Senator Wells: Just one supplementary question, Senator Gold. I recognize the sensitivity around this, but I think a good solution — and I don’t know if it has been requested; perhaps you could pass along this request to the parliamentary secretary who is in charge of this file — is to simply request that they be allowed to return to Canada while the investigation is ongoing. I’m sure they would be happy to testify once that investigation is over.

Senator Gold: Thank you, colleague. I certainly will pass that on and make inquiries to satisfy myself that I know as much as I can know about this file.

Senator Wells: Agreed. I asked the question and I was waiting for the answer.

The Hon. the Speaker: Is leave granted, honourable senators?

The Hon. the Speaker: Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?

Hon. Leo Housakos: Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate. Senator Gold, the Governor of the Bank of Canada, Tiff Macklem, testified before the Senate Banking Committee. He has recognized that he and his lieutenants in the Bank of Canada have gotten it all wrong when it comes to inflation. He has also recognized that they have completely misjudged the strength of inflation. Mr. Macklem said:

If you go back to January, we were saying that inflation would peak at about 5%, and by now you start to see some signs it’s coming down. It’s now 6.7% and it’s going to take longer to come down. . . .

Government leader, will you acknowledge that Prime Minister Trudeau and his government should start recognizing the lead taken by the Governor of the Bank of Canada and recognize that they have also gotten it all wrong when it comes to inflation? Furthermore, will you also agree with me that it’s high time that Mr. Trudeau starts thinking about monetary policy?

Hon. Yonah Martin (Deputy Leader of the Opposition): Honourable senators, my question is for the government leader in the Senate.

Speaking of the Prime Minister, while the Prime Minister may never have to worry about the cost of the carbon tax or the cost of anything else, the hundreds of thousands of men and women who work in our energy sector do.

In its 2019 election platform, the Liberal Party promised energy workers a “Just Transition Act,” “giving workers access to the training, support, and new opportunities needed to succeed in the clean economy.”

Leader, Environment Commissioner Jerry DeMarco reported on Tuesday that the NDP-Liberal government has no implementation plan, no formal governance structure and no monitoring and reporting system in place to support a “just” transition.

Was this your government’s plan all along — to talk down the sector, destroy livelihoods and call that “just”?

Senator Gold: Again, I thank you for your question. But I think the premise is incomplete if not incorrect.

It is up to the parties, including the party of which you are a member, to decide whether it wants to participate so that Canadians can have the benefit of a fair, transparent and appropriate process or to continue to posture around the issue.

Senator Klyne: Yes. Certainly, thank you, Your Honour.

Senator Gold, what is the government’s targeted plan to address the dismal level of broadband internet access on First Nations reserves? Also, is the government planning to implement a digital transformation strategy to ensure that Indigenous peoples will be mobilized and ready to actively and meaningfully participate in the new digital economy?

The Hon. the Speaker: Senator Klyne, if you have a question, could you please get to it?

Some Hon. Senators: Hear! Hear!

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for bringing this back to the chamber’s attention. Regrettably, I don’t have a response, but you do have my assurance that I will follow up and try to get one as quickly as I can.

The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: Senator Moncion, would you take a question?

Senator Moncion: Certainly.

Hon. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu: Senator Moncion, I am baffled by your remarks. With your background in banking, I thought your mathematical skills were more advanced. You spoke about productivity. Before the pandemic, the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs met for four to six hours a week.

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

Senator Boisvenu: My next question is just as straightforward. The message I’m getting is that you think our work as lawmakers comes second, here in the Senate, to other more social or professional activities. Is that so?

Senator Boniface: So much depends on the specifics of what they find and what they do. One important piece — and I mentioned it in my speech — is if it comes to the point of a criminal investigation, such as the one you refer to, that would normally be referred to a different area. The material would be held — the phone — and then they would send it over for an investigation, which would likely then go to the local police to lay the charge.

The distinction is what the device initially is looking for is regulatory contraventions under the regime of the customs legislation. I should have mentioned it at some other point, but they have 90 different pieces of legislation that are covered under the contraventions. The criminal piece is normally done by the local police service, so it would be a connection then. Then they do a criminal investigation that’s separate and apart from it. That’s normally how the process would work locally.

Hon. Yuen Pau Woo: Thank you, Senator Boniface. You just said that the standard used is higher than that used in the United States. That raises the question of the pre-clearance agreements that we have with the Americans and the changes to pre‑clearance that will be affected by this bill. Is there a need to negotiate with the Americans for this to happen?