Hon. Pat Duncan: Honourable senators, I rise today grateful to the Creator for this day and for the privilege of speaking from the traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe and respectfully serving Canada and Canadians with all of you.

Today, I’m speaking to Senator Galvez’s motion that describes the climate in a state of urgent crisis. Senator Mégie most eloquently described how our planet, which supports life, needs intensive care without further delay.

What constitutes an emergency? An emergency is a threat to life. Our climate, life on the planet as we know it, has been threatened with extreme weather everywhere. In Canada, we have borne witness to floods, fires, droughts, record snowfall, and we have lost Arctic ice — ice that forms the icebergs in Newfoundland and Labrador’s Iceberg Alley. An emergency is a threat to the security of the person. An absence of shelter, especially in extremes of weather, is an emergency.

No longer being able to access food and a subsistence lifestyle your culture has depended upon for thousands of years is a threat to the security of the person and culture. It’s an emergency.

The decision to describe a situation as an emergency, especially for governments — for leaders — is not an easy decision arrived at lightly, nor is it easily accepted. We have witnessed recent debates on this very subject earlier this year.

In 2018, strategy discussions amongst the Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief Kluane Adamek, her team and Yukon chiefs coined the phrase “A Yukon that leads” to describe our region and the First Nations leadership and their advancement.

The regional chief granted me permission to share this with you. I spoke of this in a tribute to the late First Nations Yukon leader Paul Birckel. We lost a leader. Fortunately, we have not lost our way. “A Yukon that leads.” I cannot think of a better phrase to describe a variety of Yukon First Nation initiatives.

A notable example is Chief Dana Tizya-Tramm of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation. On May 19, 2019, Old Crow, the home of the Vuntut Gwitchin, declared a climate emergency in their community. Climate change is drastically changing the landscape and the lifestyle in this remote community, the only community not accessible by year-round road in the Yukon.

I will return to the discussion of roads in a moment.

Honourable senators, I would like to share with you this quote from the Chief Tizya-Tramm. He said:

It’s going to be the blink of an eye before my great grandchild is living in a completely different territory, and if that’s not an emergency, I don’t know what is.

The emergency — the urgent crisis — is upon us, as Senator Galvez has outlined. It’s not the first time Canadians have been given this message. The 2019 Government of Canada report, Canada’s Changing Climate Report, noted:

Northern Canada is defined as the geographical region north of 60º north latitude, encompassing Yukon, Northwest Territories, most of Nunavut, and parts of Nunavik (northern Quebec) and Nunatsiavut (northernmost Newfoundland and Labrador). In this region as a whole, annual mean temperature has increased by 2.3ºC from 1948 to 2016, roughly three times the warming rate of global mean temperature.

Senator Black, in his address on this motion, outlined that he would speak from what he knows best — addressing climate change and agriculture. Senator Anderson spoke most eloquently of the changing climate in the North that she knows. Today, I speak of what I know — the changing climate in the Yukon.

In my lifetime, colleagues, I’ve borne witness to warmer winters. Yes, we still experience perhaps a week of extreme cold, yet not the weeks of minus 40 degrees Celsius that I remember walking to school.

As a young adult, I worked for Parks Canada Youth Conservation Corps in Kluane National Park at the base of Sheep Mountain, where the Kaskawulsh Glacier graced the landscape and fed the majestic Kluane Lake.

Honourable senators, I invite you to read the dramatic story of climate change in the North entitled A River Ran Through It, published on June 24, 2019, by Ainslie Cruickshank. It says in part:

Climate change has gripped the North. In a dramatic display of its power, a receding glacier stole the river that feeds this lake and the consequences have rippled throughout the watershed.

She was referring to the Kaskawulsh Glacier and Kluane Lake. “Now the Kluane First Nation is being forced to adapt.”

The motion by Senator Galvez describes climate change as an urgent crisis and the resulting climate events as catastrophic, particularly for Canadian youth.

The motion says climate change is an urgent crisis, and, if left unaddressed, the consequences for our youth are profound. Yes, there are lauded and laudable youth who have led and are leading, recognizing the urgency of the situation and the need for change, but the consequences of climate change continue.

I mentioned earlier that Old Crow is a fly-in community. Periodically over the years, when a new school or a health facility was constructed, an ice road would be built to the community of Old Crow. This year, the trucks were unable to traverse the ice road for a period of time due to warmer temperatures. The ice road to Old Crow, when it’s in use, is temporary, essential infrastructure.

The impact on permanent infrastructure, such as the highway network throughout the Yukon, is significant. These highways include the Alcan or the Alaska Highway, a major transportation route from the Lower 48 in the United States to Alaska, as well as Diefenbaker’s “Roads to Resources,” the Dempster Highway, a critical link for the communities of Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk in the Northwest Territories.

The thawing permafrost on these roadways is estimated to have increased the highways’ annual maintenance costs by hundreds of thousands of dollars per year since 2005. Hundreds of thousands of dollars may not mean much to provincial budgets of millions of dollars and the budget we’re looking forward to of billions of dollars, but when you’re considering a relatively small budget of a territorial government, it’s a lot of money.

The discussion of transportation, climate change and solutions like electric buses in the city of Edmonton are as important as all the steps, large and small, to address climate change.

Honourable senators have often heard me say that one size does not fit all. Recognition and acceptance of the need for change and the urgency of this situation are not everywhere. It’s perhaps most evident in some of the younger population. There is a generation that grew up playing with big trucks that loudly went “vroom, vroom” and who dreamed of owning that F-150 truck or the GMC Denali with big tires. Now, as young adults, they love snowmobiling and driving four-wheelers in the back country of our provinces and territories.

The consequences for these young people is to say that all those things you thought you knew, the world you thought you were growing up in, doesn’t exist anymore. The lifestyle and adventures of your family, the generation that preceded you, are not yours to share.

We have all become deeply conscious of the divisions in our country. I believe our debates on emergencies such as this must also include discussions of understanding how painful these life-changing decisions are for some.

We cannot forget, and we must also express our understanding for rural Canada, places where transit systems powered by electricity — or even transit systems — are not the norm. In small rural communities, you hop on a four-wheeler to go to the store, and the pickup or the Suburban is your office, team transportation to the rink and the family trip to the nearest major centre for all manner of groceries and supplies.

Switching from fossil fuels is a challenge. Yes, we’re seeing the advancement of electric vehicles. Just yesterday on the news, there was an announcement of investment by governments in an electric vehicle plant. We must adapt to changes, not only in the area of climate. We have to adapt our lifestyles, our expectations and ensure that the transition is not a forced and one-size-fits-all approach.

Honourable senators, speaking to adapting to change, Kluane First Nation’s Chief Bob Dickson is quoted in A River Ran Through It. There is a lesson for all of us in his words. The article quotes him as saying, “We have to relearn our traditional knowledge all over again because things are changing.”

The article continues:

And it’s not just the lower lake level. The winters are getting warmer, there’s more rain, and the moose rut — mating season — is happening later in the fall.

Chief Dickson is quoted again:

We’ll live with it. When they created a national park they moved us here and we adapted to that. I think we’re going to adapt to this, just the same.

In discussing this emergency and the way forward, I believe we must be mindful of the differing circumstances, and we must approach the discussion in a way to deepen the understanding and not the divide, as seen in Senator Coyle’s inquiry on climate change solutions, and hope for the future. I hope to speak to that later this session.

Honourable senators, if there’s something good that can be said of everything, perhaps in our search for solutions for a changing climate and moving away from fossil fuels, there is also opportunity. The Yukon, as Senator Dasko shared in a statement recently, has witnessed the largest growth in the country. The demand for electric power has far outstripped the production capability of the hydroelectric facilities in the Yukon, especially in Whitehorse, to the point that diesel generators have been augmenting the supply for several winters.

In Old Crow, after declaring a climate emergency, Yukon’s northernmost community announced the completion of an ambitious project, delayed, as so many other projects have been, due to the pandemic. Sree Vyah is a solar energy project consisting of 2,160 single-sided monocrystalline panels, configured to maximize solar generation during the long summer daylight hours. It will reduce the community’s current reliance on diesel generators by 189,000 litres of diesel per year. It’s a drastic change for a fly-in community. Funding for the project came from several federal programs, the First Nation and the Yukon government’s development corporation.

Another innovative First Nation-owned project announced last month is Yukon Energy’s Electricity Purchase Agreement with Tlingit Homeland Energy Limited Partnership, a company that is 100% owned by the Taku River Tlingit First Nation, who will build and own the Atlin Hydro Expansion Project. Atlin is actually in British Columbia. This will add eight megawatts to the Yukon grid, eliminating the need for four rental diesels each winter. It will generate about 31 gigawatt hours of electricity each winter: approximately enough to power 2,500 Yukon homes annually.

Honourable senators, in my short time in the Senate, I’ve had the opportunity to learn more about Canada’s nuclear industry. I have become especially interested in the small nuclear reactors as a possibility for power generation in the North. The Canadian Nuclear Association has stated that the uranium needed in the industry will create and sustain jobs, especially for First Nations in northern Saskatchewan. Ontario Power Generation, Bruce Power, New Brunswick Power and SaskPower have developed a pan-Canadian initiative to develop and deploy small modular nuclear reactors. These are just some of the Canadian solutions and opportunities that I look forward to discussing in Senator Coyle’s inquiry.

Honourable senators, I hope that my participation today has confirmed for you that the climate crisis is real in the Yukon, the territory I represent, and that it has significant negative, destructive effects on human health, life, food security and infrastructure, permanent and temporary, and that there is a real financial cost to climate change.

However, as seen in my examples, a cookie-cutter approach isn’t the way. The transition needs to be locally adapted. It needs to be community-led and sufficiently supported by all orders of government: federal, provincial and territorial, Indigenous and municipal.

We need to be mindful of the differences throughout the territory and of the opportunities.

I look forward to discussing the climate emergency as well as the solutions in coming days. Thank you, mahsi’cho, gùnáłchîsh.

(On motion of Senator Martin, debate adjourned.)

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Moncion, seconded by the Honourable Senator Simons:

That the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology be authorized to examine and report on the Canadian assisted human reproduction legislative and regulatory framework and any other related issues deemed relevant by the committee, when and if the committee is formed; and

That the committee submit its final report on this study to the Senate no later than October 31, 2023, and that the committee retain all powers necessary to publicize its findings for 180 days after the tabling of the final report.

Hon. Judith G. Seidman: Honourable Senators, I rise today in support of my colleague Senator Moncion’s motion to authorize the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology to examine and report on the Canadian assisted human reproduction legislative and regulatory framework, and any other related issues deemed relevant by the committee.

I would like to thank Senator Moncion for her leadership on this important issue. Throughout her tireless advocacy, she has remained focused on the health, safety, and dignity of Canadians who wish to grow their families with the assistance of reproductive technologies and processes, and the surrogate mothers who help them do so.

The Assisted Human Reproduction Act, Canada’s legal framework on assisted human reproduction, became law in 2004. The framework was built on the work done by the Royal Commission on New Reproductive Technologies, which was established in 1989 to study the ethical, social, research and legal implications of new reproductive technologies in Canada.

The original Assisted Human Reproduction Act was meant to be a comprehensive and transformative framework. It prohibited and criminalized certain activities, while simultaneously permitting and regulating others. It also established the Assisted Human Reproduction Agency of Canada, a federal regulatory agency responsible for enforcing the act.

However, the aspirations of the framework were short-lived. Many of the provisions of the act remained dormant for years. Intended parents, health care professionals, lawyers, and ethicists were left in the dark about the legal parameters of assisted human reproduction. As an example, the federal government released regulations related to reimbursement only in June 2019 — 15 years after the law was passed.

Additionally, shortly after the Assisted Human Reproduction Act received Royal Assent in 2004, the Government of Quebec challenged the constitutional validity of certain provisions of the act. A decision made by the Supreme Court of Canada struck down a number of provisions of the act, including the establishment of the agency, which shut down its operation in 2013.

Today, surrogacy and gamete donation programs in Canada lack oversight, are unregulated and unlicensed. The regulation, as well as the licensing of fertility clinics, is a responsibility left to the provinces and territories. Data collection is also inconsistent and fragmented, and most of it is anecdotal in nature.

Over the years, there have been reports of fertility clinics and agencies engaging in unlawful behaviours. While the stories are few, they are concerning. This is all due to the lack of standards and oversight of surrogacy in Canada, which leaves prospective parents, surrogates and donors vulnerable to harm.

Honourable senators, there is no question that a national conversation about Canada’s assisted human reproduction laws is long overdue. In my second reading speech on Bill S-202, An Act to amend the Assisted Human Reproduction Act, I suggested that rather than proceeding with a private member’s bill, we should first conduct a comprehensive study of the subject matter. I argued that this approach would allow us to understand the unintended consequences of changing the current framework and suggest options for other frameworks, which could ultimately be addressed in a separate piece of legislation.

As I stated in that second reading speech:

A debate on this proposed piece of legislation would restrict our hearings to only the scope of the bill, with broader questions necessitating fulsome evidence collection on assisted human reproduction beyond our reach.

Now, a Senate study on this subject matter would provide a necessary and timely opportunity for us to learn from health and legal experts who are actively engaged in the field. Also, it would allow Canada to draw upon the expertise of other countries, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, India and others who have crafted programs on assisted human reproduction and utilize best practices from their studies over the years. It is for these reasons that I fully support Senator Moncion’s motion and once again thank her for her leadership.

Almost two decades have gone by since the passage of the Assisted Human Reproduction Act. A fulsome study conducted by the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology would play an important and timely role in modernizing and shaping Canada’s legislative and regulatory framework on assisted human reproduction. It would also respond to the urgent need to pay attention to the health and safety of all those involved.

Honourable senators, this really does matter. Thank you.

(On motion of Senator Duncan, debate adjourned.)

Senator Moodie: Senator Gold, what I’m asking for is an update on where things are at. Is it possible for you to provide this chamber with such an update? Thank you.

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Honourable senators, my question today is for the government leader in the Senate.

Senator Gold, the Canada Infrastructure Bank was created by the Trudeau government and has been operational since the 2017-18 fiscal year.

In the five years since its creation, the Canada Infrastructure Bank has failed to complete one single project. A recent answer to the question on the Senate’s Order Paper shows that in 2021 alone, the Canada Infrastructure Bank paid out over $5.7 million in short-term incentives to its 79 employees. This works out, Senator Gold, to a bonus of over $73,000 per employee.

Leader, how could the NDP-Liberal government possibly think that these bonuses are appropriate?

Hon. Diane Bellemare: Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the second report (interim) of the Standing Committee on Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament entitled Use of displays, exhibits and props in Senate proceedings and I move that the report be placed on the Orders of the Day for consideration at the next sitting of the Senate.

(On motion of Senator Bellemare, report placed on the Orders of the Day for consideration at the next sitting of the Senate.)

[English]

Hon. Yuen Pau Woo: Honourable senators, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations, which deals with the work of the committee and other matters.

(For text of report, see today’s Journals of the Senate, p. 430-1.)

Hon. Ratna Omidvar, Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology, presented the following report:

Tuesday, April 5, 2022

The Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology has the honour to present its

FIFTH REPORT

Your committee, to which was referred Bill S-209, An Act respecting Pandemic Observance Day, has, in obedience to the order of reference of December 9, 2021, examined the said bill and now reports the same with the following amendment:

1.Preamble, page 1:

(a) Replace line 4 with the following:

“Whereas March 11, 2021, was designated — by”;

(b) add the following after line 10:

“Whereas it is important to acknowledge the multidimensional effects of the pandemic on every person in Canada;

Whereas this pandemic has worsened the various forms of inequality in Canada and has had a disproportionate impact on the vulnerable people within society and members of historically disadvantaged groups;

And whereas it is fitting that March 11 of each year be officially designated as “Pandemic Observance Day” in order to give the Canadian public an opportunity to commemorate the efforts to get through the pandemic, to remember its effects and to reflect on ways to prepare for any future pandemics;”.

Respectfully submitted,

RATNA OMIDVAR

Chair

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. The government is happy the work it has done has allowed the table potato export to continue, but clearly, more work needs to be done as you properly point out.

To your question, the government will continue to take what it calls a “team Canada” approach, working with the provinces, the sectors and the stakeholders and engaging at all levels to deal with the United States regarding their concerns, which they claim are based on science, in terms of the seed potatoes. That’s the best chance, colleagues, that we have to complete the reopening of the potato market in the United States.

I note that the government is providing $28 million in compensation to farmers and 290 million pounds of potatoes will be divested to processors, packers, dehydrators, food banks and other markets. Restoring complete market access for P.E.I. fresh potatoes to the United States and supporting P.E.I. farmers remain top priorities for the government.

Senator Gold: Thank you for your question. I think that, as for any program, government or private sector, ongoing evaluation is critical to make sure, whatever the intentions were at the beginning, that corrections are made where necessary.

In that regard, as you reported the minister reporting, these ongoing evaluations, I am confident, continue.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you, senator, for your question.

The government is committed to using better data to drive better outcomes so every Canadian can reach their full potential, free of systemic barriers. That’s why, building on previous federal investments, Budget 2021-22 proposes to provide $172 million over five years, with $36 million ongoing, for Statistics Canada to implement the Disaggregated Data Action Plan. I am advised this plan aims to provide Canadians with the detailed statistical data that is currently lacking to address gender gaps and systemic racism and bring fairness and inclusion to decisions that affect all Canadians.

The government has heard the call of many Canadians who are seeking the data they need to bring the social and economic impacts on marginalized groups into the heart of decision making, and the government is answering their clear call to action.

Hon. Rosemary Moodie: My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.

Senator Gold, disaggregated data is well understood to be key in crafting better social policies that are equitable and address various intersectionalities. Robust and modernized data collection was a significant line item in Budget 2021 at $250 million over five years, and it was part of the recommendations of the 2021 report from the National Advisory Council on Poverty.

Senator Gold, could you provide this chamber with an update on Statistics Canada’s progress on this issue and their goals for the coming fiscal year, please?

Senator Francis: Thank you for your answer, Senator Gold. I’m concerned by the impact the ongoing ban will have on the Island industry and economy. Could you please let us know when seed producers will receive financial compensation from the federal government and when other supports will be made available to those who wish to transition to other crops?

Hon. Mary Coyle: Honourable senators, my question is for the Government Representative in the Senate. Senator Gold, a recent PBO study looked at the effect of federal carbon pricing on the economy. It found that most households in the four provinces that are subject to the federal price on carbon are worse off financially.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer, Mr. Yves Giroux, noted:

Under the Government’s HEHE plan, most households in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario will see a net loss resulting from federal carbon pricing. That is, the costs they face—including the federal carbon levy, higher GST and lower incomes—will exceed the Climate Action Incentive rebate they receive.

The PBO study is based on the current situation, and we know that it doesn’t take into consideration any new green technologies that may result in cost savings, nor does it take into consideration the overall costs of climate inaction.

Senator Gold, what is the government doing to address the concerns of Canadians about carbon pricing and to, at the same time, help educate the public on the real cost of climate inaction?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you, senator, for your question. It’s an important one.

First of all, the government thanks the Parliamentary Budget Officer for his work. That work actually confirms that the price on pollution has a progressive impact and gives 8 out of 10 families more back through climate action incentive rebates than they, in fact, pay.

As colleagues know, pricing carbon pollution is a central part of Canada’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and drive clean innovation. It is widely regarded around the world as the most efficient policy to reduce emissions.

With regard to the second part of your question, colleague, the government has introduced a number of measures to educate Canadians on the importance of climate action, including the Climate Action and Awareness Fund, which will invest $206 million in projects that build youth awareness, engagement and action; support community-based climate action; advance climate science and technology and support academia. I also note that the government has introduced measures to support Canadians in reducing their carbon use, including the Climate Action Incentive Fund, which helps fund energy-efficient retrofits and other projects to improve energy efficiency and productivity, reducing energy use and carbon pollution while saving money.

Senator Gold: Thank you, again, for the important question. The 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan is an ambitious and, the government believes, achievable plan for Canada to reach its climate targets. The plan has been in development for months, and it includes the input of over 30,000 Canadians and, as many colleagues know, a sector-by-sector pathway.

Additionally, I note that it does provide for consultations with respect to driving down carbon pollution from the oil and gas sector. Finally, it further outlines next steps to continue delivering on those priorities for Canadians.

Hon. Brian Francis: Honourable senators, my question is for Senator Gold.

Last November, following the detection of potato wart in two fields, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency banned the export of all potatoes outside of P.E.I., including to the United States and the rest of Canada. This decision shocked and devastated the industry, which is a major employer and economic contributor in our province.

Last Friday, the ban was finally lifted on the export of P.E.I. table, or eating, potatoes, but not seed or processing potatoes, which is not expected to resume until at least 2023. That could mean two more seasons of losses.

Senator Gold, what steps, if any, are the federal government taking to move up the timeline on lifting the ban on seed potatoes?

Hon. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu: My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate. Senator Gold, as I said in my statement, we are two weeks away from the anniversary of Canada’s worst mass shooting, when 22 innocent victims in Portapique lost their lives.

In February, I asked you about the families of the 22 victims, who had complained about the lack of information and especially the lack of cooperation over the past two years with respect to the public inquiry into the tragedy. Although the victims’ families were satisfied with the commissioner’s decision to call the killer’s widow and the police officers who participated in the operation to testify, these families had to fight for that information, which is totally unacceptable. I would like to remind you, Senator Gold, that the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights, a supra-constitutional statute, states in section 7 that:

Every victim has the right, on request, to information about

Have you obtained information about why the victims’ families were not part of the public inquiry even though they should have been?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question and for reminding us of this recent tragedy. I will have to work on getting you that information because I don’t have it right now. I will follow up.

Hon. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu: In my statement a few moments ago, I touched on another very important issue, namely the disorganization at the RCMP. As we know, the RCMP is responsible for policing large parts of Canada’s territory and provides community-based services that are equivalent to municipal police services.

We also know that the amount of time it took to locate the killer was partly due to this disorganization and a lack of communication. The killer was intercepted by a stroke of luck. If not for that, there could have been even more victims.

Can you tell us what the minister responsible for the RCMP, the Honourable Marco Mendicino, plans to do to strengthen the RCMP and make sure it has the response capabilities it needs in order to prevent such a tragedy from happening again?