Senator Gold: Thank you for your question. The exemption does currently exist in Alberta in the same terms as we find in The Saskatchewan Act. There is also an exemption in Manitoba in slightly different terms because Manitoba was already a province by the time that the arrangement was made with Canadian Pacific Railway. To date, neither the Province of Manitoba nor the Province of Alberta has approached the Government of Canada with an indication that they want to proceed as Saskatchewan has done.

Hon. Paula Simons: May I ask you, Senator Gold, to speak more as a former professor than as the government representative? Alberta and Saskatchewan entered Confederation at the same time under very similar legal frameworks. The railroad, of course, also runs through Alberta. I’m just curious, did this exemption ever exist in Alberta? Does it still exist in Alberta? If it doesn’t exist anymore, at what point, do you know, was it changed in my province?

Senator Gold: Again, thank you for your question. I actually don’t know whether there is a copy of that agreement, but there was an agreement — at least, I’ve been advised there was an agreement. I will make inquiries as to whether there was. If there is one and it is public, I would be happy to share it.

Senator Dalphond: I have another question.

If I properly read the text of the draft, it says that there was some kind of agreement in 1966 between the then president Ian Sinclair of CP and the Government of Canada through the minister of transport Jack Pickersgill. Do we have a copy of that agreement? Is it a written agreement or an oral agreement? If it is a written agreement, could we have a copy of it?

Senator Dalphond: Thank you.

[Translation]

Senator Dupuis: Senator Gold, you just told us about a lawsuit filed by Canadian Pacific against the governments. Can you specify which governments? Are we talking about the Government of Saskatchewan only? Are we talking about the Government of Saskatchewan and the Government of Canada?

Senator Gold: To ensure that I give you the right response, I will add this question to the ones you asked me and I will come back to you with the answers as soon as possible.

Hon. Renée Dupuis: I would like to ask the Government Representative a question if that’s okay with him.

The Hon. the Speaker: Senator Dupuis, do you have a question?

Senator Dupuis: Senator Gold, you mentioned an amendment that would be retroactive to a specific date in the 1960s.

Can you give us some more details about that retroactivity? You know there are always questions when we want to create retroactive legislation, so I wanted to make sure I understand correctly.

(Pursuant to the order adopted by the Senate on December 7, 2021, to receive a Minister of the Crown, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, P.C., M.P., Minister of Health, appeared before honourable senators during Question Period.)

Hon. Raymonde Saint-Germain: Senator Gold, would you take another question?

Hon. Jean-Yves Duclos, P.C., M.P., Minister of Health: Thank you very much for having me.

[English]

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, we welcome today the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, C.P., M.P., Minister of Health, to ask questions relating to his ministerial responsibilities. Pursuant to the order adopted by the Senate on December 7, 2021, senators do not need to stand. Questions are limited to one minute and responses to one-and-a-half minutes. The reading clerk will stand 10 seconds before the expiry of these times. Question Period will last one hour.

Only the Leader of the Opposition will be recognized, once, for a supplementary question, which reflects practices followed for previous Question Periods with ministers.

The Hon. the Speaker: Senator, I’m sorry, but your speaking time is up. Minister Duclos, do you have a response?

Since the Omicron variant emerged, this has given us a higher degree of vaccine protection in Canada than we would have had without the vaccine requirements that the Government of Canada brought in over the last few months.

We estimate that up to 3 million more Canadians would have chosen to put off getting vaccinated until the summer or late fall. Imagine how much worse off we would be now if 3 million more Canadians were unvaccinated on top of those who are still unvaccinated today.

The Hon. the Speaker: I’m sorry, minister, but your time has expired.

[English]

Hon. Pamela Wallin: Minister, in Quebec, as you know, the National Assembly’s inter-party committee report on end-of-life care recommended allowing advance requests for medical assistance in dying, or MAID.

I have two questions. First, do you agree with that recommendation? Second, I will ask you this again: Do you commit to reconvening the joint committee this month so that we can study Quebec’s report in a timely way?

Hon. Pierre J. Dalphond: I thank you and the entire government for supporting the provinces in their fight against the pandemic, for example by providing vaccines and implementing complementary health care measures, especially at the borders.

According to scientists, including federal experts, we are transitioning from pandemic to endemic, so wouldn’t this be the time to review the federal measures that may no longer be necessary?

Hon. Claude Carignan: Minister, MP Joël Lightbound made an extremely important statement yesterday. For one thing, he said that the government is using the pandemic for partisan purposes. For another, he is a key witness who was present behind closed doors and participated in developing strategies to use the pandemic to sow partisan division.

When was that strategy developed, and who was involved in developing it?