this?