Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): My question today is, again, for the government leader in the Senate. Leader, Senator Deacon somewhat stole my thunder here because we all have our own ways of going about doing things, and he found his.

Leader, let’s see if we can agree on an answer to a question. For over five years, the Honourable Diane Griffin has been a valued member of the Senate of Canada. With her compassion, common sense and strong work ethic, she has been dedicated in working as a senator, including as Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry. As she approaches her retirement later this month, all honourable senators are saddened to see Senator Griffin take her leave of this place. A true environmentalist, she has been a strong advocate for the farmers and fishers of her province. A champion for literacy, Senator Griffin has been praised for her work by the founder of the Imagination Library, none other than Dolly Parton herself.

Leader, for all these reasons, and more, would you agree with me that our colleague Diane Griffin has been a wonderful senator and she will indeed be missed in this place?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): The answer is yes. Please allow me, as is my wont, to elaborate however briefly.

Thank you, Senator Plett, for giving me the opportunity to thank Senator Griffin for her dedication and passion over her years in the Senate. We joined the Senate pretty much at the same time, and we were — are — colleagues. Her work in this chamber, her sponsorship of Bill C-57 and her continuing resolve and determination to put Canadians first are testaments to the service she’s rendered to us here in the chamber and in the country. For my part, I want to thank you, Senator Griffin, for the lovely days we spent together on a bus, a long day in Uganda, where I got the opportunity to know you much better. I’m grateful for that.

Prince Edward Island should be proud of your commitment to your province and to your fellow Islanders. Diane, enjoy your retirement. Keep your bird’s-eye view on the wonders of nature that surround you in your wonderful, lovely province.

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): I knew we could agree on an issue if you only tried.

Again, the next question was answered with the standing ovation that Senator Griffin got earlier today. Therefore, let me delve into another issue that’s also near and dear to our colleague’s heart.

Leader, the issue concerns something that both Senator Griffin and I have previously raised, which is the difficult circumstances being faced by Prince Edward Island’s potato farmers through no fault of their own. I want to assure Senator Griffin that these farmers will not be forgotten as she takes her retirement from the Senate shortly. I’m sure you want to assure her of this as well.

By last Friday, leader, to qualify for a federal and provincial compensation program, Prince Edward Island potato farmers destroyed about 136 million kilograms of their own potatoes. It is devastating for any farmer to be forced to destroy a crop they worked so hard to produce.

Leader, shipments of P.E.I. potatoes to Puerto Rico resumed on February 9. When will shipments to the U.S. mainland resume? How much longer will the Trudeau government’s export ban be in place?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question. It’s an important one. It remains a priority for the Government of Canada to restore access to the continental United States. The resumption of exports to Puerto Rico is clearly a good first step, modest though it may appear. I’m advised that the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is working expeditiously on their analysis for the continental U.S. The government will continue to take an approach with its partners, provinces and stakeholders to deal with the U.S. in terms of the U.S.’s stated science concerns. This is the best chance for a quick and complete reopening of the potato market in the U.S., which is what we all firmly hope will happen soon.

[Translation]

Hon. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu: Senator Gold, the families of the victims cannot defend themselves, as you know, because they are still not represented by an ombudsman. They have been deprived of their representative who would play a crucial role in this inquiry. This is contrary to the principle of the right to information and the right to participation enshrined in the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights.

Why did the government not take the initiative to appoint an interim ombudsman six months ago, pending the appointment of a new ombudsman, as it did with the ombudsman for criminals?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Once again, thank you for the question. I will add it to the list of questions for the government and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

[English]

Senator Gold: Again, thank you for your question; it’s a rather large one. I don’t have a specific answer for you, but this chamber is well aware that legislation is forthcoming from the government to address many issues surrounding social media platforms. At that point, I think, it would be a good opportunity for us to learn more about what the government’s plans are in this regard.

Hon. Larry W. Smith: Honourable senators, my question is for Senator Gold. Recently, Canada and our allies levied massive economic sanctions against major Russian players, including the president himself. Current reports suggest that the trading of crypto-currencies relative to the Russian ruble has spiked significantly on major international crypto exchanges.

There is now speculation that the sanctioned individuals and businesses could be off-loading the ruble in exchange for bitcoin and other crypto-currencies in an effort to skirt the economic sanctions by bypassing the international banking system.

Senator Gold, we need your help in terms of information. We know that the government relies heavily on the banks as well as our various agencies, such as the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada et cetera, to enforce these sanctions. Could you please tell us what the government is doing or will be doing to ensure that those sanctioned are not finding loopholes through the use of bitcoin or other crypto-currencies?

Senator Smith: A Reuters article of May 2021 noted that Iran, a heavily sanctioned country, had adopted bitcoin mining and was generating revenues equivalent to $1 billion at the time. The blockchain analytics company Elliptic, which provided the data, wrote in their blog post:

The Iranian state is . . . effectively selling its energy reserves on the global markets, using the Bitcoin mining process to bypass trade embargoes.

Again, Senator Gold, I would ask if you could follow-up and provide information to this body because I think it’s an important task for the government to ensure that we’re doing everything in our power to prevent individuals and governments that have been mentioned in this Ukraine war from using crypto-currencies to evade sanctions.

Hon. Leo Housakos: Honourable senators, my question is for the government leader in the Senate. Government leader, in January, Canada’s Federal Court upheld an immigration officer’s decision to bar from permanent residency a Chinese citizen who worked for 20 years at a Chinese agency known as the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office.

According to the Chinese Communist Party, this office provides supports to members of the Chinese diaspora. The immigration officer determined the real purpose of the agency is to gather intelligence and exert influence on the people of Chinese descent living abroad. In other words, to engage in espionage and intimidation of foreign citizens. The court decision affirms this.

Senator Gold, in response to this court ruling, what is your government doing to counter Chinese espionage in Canada? What are you doing to protect Canadian citizens and permanent residents who are the target of these activities but are often too afraid to speak out because of what might happen to them here in Canada or to relatives back in China?

Senator Omidvar: Thank you, Senator Cordy, for that response and the suggestion.

I believe it is incumbent on this chamber to hold the minister and the government to their promise. I took it as a promise. I think we need to be on it. This is not so much a question as a commitment on our behalf, maybe others, to make sure this happens so that we are in line and everything is in order as it should be, as opposed to an accidental fixing of errors here and there.

Senator Cordy: Sometimes a statement is very valuable. Your statement was, indeed, very valuable. I think that we should each make that commitment to do something about it in the very near future. I thank you for your leadership at the committee.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question and for underlining this important challenge to our national security and indeed to the security of individuals here, Canadians of Chinese origin or Chinese citizens who are resident here, studying here.

Of course, Senator Housakos, you’ll understand that any specific operational issues that may be taken, whether it’s by the government, CSIS, the Communications Security Establishment or the RCMP, are not something that I would be at liberty to disclose.

But it’s well known and now public as I mentioned on other occasions — both in CSIS annual reports and the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians’ annual reports and others — that this is a real issue that has risen to the top of our preoccupation of our intelligence communities. I’m advised that the Government of Canada is working assiduously with its partners and its agencies to do what it can to protect Canadians from such activities.

To the extent that I’m able to share more details, I shall be happy to do so. For the moment, that’s as much as can I say at this juncture.

Senator Housakos: I’m glad to see the government is finally at least highlighting and recognizing that there is a problem. In the meantime, hopefully we’ll get an answer in regard to Huawei and their continued infiltration into our marketplace and what the government will do about it.

Charles Burton, a respected China expert and former Canadian diplomatic in Beijing, called this court ruling an unprecedented one. He said both CSIS and the RCMP have warned the government — as you’ve highlighted, government leader — about the espionage activities of such Chinese organizations, but politicians “suppress the information for fear of undermining trade between the two countries.”

Senator Gold, will your government continue to put trade before the interests of those Canadian citizens who are being terrorized by a former government or will it move swiftly to put an end to these activities in Canada? Senator Gold, I would like to ask you, is there any reason your government would not support my bill that I’ve tabled, Bill S-237, aimed at curbing just such activities?

Hon. Marilou McPhedran: My question is to the Government Representative in the Senate. Russia added to its naked, illegal aggression against Ukraine a threat to use its nuclear weapons, and few doubt that the megalomaniac is capable of such massive annihilation. My question is about Canada’s weak silence in the face of this particular threat. Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey all host U.S. nuclear weapons. Twenty‑six countries joined the U.S. and those five hosts to endorse the possession and use of nuclear weapons on their behalf as part of defence alliances, including Canada as a member of NATO.

Senator Gold, the Government of Canada was not even in the room for negotiations that led to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, or TPNW, that was activated by sufficient ratifications in January 2021. In a few months, the first meeting of states parties to the TPNW will be hosted by Austria. Will Canada at least be an observer at that meeting along with other NATO members such as Norway?

Hon. Jane Cordy moved third reading of Bill C-12, An Act to amend the Old Age Security Act (Guaranteed Income Supplement).

She said: Honourable senators, it is my pleasure to rise today on the traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe people and speak to third reading of Bill C-12, An Act to amend the Old Age Security Act as it relates to the Guaranteed Income Supplement.

As I stated in my second reading speech, the aim of Bill C-12 is to exempt pandemic benefits received from the calculation of Guaranteed Income Supplement, or GIS, or allowance benefits beginning in July 2022.

This legislation, once passed, will protect our most vulnerable — and valuable — low-income seniors from seeing reductions in their GIS or allowance benefits as a result of accessing pandemic benefits.

As I outlined in my second reading speech, Bill C-12 may be short, but it is extremely important to seniors in Canada who receive the Guaranteed Income Supplement benefit.

As honourable senators know, the government introduced pandemic benefits in 2020 to help people avoid catastrophic income loss.

It was the right thing to do.

The Canada Emergency Response Benefit, or CERB, and then the Canada Recovery Benefit did just that. These benefits have helped millions of Canadians, young and old, through unprecedented times. These financial supports were set up quickly to respond to the pandemic, and the benefits were made taxable to prevent misuse of the program.

However, because these benefits were made taxable, those seniors who needed to work and rely on Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement to survive saw their benefits clawed back as a result of accepting pandemic benefits, which qualified as income. The Guaranteed Income Supplement is an income-tested benefit, payable to low-income seniors who also receive the Old Age Security pension. A reduction of their monthly income is significant as too many of Canada’s seniors have limited monthly income.

Colleagues, to fix this problem for the upcoming Guaranteed Income Supplement reassessment period at the end of June and going forward, the following specific benefits will be exempt from the calculation of income for GIS or allowance purposes: the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, including any amount that was issued under the Employment Insurance Act; the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit; the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit; and the Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit.

Colleagues, it was brought up by some senators during second reading and again during the committee study of the bill that there was a drafting error contained in the 2021 Budget Implementation Act. They believed this error will make a $500 government supplementary support payment that was recently sent to seniors a taxable benefit, which is not the intent.

An amendment was moved at committee by Senator Patterson to address the numbering error in the 2021 Budget Implementation Act by making changes to Bill C-12.

We know that there was a numbering error in the 2021 Budget Implementation Act. The Minister of Seniors’ officials assured committee members that this error would have no material impact on the delivery of services and benefits for seniors. Finance Canada also assured us that it will not have an impact on the delivery of services to those receiving the Guaranteed Income Supplement.

I think we can all agree that the drafting error should be corrected. Government officials agree the drafting error should be corrected. There are several better options open to make this change rather than doing it here and putting seniors’ GIS payments at risk. The government can use the next Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act process, the next Budget Implementation Act or introduce another bill. Honourable senators, the government has expressed an interest in working with senators on resolving this.

Colleagues, the question we have to ask ourselves is this: Do we risk not passing Bill C-12 on time? Do we risk missing this deadline, which could affect 80,000 low-income seniors relying on their benefits arriving on time? Every witness who appeared before the committee urged us to pass this legislation immediately.

Thank you to the Social Affairs Committee who allowed me to ask questions during the debates.

Witnesses all shared their concerns that after passing this bill we continue to bring forward policies to help seniors deal with the challenges they face on a daily basis. We know that the seniors who will be most helped with this legislation will be mainly women, minorities and people facing disabilities. We also know that far too many of our seniors live in precarious financial situations where every dollar is necessary.

We heard excellent and impassioned testimony at committee from witnesses who are dedicated to helping ensure seniors are supported to live with dignity. But we know that by passing this bill, it is not the end; there is still much left to do.

Honourable senators, this legislation is important. It might be short, but its importance to seniors cannot be overstated.

As I said earlier, every witness — four panels — who appeared before the committee supported Bill C-12, and every witness said this bill should pass immediately with no amendments.

I hope that you will support this legislation as well, and that we will pass Bill C-12.

Thank you.

Hon. Dennis Glen Patterson: Will the honourable senator take a question?

Senator Cordy: Certainly.

Senator Patterson: Senator Cordy, I would like to ask you this: Officials have said to ignore the legislative drafting error and they will make the payments anyway.

I am wondering, how do you feel about relying on officials to ensure that we can overlook the lack of legislative authority when it was probably those same officials who were responsible for the legislative drafting error that we are now dealing with in the Senate?

Senator Cordy: Thank you very much.

Sometimes we can get very angry with governments, frustrated with governments. We can get very frustrated with officials. But public servants, I believe, are excellent people. We have got many people in this chamber who are former civil servants. I believe that they are all trying to do what is right for Canadians.

We also have to assume, senator, some responsibility for this. This bill came through this chamber. We didn’t fix it. So we can’t lay all the blame on the part of government officials and government overall. We also have to assume some responsibility.

What I’m saying is, it’s done. It’s a done deal. Let’s not hold our seniors hostage. Let’s make sure that they get the money. The people who are getting guaranteed income, the seniors who are getting the Guaranteed Income Supplement, are not people running around with big cars, fancy apartments. These are people who are living on the edge.

With what is happening today in the economy as a result of COVID, we know that many of them are struggling, those who are receiving the Guaranteed Income Supplement. These people have had to take part-time jobs, not full-time jobs, because that would affect their Guaranteed Income Supplement. They are working part-time.

What kind of jobs do they have? First of all, we know that they are mainly women. The stats show that they are mainly women. We know that the kinds of jobs they have are in the service industry. They are making minimum wage or barely above minimum wage. Let’s not punish them because we’re frustrated by the way that this bill has come to us initially, when we didn’t notice it, and now again.

I trust the government officials that this will be passed in the immediate future. But in the meantime, I, for one, can’t punish vulnerable seniors.

Hon. Ratna Omidvar: Senator Cordy, thank you for your sponsorship of the bill. Will you take a question?

The question of the drafting error, and fixing it, was raised in committee to the minister. Can you tell us what her response was and what her proposal and undertaking was to fix this error?

Senator Cordy: Thank you very much.

As you know, the minister explained that she did not want this holding it up. I know that some of the solutions that were provided — and I did read them in my speech — that we could have the solution in the next Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, through that process. We have done that. I know the last time was in 2017. When I hear that it was 2017, I think that we’re past due to have another one shortly. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was one very shortly.

We know that it could also be in the next budget implementation act. If it’s not there, and we don’t have the miscellaneous statutes, then perhaps you and I can get together and bring forward an amendment to the budget implementationact bill with that very item in it, or you could introduce another private member’s bill. Personally, I would rather go with either one of the first two that I mentioned.

Thank you for that.

Hon. Terry M. Mercer: I have another question for Senator Cordy.

Senator Cordy, I appreciate the fact that we have heard good words from public servants, and perhaps even the minister, that this will be fixed sometime in the future.

This is a minority government. This government could be defeated any day now. I do not see it happening in the near future, but it could happen.

Let’s say that Canadians then have lost total control of their senses and elected a Conservative government. What happens then? We have no commitment from them that they will fix it this way. We have a commitment from the current government.

It seems to me that we have talked here time and again about the House of Commons putting pressure on us to get things done quickly. Well, maybe we should be putting the pressure on them, reminding them that they are the ones who are going to go to these seniors, if there was an election called quickly, looking for their votes. They would have a hell of a time explaining this to them at the door. I know that.

Senator Cordy: Thank you very much for your comment and your question. I saw Senator Plett smiling at some of your comments. I know Senator Plett is the same age I am, so he and I are both concerned about seniors being taken care of.

But you raised a really good point about this being done quickly. I have assurances from the minister, the department, Finance and the minister’s department. I even called them last weekend to make sure that all of these things were reiterated to them. They were very gracious about taking my call on a Sunday night, so that was good.

But you’re right: This has to be done quickly. I am hopeful it will be done this spring. I hate putting timelines on things, but I hope it’s done quickly.