Senator Cormier: Absolutely.

[English]

The Hon. the Speaker: Senator Cormier is asking for five more minutes. If you are opposed, please say “no.”

(1750)

The Hon. the Speaker: Senator, would you entertain questions?

The Hon. the Speaker: I’m sorry, Senator Cormier. Your time has expired.

Hon. Yonah Martin (Deputy Leader of the Opposition): Will the senator answer a few questions?

Senator Patterson: Gladly.

Hon. Peter Harder, Deputy Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, presented the following report:

Tuesday, April 5, 2022

The Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade has the honour to present its

SECOND REPORT

Your committee, to which was referred Bill S-217, An Act respecting the repurposing of certain seized, frozen or sequestrated assets, has, in obedience to the order of reference of Tuesday, March 1, 2022, examined the said bill and now reports the same with the following amendments:

1.Clause 2, page 2: Replace line 14 with the following:

2.Clause 6, page 3: Add the following after line 25:

Respectfully submitted,

V. PETER HARDER

Deputy Chair

The Hon. the Speaker: Thank you for your comments, Senator Housakos, but, as well, I do not consider your comments a point of order but rather a point of information.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, pursuant to rule 3-3(1) and the order adopted November 25, 2021, I am obliged to leave the chair unless there is leave that the sitting continue. To avoid the double negative about the clock, I will ask one simple question: If you wish the sitting to be suspended for one hour, please say “suspend.”

Senator Martin: When announcing the creation of the Canada Infrastructure Bank, the Trudeau government claimed it would attract four to five dollars in private capital for every tax dollar invested. In the five years of the Canada Infrastructure Bank’s existence, this has never occurred or even come close. The Canada Infrastructure Bank’s website currently shows that of $19.4 billion invested so far, about $7.2 billion is from private and institutional investors, and the rest appears to come from different levels of government — in other words, taxpayers.

In February, Minister LeBlanc acknowledged before a House committee that he was not satisfied with the Canada Infrastructure Bank’s ability to raise funds from private investors. Isn’t that grounds for scrapping the Canada Infrastructure Bank, leader?

Senator Dalphond: What do you think of the government bill that has been introduced in the House of Commons last week, Bill C-5, which deals with similar issues? Don’t you think we should start focusing on the government bill and try to study it now to see how it is a better response to the issues we have here and a response that has a better chance to make it to the end of the process?

The Hon. the Speaker: I hear a “suspend.” The sitting is suspended for one hour.

(The sitting of the Senate was suspended.)

(The sitting of the Senate was resumed.)

(1900)

[Translation]

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Bovey, seconded by the Honourable Senator Cordy, for the second reading of Bill S-208, An Act respecting the Declaration on the Essential Role of Artists and Creative Expression in Canada.

Senator Martin: Thank you, Senator Patterson. This is such an essential service that we take for granted in urban Canada. We’re complaining about the connectivity if it’s not within seconds of us touching a key. You raise some really important points of how the North and rural communities are impacted.

In terms of what you said, the government has a goal to have everyone connected by 2030. That’s eight years away. Would you further expand on this statement and whether your bill will help address this to speed up the process?

Senator Patterson: Thank you for the question. Yes, this is a stated objective of the government. It has been well presented and lauded in official government proclamations and promises. The problem is that the spectrum policy has not been reviewed for years. It has not kept up with successful nations, and we all know that cell phones and broadband are cheaper in other parts of the world. Canadians are often complaining about these extremely high costs. The reason we have not been able to successfully lower costs and deploy broadband to regions of the country, especially the remote regions, is because we have outdated policy, and because the government has treated the spectrum option, dare I say, as a significant source of revenue — I think it was $9 billion in the last spectrum auction — instead of deploying it in ways that promote good public policy.

We need to change the spectrum policy, and we will have a chance of reaching these laudable goals of connections in all parts of this great country by 2030.

The Hon. the Speaker: I apologize, senator, but I will have to interrupt you at six o’clock.

[English]

The Hon. the Speaker: I am sorry, senator, but your time is up. Are you asking for five more minutes?

Hon. David Richards: Thank you very much. Senator Cormier, I am a Maritimer, as you know. It took me years to get my work recognized outside of the Maritimes. You know, I’m sure, of Acadian, English and First Nation Maritimers who have suffered under this kind of stigma for a long time.

I think as long as the government is involved, there are going to be gatekeepers. I’m very worried about this marginalization of certain people that ideological gatekeepers will impose on artists. Maybe you could reflect on that a bit. Terence, the great Roman philosopher who actually was an African slave said, “I am human, and I think nothing human is alien to me.” When Richard Wagamese, a great First Nation writer, wrote to me and said he started writing because he admired my work, it meant a great deal to me. I think the work transcends all of this. I think it transcends ideology and any other thing — identity politics and other such things we might put to it. So I ask you, will this come into play if there are new government regulations?

Senator Plett: The Parliamentary Budget Officer predicts that most households in Canada — not some people, but most — will, under the backstop, see a net loss resulting from federal carbon pricing under the government’s plan in 2030-31.

Leader, will your government finally admit that Canadians are not actually better off under your carbon pricing scheme? Also, as the carbon tax went up again last Friday on April 1, which wasn’t an April Fool’s joke, what will your government do to provide Canadians some relief in these dire economic times of near runaway inflation?

Senator Housakos: Your Honour, just to follow up on your comments, Senator Dean did not get up on a point of order. He got up on debate on an issue that’s not right now on the Order Paper. He would be more than welcome to debate the issue of the hybrid motion, but I think colleagues have to understand when there is a debate on a point of order, they’re obligated to speak to the point of order, not to deviate and go on to debate. Other than that, I will accept the comments of Senator Dean, but with all due respect, of course, I disagree. Thank you, Your Honour.

Senator Gold: Thank you for your question. The Government of Canada values the work of the independent Parliamentary Budget Officer and takes the work of that office seriously. That work informs their decisions going forward.

Hon. Rose-May Poirier: Honourable senators, my question is for the government leader in the Senate.

According to the information that predates the pandemic, the number of homeless veterans across Canada is estimated to be about 3,000. Last year’s federal budget promised $45 million over two years on a pilot project aimed at reducing homelessness amongst veterans, beginning with the 2022-23 fiscal year.

A recent answer to a Senate Order Paper question revealed that Infrastructure Canada and Veterans Affairs Canada are still working on the design of the program. They don’t know how many veterans this program will serve.

Leader, when will this program be operational, and how many veterans will it help?