Senator Black: As I mentioned earlier, I was pleased to see agriculture and its related terms mentioned 36 times in this year’s budget. I look forward to learning more about the government’s plans to support this critical industry. Given that agriculture is indeed one of Canada’s most important industries, Senator Gold, can you commit to providing an update to this chamber on what the government is doing to help agriculture reach the targets set out in the Barton report? Thank you.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question and for your commitment to this important issue.

I don’t have a specific answer about time frames, but I will inquire with the government and try to get an answer for you as soon as possible.

Senator Gold: Thank you for your supplementary question. As I said, I will follow up and get back to you with an answer.

Senator Gold: Thank you for bringing this to my attention, senator. I will certainly make inquiries and report back.

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

As highlighted, the Barton report identified agriculture as one of the six sectors with growth potential, and the government agrees. I’m advised that the recommendation to reach $75 billion in agricultural exports by 2025 is a target that the government is striving towards and, indeed, has internalized. I note, colleagues, that from the Farm Income Forecast results report for 2020 and 2021, we know that in 2020 the government managed to have $74 billion of agricultural exports in total. That’s just $1 billion short of reaching the 2025 objective — and five years in advance. With the growth in the industry, the government foresees no difficulties in reaching the target.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Senator, thank you for your question. I have to make inquiries as to your question and get back to you quickly as I can. I don’t have the answer at the moment.

Senator Gold: That’s correct. The government is considering next steps.

[English]

Senator Gold: No.

[English]

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you, senator, for raising this issue. As stated in the National Flag of Canada Act, all Canadians are encouraged to proudly display the national flag of Canada in accordance with flag protocol.

Our democracy is facing serious and unprecedented attacks that are fuelling extremism, eroding trust in government and undermining the social fabric of our society. To combat the misinformation and disinformation on social media, the government has launched programs such as the Digital Citizen Initiative to equip Canadians with the tools they need to think critically about information they see online. We all have a collective duty to try to rebuild the trust in our institutions, including our flag. All of us have a role to play in reclaiming this important symbol for all Canadians.

Senator M. Deacon: Thank you for that response. I would say that, on behalf of all Canadians, we’re looking forward to seeing the collective work and tangible progress made so that we have Canada Day celebrations and a flag that we can all hold our heads high about. Thank you.

Hon. Stan Kutcher: Honourable senators, my question is for Senator Gold.

As this pandemic has unfolded, we are coming to understand that the COVID virus has both immediate and long-term negative impacts on health. “Long COVID” is a phrase that has now entered our vocabulary. Early studies suggest that substantive numbers of those who contract COVID can develop long COVID, even those who had mild cases. Recently, I spoke with Nobel Prize nominee Dr. Peter Hotez about the need to better understand the emerging impacts of the neurodegenerative effects of long COVID, including higher rates of dementia, Parkinson’s disease and mental illnesses, to name a few. Others have raised similar concerns about negative long-term cardiac and vascular impacts.

Simply put, we are facing an anticipated deluge of serious and expensive health impacts of long COVID, including in children, and we have limited knowledge about its epidemiology, pathoetiology and potential treatment.

What is the Canadian government doing right now to ensure that we have a comprehensive, integrated national strategy to improve our understanding and treatment of long COVID?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you, senator, for your question and for underlining this important issue.

The government recognizes that we are faced with a situation where some who have contracted COVID-19 are facing a very long recovery. I’m advised that the government is actively working with national and international experts to build the evidence base on post-COVID-19 condition, to support Canadians who are experiencing those longer-term effects. Increasing our understanding of COVID, of course, is key to addressing and recovering from the pandemic.

To that end, since March 2020 the Government of Canada has invested more than $250 million in critical areas of COVID-19 research. It’s also investing an additional $119 million in COVID-19 research, including funding further studies to better understand post-COVID-19 condition.

Earlier this week, colleagues, the government announced it is launching a second cycle of the Canadian COVID-19 Antibody and Health Survey led by Statistics Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada and the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force, which aims to better understand the impacts of the pandemic on the health and well-being of Canadians.

Senator Gold: As I said, senator, the Government of Canada is working with national and international experts.

With regard to your specific question, I’ll certainly make inquiries and I would be happy to report back.

[Translation]

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question and for the faith you have in me to actually be able to answer this better than the minister with whom you have had a meeting, as I understand. I’ll do my best to at least provide some context to the issue.

The government is working collectively with Indigenous peoples, industry, the provinces and stakeholders to ensure that we protect the environment as we consider strict regulations on anything released from the oil sands tailings ponds. I am advised that the government is working to develop strict requirements for treated water to be clean, just as the government has for sectors like mining and the pulp and paper industry. This collaborative work continues, or aims to continue, throughout the regulation process, which is estimated to continue to 2025 and will support a healthy economy and a healthy environment for decades and generations to come.