Hon. Raymonde Gagné (Legislative Deputy to the Government Representative in the Senate) moved third reading of Bill C-15, An Act for granting to Her Majesty certain sums of money for the federal public administration for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022.

She said: Honourable senators, I am pleased to rise today to introduce the appropriation bill for the 2021-22 Supplementary Estimates (C).

Through this appropriation bill, the government requests Parliament’s approval of the planned spending proposals that are detailed in the Supplementary Estimates (C).

[English]

As my esteemed colleagues well know, the appropriation bill is a vehicle through which payments from the Consolidated Revenue Fund are authorized for government programs and services.

The voted amounts in these supplementary estimates represent maximum “up to” ceilings or estimates. It is, therefore, not out of the ordinary if these amounts are not fully spent over the course of the year. The actual expenditures are listed in the Public Accounts of Canada, which are tabled after the end of the fiscal year.

The estimates family of documents, which consists of the Main Estimates, supplementary estimates, departmental plans and departmental results reports, in conjunction with the public accounts, help parliamentarians scrutinize government spending. This scrutiny is a key element of our parliamentary system. This scrutiny, we must acknowledge, is not always a straightforward matter.

A number of our colleagues on the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance did express some difficulty in ascertaining information in a timely fashion. I want to assure my colleagues that the Government Representative Office in the Senate has taken note, and continues to consistently deploy its best efforts to bring this to the attention of the government.

[Translation]

That said, I will talk about the Supplementary Estimates (C), 2021-22, which form the basis of this appropriation bill.

As my colleagues know, supplementary estimates present information on additional spending requirements that were either not sufficiently developed in time for inclusion in the Main Estimates or that were subsequently refined to account for recent developments.

The Supplementary Estimates (C), 2021-22, were tabled in the Senate on February 21, 2022. These are the third and final supplementary estimates for the current fiscal year.

In general, they provide information on $13.2 billion in new voted spending for 70 federal organizations. They also present information on an additional amount of $3.9 billion in planned statutory budgetary expenditures.

It is important to note that these statutory expenditures were authorized either under existing laws or in the proposed—

(Pursuant to the order adopted by the Senate on December 7, 2021, to receive a Minister of the Crown, the Honourable Marco E. L. Mendicino, P.C., M.P., Minister of Public Safety, appeared before honourable senators during Question Period.)

Hon. Percy Mockler: Honourable senators, it is with great sadness that I rise today to pay tribute to an extraordinary woman, a friend, a proud Acadian, New Brunswicker and Canadian, for her leadership and for always being there to help the most vulnerable. Claudette Bradshaw passed away on Saturday after a long and courageous battle against cancer. New Brunswick has lost a great champion, an unprecedented icon of the Canadian Parliament.

Minister Bradshaw and I had the same social portfolios in the early 2000s, she for the federal government and I for New Brunswick, under the direction of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and Premier Bernard Lord respectively.

[English]

Madam Bradshaw was a great ally, and we also had another common denominator with our files: Both of us had personal experience with welfare and its challenges. Claudette Bradshaw was remarkable.

[Translation]

Honourable senators, her desire to help her community began nearly 50 years ago with the founding of Headstart in Moncton. This initiative was aimed at meeting the urgent needs of the region’s most vulnerable residents.

Like me, Claudette Bradshaw always strove to make our region, our province and our country a better place to live, work, and raise our children and, above all, to help the most vulnerable. Claudette Bradshaw was a woman of principle, a woman of strong values. She always demonstrated great loyalty to her community.

[English]

Former prime minister Jean Chrétien described Claudette as a shining example of someone who dedicated her life to the service of others. For my part, I would also add that many people, many families, have benefited from her hard work and dedication. She found it an honour to serve the community. She was a tireless advocate for early intervention services.

Honourable senators, there’s no doubt in my mind that she changed the lives of many New Brunswickers and Canadians. Her lifelong dedication to assisting those in need had an immense impact on countless Canadians from coast to coast to coast. Claudette was very proud of her family: Christopher, Nicholas and her spouse, Doug.

[Translation]

I offer my deepest condolences to her family.

[English]

Honourable senators, as I conclude, Winston Churchill once said:

. . . it is better to be both right and consistent. But if you have to choose—you must choose to be right.

Honourable senators, I have personally witnessed that Minister Bradshaw was always right, and she was always consistent in defending the most vulnerable.

[Translation]

Claudette, I tip my hat to you. Rest in peace.

Thank you.

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear.

Hon. Percy Mockler: Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the third report of the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance, which deals with Supplementary Estimates (C) for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022, and I move that the report be placed on the Orders of the Day for consideration at the next sitting of the Senate.

I would like to acknowledge, on behalf of the steering committee of National Finance, all members of the National Finance Committee for their dedication and hard work.

[Translation]

Furthermore, all members of the committee join me in thanking the clerk, Mireille Aubé, and the entire support team for their dedication to the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance.

(On motion of Senator Mockler, report placed on the Orders of the Day for consideration at the next sitting of the Senate.)

[English]

Hon. Marco E. L. Mendicino, P.C., M.P., Minister of Public Safety: Thank you very much, senator. Before I get to the substance of my response, I want to thank you and all of the senators for welcoming me to my maiden voyage here in this Question Period. It is truly an honour and a privilege to be joining you in this chamber. It is an impressive body of work that you contribute to our democracy, and I want to begin by expressing my gratitude for all of the work, the studies and the interventions that you bring on behalf of Canadians.

Senator, you raise an important question around 5G, and you are quite right that the government is committed to rendering a decision and issuing a statement as soon as we possibly can. I will say that it is also important that we get this decision right, and that we look as the principles and the values that underscore the decision but, equally, that we understand the threats to our national security as they have evolved as it relates to any potential challenges that may be presented in the context of 5G and of our cyber infrastructure. I assure you that we appreciate the urgency that you have expressed in your question. As soon as we can communicate a decision, we will do so.

Senator Housakos: Thank you, minister. Clearly, you do not appreciate the urgency because it has been three years and we’re still waiting for a clear and unequivocal answer on whether we will ban them or we won’t.

In December, The Washington Post reported 100 confidential PowerPoint presentations that lay out Huawei’s participation in mass surveillance of Chinese people by their communist regime, including the local tracking of political persons of interest. The document also shows how Huawei is involved in human rights violations against the Uighurs in Xianjing province through surveillance, cameras and facial recognition. One document appears to show that Huawei did technology design work on their prisons. Is this not enough reason to ban Huawei, minister? If this is not reason enough, what will it take for your government to ban them? And, please, it should not take three or four more years until we get a final decision.

I want to assure you that as we undertake a careful review of all of the factors that go into this important decision that we are not sitting idle, that we are deploying a number of strategies and countermeasures to ensure that any hostile actors, be they state or non-state, are being mitigated and addressed in real time. We’ve made significant investments into our national security apparatus with the various agencies that report to my portfolio, as well as others within government, so that as we leverage the new technologies and innovations that are important to keep Canadians and others connected through the internet and cyberspace we are doing so in a way that recognizes that there have been evolutions to the threat landscape, including those which may be perpetrated by hostile state actors. We’re very mindful of the concerns that you have expressed. We do recognize that there is an expectation and an urgency to communicating the decision and we will do so as quickly as we can.

Hon. Marco E. L. Mendicino, P.C., M.P., Minister of Public Safety: Thank you very much for the question, senator. I would begin by underlining that the illegal occupation that took place here in Ottawa, as well as the blockades that occurred at a number of our ports of entry in British Columbia, Manitoba and various ports of entry here in Ontario, presented a grave and serious threat to our security. It had a significant impact on our economy. Many Canadians were idled in their employment as a result of it. That is why we had to invoke the Emergencies Act, which included among its targeted powers the —

Hon. Kim Pate: Welcome, Minister Mendicino. While we recognize that Correctional Service Canada does not have control over who is sentenced to prison, correctional policies and decision making, as you know, have the power to either reinforce or help redress the current mass incarceration of those who are most marginalized.

What are your specific plans with the department to first build upon existing exchange of service agreements between provinces and territories to ensure and expand the use of transfers of prisoners with disabling mental health issues to provincial health care facilities, as authorized by section 29 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act — so that they can receive the appropriate health care and treatment they need — and second, to eradicate current policy and practical limits imposed by Corrections on sections 81 and 84 of the CCRA that legislate the transfer and conditional release of Indigenous prisoners and other marginalized prisoners to the care and custody of communities?

Hon. Marco E. L. Mendicino, P.C., M.P., Minister of Public Safety: Thank you, senator, not only for the question but for your ongoing advocacy in this space. You know that I am passionate about these issues, having worked in the criminal justice system myself.

I will say that I think it is imperative that we work with provincial reformatories and governments in the correctional space to ensure that there are appropriate transfers according to the principles that are laid out in the statute, but I also want to take a moment to underline what the core of the problem is.

The core of the problem is the long and historic overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples, particularly in our jail systems, as a result of the systemic challenges and racism that we have seen within our criminal justice system. That is something that we have to change.

Among the many things that we are doing in Correctional Service Canada is allowing for the transfer flexibility and supports required are given to those who are serving out their sentences in our inmate facilities. We have to address the upstream challenges as well. That means making sure that we can divert Indigenous peoples away from the criminal justice system before they get there. That means investing in mental health, housing, education and continuing to make the progress that is needed around safe water. Those are root causes of the problems that you identified in your question, but certainly when it comes to transfers and other supports that we can provide, we will do that in a way that is consistent with rights under the Charter.

Hon. Marco E. L. Mendicino, P.C., M.P., Minister of Public Safety: The short answer is as soon as possible. We are in the midst of discussions with leaders of Indigenous communities and the organizations that represent them at the national level. We are making a lot of progress in that regard, but we also need to start working with local communities.

The first practical step involves using federal investments to co-develop a bill to advance reconciliation in a way that respects the report and recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. That is the first step.

Also, to finish my last answer to Senator Carignan, yes, a bill is planned to increase mandatory minimum sentences.

[English]

Hon. Marco E. L. Mendicino, P.C., M.P., Minister of Public Safety: Senator, thank you very much for the question. I will start by answering the last component of your question.

We are introducing transformative, new investments to both stabilize Indigenous policing for those communities that have access to it, but equally to expand Indigenous police services to those who are still in need of it. It is my sincere hope that we’re going to be able to move forward with legislation that will ensure that Indigenous policing is seen as an essential service, which it is, because Indigenous peoples, like all Canadians, have a right to be safe in their communities.

I will say that my mandate lays out very clearly a number of ways in which we hope to move forward, in conjunction with the RCMP, when it comes to transforming the police service. I am very encouraged by the conversations that I have had with the commissioner around making changes to our Management Advisory Board, which is an adjunct body that provides independent advice to the commissioner, by making additional changes around the way in which grievances are brought forward, particularly as it relates to those claims involving sexual harassment and violence within the service, to make sure that that process is independent and, lastly, to be sure that the RCMP is reflective of the diversity of our country.

In conclusion, I would say that I am very proud that the RCMP has deployed to the International Criminal Court to advance the investigation into war crimes in Ukraine.

Hon. Vernon White: Minister, thank you very much for being here. Since 2006 and just prior, the federal government made a decision to shift the three separate legacy agencies working at our borders to become a new agency: the Canada Border Services Agency. With the change came new training, equipment, firearms, use of force and new peace officer powers, but the officers are not police officers and cannot carry out the duties of police officers. I have asked ministers for the past decade why we do not shift the CBSA’s role at our inland and border crossings to provide them with the police officer designation, with immediate responsibility and accountability.

As we saw from the recent challenges at our border crossings — and there were many other incidents across Canada over the past years — it could have been helpful. Arguably, it would be helpful every day, as the access to police officers at the more than 100 Canada-U.S. border crossings is not always available. Canada is one of the very few countries, if not the only one, not to have that in place.

Why can we not action such a move from the current half measure to a more fulsome model of border security and law enforcement?

Hon. Marco E. L. Mendicino, P.C., M.P., Minister of Public Safety: First, we would say to them that the government is very aware that there have been far too many tragedies caused by gun violence. You’re right, senator, it’s a serious threat not just in Quebec, but across Canada.

Roughly two weeks ago, I had a productive meeting with my Quebec counterpart, Minister Guilbault, and we agreed to do more work on this issue, which is having a major impact on the province of Quebec.

We have a very effective strategy, but we must invest more in our police forces, as we have already done, to help them prevent illegal gun trafficking at the border.

Last week, I also had a meeting with my U.S. counterpart. In the past week, there has been a record number of arrests. Progress has been made, but we must make more investments to help prevent gun violence.

Finally, this government promised to introduce stricter controls to ensure public safety in communities. There is a three-pronged strategy in place, and the work will be done in collaboration with the provinces.

Hon. Renée Dupuis: Welcome to the Senate, minister.

Your mandate letter says that you are responsible for co‑developing a bill on First Nations policing. On March 22, your department and the two other ministers responsible for these issues launched an engagement process to consult with First Nations.

Funds have been allocated. You said earlier that you want to stabilize existing police services and also expand them to communities still in need of such services. Can you tell me how the funds are being allocated, since the situation in First Nations communities varies a lot from province to province?

Also, can you tell me what steps you plan to take following these initial consultations in order to be ready to introduce a bill, and what the deadline is for completing this process?

Hon. Julie Miville-Dechêne: Minister, the Canada Border Services Agency is responsible for seizing goods produced by forced labour at the border.

Such seizures are very rare, partly because the standard of proof is almost impossible to meet. In addition, Canada releases hardly any information about the seized goods or the company involved, because it says this information is protected under the Privacy Act.

In the United States, however, the authorities are much more transparent. They have carried out 31 seizures in three years. They publish the date, the type of goods and the name of the supplier. Obviously, this information can then be used by American businesses to avoid sketchy suppliers.

By hiding information about seizures of goods produced by forced labour, isn’t Canada putting businesses’ commercial interests ahead of workers’ human rights?

Hon. Marco E. L. Mendicino, P.C., M.P., Minister of Public Safety: Senator, I agree. We must protect workers’ rights. I know there is a bill to that effect. We will keep working with all members in the other place to study that bill.

At the same time, I must also assure you that there is a lot of cooperation between Canada and the United States. We share information pertaining to many cases, but we always respect privacy rights and Charter rights. There is a high degree of collaboration between our two countries. I know this because, in recent weeks, I have had productive meetings with my counterpart, Secretary Mayorkas of the Department of Homeland Security. Our collaboration is very important to protecting border integrity and Canada’s interests.

[English]

Hon. Marco E. L. Mendicino, P.C., M.P., Minister of Public Safety: Senator, thank you for that question and for highlighting advocacy that I am sensitive to.

I represent a community in Toronto where there’s a shooting more often than I’m comfortable even mentioning in this chamber. It can happen as often as every week at certain points of the year. In many of those cases, I know the people and the families who have been impacted by gun crime. I’m moved by their resilience to persevere, but we have to meet them at the moment that we find ourselves in, which means taking more action to reduce gun violence, including gun violence that is generated by handguns. For the benefit of this chamber, handguns are the number one type of killer in this country. It’s unacceptable.

That having been said, while we’re committed and while my mandate instructs me to work with provinces and territories to take more action on that front, it’s not the only thing that we need to be doing. We also need to be investing in law enforcement at our borders to stop illegal trafficking of guns into this country. Equally, we need to be investing in preventive strategies so that we can create safer spaces so that these tragedies don’t occur in the first place. My commitment to you is that we will do that work in cooperation with all of the communities across this country, so we can finally rid ourselves of this scourge.

Hon. Vernon White: Thank you, minister. Hopefully, we see you here more often. As you can see, there are lots of people with concerns.

I understand there’s been a promise to review the contract policing role of the RCMP and their dozens of contracts across this country. Can you walk us through the process that will be followed, who will be involved and what type of reporting might be offered to parliamentarians as that process takes place?