Hon. Raymonde Gagné (Legislative Deputy to the Government Representative in the Senate), pursuant to notice of April 26, 2022, moved:

That, notwithstanding any provision of the Rules, previous order or usual practice, and without affecting progress in relation to Bill S-6, An Act respecting regulatory modernization:

1.the following committees be separately authorized to examine the subject matter of the following elements contained in Bill S-6:

(a)the Standing Senate Committee on Banking Trade and Commerce: those elements contained in Part 1;

(b)the Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources: those elements contained in Parts 2 and 3;

(c)the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry: those elements contained in Parts 4, 5 and 6;

(d)the Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans: those elements contained in Part 7;

(e)the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology: those elements contained in Part 8;

(f)the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade: those elements contained in Part 9; and

(g)the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications: those elements contained in Part 10;

2.each of the committees that are authorized to examine the subject matter of particular elements of Bill S-6 submit its final report to the Senate no later than May 30, 2022, and be authorized to deposit its report with the Clerk of the Senate if the Senate is not then sitting; and

3.the committee to which Bill S-6 may be referred, if it is adopted at second reading, be authorized to take into consideration these reports during its study of the bill.

She said: Honourable senators, I rise today to speak briefly to Government Motion No. 34, which proposes a subject matter examination of Bill S-6 on regulatory modernization. Let me note that the motion before us is the result of consultations that were conducted with the leadership of all recognized parties and parliamentary groups in the Senate.

Colleagues, Bill S-6 is a broad, sweeping bill that covers immense tracts of regulatory terrain. It proposes to modify 29 acts through 46 amendments, and it applies to 12 government departments and agencies. Its scope is impressive. Naturally, we cannot burden a single committee with such a workload. The prudent course of action is to have the various sections of the bill examined by several Senate committees that can lend the necessary expertise to the study of the bill’s legislative dimensions.

[English]

Colleagues, this is not simply a matter of managing the size of the bill; along with accounting for quantity, we must also ensure we are positioned to conduct studies of the highest quality. The bill’s sponsor, Senator Woo, was right to define the scope of the amendments included in Bill S-6 as “both disparate and quite technical.” In other words, Bill S-6 covers a wide spectrum of regulatory fixes, which require the subject matter expertise of several committees.

Let me provide you with a broad overview as to the participating committees and the specific parts of the bill they will be examining.

The Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce will focus on Part 1 of the bill entitled “Innovation, Science and Economic Development,” where they will review amendments made to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, the Electricity and Gas Inspection Act, the Weights and Measures Act and the Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2.

The Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources will study Parts 2 and 3 of the bill. This includes studying the proposed changes to the Canada Oil and Gas Operations Act, the Canada Petroleum Resources Act, the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation Act and the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation Act.

As for Part 3, the committee will study the Canada Lands Surveyors Act, the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act and the Species at Risk Act.

During the study of Parts 4, 5 and 6, the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry will examine elements of the Agricultural Products Marketing Act and seven different acts pertaining to the Regulatory Measures Respecting Canadian Food Inspection Agency. In Part 6, the committee will examine the proposed changes to the Pest Control Products Act.

The Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans will study Part 7, which contains the proposed changes to the Coastal Fisheries Protection Act and the Fisheries Act. The Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology will attend to Part 8 and examine the proposed changes to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. The Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade will examine changes to the Customs Act. Finally, the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications will study Part 10 of Bill S-6, which proposes changes to the Canada Transportation Act.

All of these committees participating in the subject-matter study will have until Monday, May 30, to submit and table their respective reports to the Senate. This will ensure that the committees have the appropriate time to conduct their work, establish their findings and carry out the deliberations that will help inform the bill’s legislative consideration as it progresses through the Senate.

[Translation]

Bill S-6, An Act respecting regulatory modernization, contains a range of practical, common-sense changes to address unnecessarily complicated, contradictory or outdated provisions that have been brought to our attention by Canadians and Canadian businesses. This legislation will help reduce the administrative burden on businesses, facilitate digital interactions with government and simplify regulatory processes by making them more consistent and coherent.

Again, I would like to echo the bill’s sponsor, Senator Woo, who elegantly summed up the bill in his speech at second reading when he explained how the proposed changes will make Canada’s federal regulatory system “more efficient and less burdensome, while maintaining protections for consumers, health, safety and the environment.”

Honourable senators, by having several committees study the subject matter of Bill S-6, not only will we be able to give ourselves the time needed to study such a very far-reaching piece of legislation with all due rigour, but we will also be making optimal use of the Senate’s resources.

In closing, I would like to thank the leaders for their collaboration in preparing this motion, and I want to thank in advance the committee chairs and committee members for their customary diligence and professionalism in studying their parts of the bill.

Thank you, meegwetch.

(On motion of Senator Martin, debate adjourned.)

(Pursuant to the order adopted by the Senate on December 7, 2021, to receive a Minister of the Crown, the Honourable Karina Gould, P.C., M.P., Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, appeared before honourable senators during Question Period.)

Hon. Karina Gould, P.C., M.P., Minister of Families, Children and Social Development: Thank you very much. It really is a delight to be at the Senate today. I’m glad that you’ve welcomed me here. I’m looking forward to answering, to the best of my ability, the questions you have.

Senator Plett, as you well know, as chair of the cabinet committee I obviously can’t discuss cabinet deliberations. However, I think all members and all senators — all parliamentarians in Canada — have the same commitment to supporting the Ukrainian people in this unjustified, illegal, unprovoked and, quite frankly, barbaric and horrific war that Russia is waging on Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.

As you will note, the materiel that we announced yesterday is in addition to the millions of dollars in military aid that we announced back in February of this year. It’s in addition to the $500 million in assistance that was announced in the budget. This is a continuation of the dedicated, unreserved support that the Government of Canada and the Canadian people are providing to the people of Ukraine. We remain extraordinarily committed not just to ensure that Canada is doing its part but also leading the world. Certainly, Minister Freeland, the Prime Minister, Minister Joly and Minister Anand have been galvanizing the free world to respond adequately and appropriately to this horrific aggression that we’re seeing on the part of Russia in Ukraine.

Hon. Jane Cordy: Minister Gould, welcome to the Senate of Canada. Thank you for being with us today. My question is a follow-up to the question that I raised in this chamber to Senator Gold on February 10. During the last election, this government had committed to provide 15 weeks of adoptive leave for parents. However, for families built through surrogacy in certain provinces there is no adoption process. The names of the parents who use surrogates go directly on the birth certificate.

Could you provide us with the details on how the government intends to support all families built through surrogacy, given that different provinces and territories treat the surrogacy process differently, particularly in provinces where parents are not adopting their children but, rather, have their names directly on the birth certificate?

Hon. Ratna Omidvar: Honourable senators, I rise today to draw the attention of this chamber and my colleagues to the increasing number of attacks on journalists in different parts of the world. They are being increasingly detained from doing their jobs, speaking truth to power and shedding light on corrupt regimes.

One such journalist, Dawit Isaak, has been imprisoned in Eritrea for 20 years without charge or trial. In 2001, Isaak, a dual Swedish-Eritrean citizen, was summarily detained for his reporting at the Setit newspaper. Despite being released temporarily in 2005, he was imprisoned again just two days after his release. Some of the other journalists who had been detained along with him have died in detention. His whereabouts are unknown but human rights groups, such as the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, led by Irwin Cotler, believe there is hope that he is still alive.

Unfortunately, Dawit Isaak is not alone. There are others like him. When truth comes too close for comfort for foreign dictators, they resort to violence and murder, as in the case of Jamal Khashoggi, or subvert their own laws to silence voices, such as that of Maria Ressa, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

This is borne out by the facts. A 2020 report from the Committee to Protect Journalists found that at least 274 journalists have been jailed because of their work. And because of the pandemic and increasing corruption and conflict, journalists seem to have been drawn into this web of violence. And lest we think that this phenomenon takes place only in far away places, let’s remember that a record 100 journalists were arrested or criminally charged in the U.S., and another 300 were assaulted as they were covering important stories, including assaults by law enforcement officers.

This past weekend, Massey College in Toronto celebrated the accomplishments and the voice of Maria Ressa, who commented to us on Zoom because she was denied permission to travel from the Philippines. She said you cannot have integrity of elections without integrity of facts, and she cautioned against the rising war on truth.

Honourable senators, without a functioning fifth estate, democracy is not possible. Journalists are not an inconvenience; they are truth tellers. Thank you.

Hon. Leo Housakos: Honourable senators, I rise today to pay tribute to a dear friend and a pillar of the community in Montreal who passed away this past April 4 — a great human was taken away from us way too early. Our colleague Senator Loffreda and I had the pleasure of first meeting François L’Heureux, a highly respected corporate lawyer and also a highly respected member of the federal Liberal Party more than a decade ago. As you can imagine, we often joked about the fact that we most certainly did not see eye to eye on our choice of political parties. Yet, it is critical to remember that while we as individuals held opposing views about the politics of our great nation, we were able to look beyond partisanship, as we all should when gauging a person’s character and value as a human being.

Colleagues, I have spoken in the Senate many times about autism and its impact on Canadian families. I have spoken in particular about a wonderful organization in Montreal that caters to the autism community, the Giant Steps Autism Centre and school. It is through this involvement that I got to know François L’Heureux as a lawyer and leader, but more so as a human being, family man, activist and philanthropist. François served on the board of directors of Giant Steps for over 20 years — the last decade as vice-president.

A highly regarded autism activist in Quebec with friends and colleagues from coast to coast to coast, François was very dedicated to his lovely wife, Marie Brouillet, and his two sons, Philippe and Marc, both of whom are autistic and attended Giant Steps. With his sons serving as his inspiration, my good friend served as a tireless advocate, not only for the program at Giant Steps but also for a more open and inclusive society, believing passionately in the principle of neurodiversity and the value that every person inherently has to offer.

Working closely and indeed tirelessly with the dynamic team at Giant Steps, François L’Heureux was instrumental not only in helping to guide the school over the years through his volunteerism but also in developing the new Giant Steps Autism Centre, a visionary $51.4-million project currently under construction that will be completed in approximately a year.

While this project is, of course, based upon the efforts of a large and coordinated team, the role played by François at Giant Steps was invaluable, and this is most definitely recognized by the Giant Steps community. I have had the privilege not only of calling François L’Heureux my friend but of hearing him speak passionately about Giant Steps and, more importantly, his two beautiful sons and what they meant to him.

He also spoke with deep admiration about the team at the school, what it meant to his family’s success and happiness and what the new centre would mean to so many others. While François did not have the opportunity to witness the project being completed in person, his is a legacy to be proud of. It is my sincerest hope that from heaven itself my friend is watching the project he cared about so deeply as it is completed and, more importantly, help the lives of his sons and so many other Canadians.

I would like to extend my deepest condolences to his friends and family. A great Canadian is lost — a great Quebecer and Montrealer. May he rest in peace.

Hon. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu: Welcome, minister.

Violence against women has been steadily rising for many years. In 2021 alone, 173 femicides were reported, and half of them involved intimate partner violence. That means 13 more women were murdered in Canada in 2021 than in 2020. Despite this alarming statistic, you have not proposed any measures, unlike Quebec, which recently adopted electronic bracelets, among other measures.

Can you tell me, minister, what concrete action you have taken since the beginning of your mandate that would have saved the lives of these women who were murdered in Canada?

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear!

Hon. Elizabeth Marshall: Welcome to the Senate of Canada, minister.

Last year in Budget 2021, the government announced its $30 billion child care plan, which has committed to creating 250,000 child care spaces and 40,000 child care positions for a five-year period ending March 31, 2026. However, there’s no information available indicating how many of these child care spaces and child care positions will be created in each of the five years leading up to 2026.

Given the significance of the $30 billion cost of the program and the need to monitor the implementation of the new child care program, when will you be releasing your plan indicating how many child care spaces and child care positions will be created each year leading up to 2026?

Senator Plett: Thank you, minister. I see from where the Leader of the Government in the Senate is taking his speaking notes in not answering questions. I don’t even think you touched it. Anyway, I will continue. Hopefully, you’ll answer this one.

This past weekend, John Ivison reported in the National Post that our proposal to send hundreds of Canada’s light armoured vehicles to Ukraine was rejected on the basis that Ukrainians don’t have the parts or the training to operate them. As retired Vice-Admiral Mark Norman told John Ivison, “Send them the owners’ manual. They’ll figure it out.”

Minister, we have hundreds of light armoured vehicles, some of which certainly could be on their way to Ukraine today. We could then order more from the manufacturer here in Canada to backfill those that we provide to Ukraine. Why is your cabinet committee and your government so unwilling to send our LAVs to help Ukraine?

One of the important things that our government has done is to respond to what Ukraine is asking of us, whether that be with regard to sanctions, humanitarian assistance or military assistance. We have provided many millions of dollars worth of military equipment to Ukraine, based on what the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Ukrainian government is asking for. We recognize that they are in the midst of a conflict right now, and we need to send the equipment that they need and that will be most useful to them.

Certainly, Minister Anand, the Chief of the Defence Staff and the entire Canadian Armed Forces are responding in kind based on the needs and requests of the Ukrainian armed forces and the Ukrainian government.

Canada has been a partner and a friend of Ukraine for a very, very long time, and we continue to work assiduously to meet the needs that they have and support the work and the fighting and the incredible valour that the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the Ukrainian people are demonstrating every single day.

Hon. Karina Gould, P.C., M.P., Minister of Families, Children and Social Development: Thank you very much, Senator Moodie, for the question. As the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, I take particularly seriously the question of child poverty and what we can do. I’m particularly proud to be part of a government that brought forward the Canada Child Benefit. We’ve seen over 300,000 Canadian children lifted out of poverty, and those results are incredible. Of course, there’s still more work to do. There are a couple of initiatives that I’m particularly excited about. The first is the new dental care plan that we will be working on and bringing forward this year to provide dental care for children under 12. I hope that we can all agree that no child in this country should go without dental care. They shouldn’t have to go to the emergency room to get that dental care. So there is something that I’m quite excited about and I think will make a big difference.

The second one that I’m really keen to be working on, in partnership with Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, the Minister of Agriculture, is the national school food policy. Canada is one of the only OECD countries that does not have a national school food policy. So I’m working with her alongside many stakeholders in the country, because we don’t want any child in this country to go to school hungry. We know that when children don’t have enough food in their bellies, they struggle to learn. They struggle to be successful —

Hon. Rosemary Moodie: Welcome, Minister Gould. In my question today, I would like to focus on child poverty. You have the mandate, minister, for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through the delivery of Canada’s First Poverty Reduction Strategy. As you are currently reviewing income supports for low-income families and children, what opportunities do you see now to improve the supports for these families?

Hon. Bernadette Clement: Good afternoon, minister. During my short experience as a senator, I have met with francophone groups across the country. They are nearly unanimous in calling for language provisions in the transfer payments. They talked about a serious lack of mental health care services in French and French-language child care deserts.

Your work on negotiations and provincial agreements on child care services is important, but why are there no language clauses to ensure that child care services in French are properly funded?

Hon. Karina Gould, P.C., M.P., Minister of Families, Children and Social Development: Absolutely, Senator Black. Thank you so much for raising the question, because this is something that is really important. This cannot be an urban/rural distinction. We have to ensure that child care is available right across the country.

This is a very small example but one I’m excited about in Grayson, Saskatchewan. There is a new public child care facility that is going to be opened in the fall, and that has been funded through the Canada-wide early learning child care agreement with the Government of Saskatchewan. We’re working very closely with provinces and territories to ensure that they’re reaching into those spaces where there is an absence of child care and working with potential operators to open those spaces.

I mention this one because it’s one that’s coming online and it’s going to serve a community that never had child care access before. When it comes to working in remote and northern communities, we have specific engagements and commitments from provinces and territories to make sure that this really is reaching right across the country. There are specific infrastructure challenges in more remote and northern communities. So I’m really keen to dig into the $625-million infrastructure fund that we received in the last budget and see how we can target that specifically to meet those needs.

I heard particularly from the territories about the high costs of infrastructure. So we’re going to work very closely with them to meet those demands. Thank you for raising it.

Hon. Karina Gould, P.C., M.P., Minister of Families, Children and Social Development: Thank you, Senator Martin. It’s a really excellent question. It’s a combination. Some of them will be in passport processing centres, for example in Mississauga and Gatineau where the majority of mailed-in passports are processed. Some of them will be in passport offices in the 35 locations across the country. Some of them will be in the 303 Service Canada centres that can now receive passports.

There is certainly an unprecedented surge in demand as Canadians are beginning to travel again after the pandemic and have realized that throughout that time their passport has expired. We do encourage Canadians that if travel is urgent — that’s 25 days or less — go to a passport office. If it’s not urgent — that means 25 days or more — please go to one of the 303 Service Canada centres across the country. They can do the intake in person.

I also want to assure you and all Canadians that we are exploring every option to make this smoother because we know this is a difficult and frustrating experience. We’re working really hard at Service Canada to make sure we can provide a smoother service to Canadians.

[Translation]

Hon. Karina Gould, P.C., M.P., Minister of Families, Children and Social Development: Thank you for the question. It is a very important one and one that I’m certainly concerned about.

We have a couple of things that we need to do. The first one is to work more closely with provinces and territories in terms of restricting the sale of products that could be closely identified with candy or other things that children may have access to. We also need to do better at educating parents and adults who are consuming cannabis products to make sure that they store them in a place that is far out of reach from children and that they are doing their part to put them away, much as they would with alcohol products that they also have in their homes.

It is important for us to continue to do that educational piece, because it is really important. We certainly don’t want to see children going to emergency rooms because they have accidentally consumed these products.

Hon. Karina Gould, P.C., M.P., Minister of Families, Children and Social Development: Yes, thank you, Senator Patterson. We’re working very closely with Nunavut on addressing some of those issues that you raised.

It is a great example of a partnership between the territorial government and the federal government with regard to training and standards. In fact, in Nunavut, one of the challenges — and you raised it — is with regard to infrastructure. It is just having suitable locations in which to offer child care services.

The $625 million announced in this year’s budget is really concentrated on infrastructure. The Canada-wide agreement covers those other areas that you mentioned, and that is already part of the plan. But some heavy lifting will be needed to actually find physical space, create physical space or to co-locate in an appropriate area that is safe, has a kitchen facility and has the needed supports for child care facilities.

Part of what I will be working on with this additional money is how to best meet some of those needs and areas, particularly in a territory like Nunavut where the infrastructure costs are much greater than they might be in a more urban context, for example.

I am very happy to engage with you further on this item, but that $625 million is very specific to infrastructure, and the Canada-wide plan covers those other areas that you mentioned.

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Gold, P.C., seconded by the Honourable Senator LaBoucane-Benson:

That the following Address be presented to Her Excellency the Governor General of Canada:

To Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary May Simon, Chancellor and Principal Companion of the Order of Canada, Chancellor and Commander of the Order of Military Merit, Chancellor and Commander of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada.

MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY:

We, Her Majesty’s most loyal and dutiful subjects, the Senate of Canada in Parliament assembled, beg leave to offer our humble thanks to Your Excellency for the gracious Speech which Your Excellency has addressed to both Houses of Parliament.

[Editor’s Note: Senator Audette spoke in Indigenous languages.]

Hon. Chantal Petitclerc: Thank you, minister, for being with us today.

[English]

My question brings us back to the cruel practice of forced adoptions of children of unmarried mothers that was made possible between 1945 and 1971 with federal involvement and knowledge.

In 2018, you might remember, a Senate committee heard from those mothers, adoptees and stakeholders, and the Senate adopted the report, The Shame Is Ours. This report had some crucial recommendations, including that the federal government deliver a formal apology and make reparations including the provision of professional counselling for survivors.

Minister, I think we all agree that time is running out for these mothers whose lives have been irreversibly affected.

Would you agree with me that it is not acceptable that these women are still looking to obtain mental health supports for those impacted and adequate, specific training for mental health professionals?

[Translation]