Hon. Diane F. Griffin: I wish to ask a question, Your Honour.

The Hon. the Speaker: Senator Gold, would you take a question?

Senator Gold: Of course.

Hon. Pierrette Ringuette: Senator Gold, if I understood you correctly, you said in your speech that, in the Constitution, Canadian Pacific was given an exemption from paying municipal, provincial and federal taxes. Is that correct?

Hon. Mobina S. B. Jaffer introduced Bill S-235, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

(Bill read first time.)

The Hon. the Speaker: Senator Griffin, did you wish to enter debate or ask a question?

Hon. Pamela Wallin: I wanted to ask you, Senator Gold, if you wanted to speak briefly to the fact that the lobbying around this issue has been going on for the entire 20th century and into the 21st, and that Alberta and Manitoba were very much a part of that effort to end this constitutionalized tax, and that what has really provoked all of this and prompted this more current discussion is a decision rendered by the Federal Court in September 2021. That is what has brought this issue to the fore again in an urgent way.

The Hon. the Speaker: Thank you, minister.

We will suspend until the minister finishes voting.

(The sitting of the Senate was suspended.)

(The sitting of the Senate was resumed.)

(1530)

Hon. Jean-Yves Duclos, P.C., M.P., Minister of Health: Thank you for your patience.

Hon. Marie-Françoise Mégie: Good afternoon, minister. Thank you for being with us today.

The first wave of COVID-19 killed thousands of seniors. The Prime Minister said that he wants to pass a bill on safe long-term care that sets national quality standards. The Standards Council of Canada, the Health Standards Organization and the Canadian Standards Association are all in favour of developing new pan‑Canadian standards.

The draft version of the standards would lay the foundation for the future of long-term care. It is open for public review until March 27. To ensure the Senate has enough time, when do you expect to introduce a long-term care standards bill in the other place?

Hon. Rosemary Moodie: Minister Duclos, welcome.

Recently, the Health Standards Organization released their first draft of the National Long-Term Care Services Standard. This is highly anticipated because long-term care, as you just pointed out, has been a long-standing issue in this country, one made worse by the pandemic, and was the scene of some of the most disheartening instances of neglect and death during the pandemic.

You have acknowledged that these issues require a broad, systemic change that considers a number of factors: standards of care, conditions for workers, affordability, access to care, and that federal leadership is really needed and essential here.

In the face of an aging population and a weakened health care system, it is clear that the Guaranteed Income Supplement is not going to be the change that will make significant change here. Many of these issues require —

Hon. Pierre J. Dalphond: During the last Parliament, your government asked us to amend the medical assistance in dying legislation. The legislation, as passed, required the establishment of a special joint committee of senators and members of Parliament to report on the first few years of medical assistance in dying and to study the possibility of advance directives.

Why didn’t the government reconvene this special committee after the election?

Hon. Patricia Bovey: Thank you, minister, for being with us today. The pandemic has taken a mental and physical toll on all Canadians. Hill Strategies Research proved the strong connection between cultural participation and general and mental health. We know people who attend live theatre, classical and popular music, comedy events, cultural festivals, art galleries and who read books have better mental health and medical outcomes. B.C. doctors are now able to prescribe a national park pass to patients to aid in their mental health, and in Montreal they have been prescribing museum visits. Artists’ generosity and inspiration have given so much to us all during these two years.

Minister, is there any thought of Health Canada promoting arts and culture as a means of achieving better overall health for Canadians as we emerge from the effects of the pandemic?

Hon. Jean-Guy Dagenais: Minister, why do you still refuse to end the inconsistent measures imposed on Canadians when they cross the Canada-U.S. border on their way back into Canada?

Let me explain. Travellers can be triple vaccinated, have a negative PCR test in hand and complete an ArriveCAN form, yet they may still come across a customs officer who requires them to undergo an additional test via the internet.

How is this anything but hassling Canadians at the border?

Hon. Jean-Yves Duclos, P.C., M.P., Minister of Health: Thank you. We can be extremely proud of what Canadians themselves and businesses have done over the last 22 months. Let’s just look at a few examples. In December 2020, we were the first country in the world to start administering the Moderna vaccine, and the second in the world to start administering the Pfizer vaccine. We were among the top four countries in the world to start administering the Paxlovid antiviral treatment, which we are glad to see being used across Canada.

We have seen enormous success in the contribution of businesses, small and large, in procuring and delivering personal protective equipment right from the start of COVID-19. We can be so proud of what we have done together as Canadians. It is all right if we also do so in this particular context. Let’s be fully aware of our immense fortune to have been living in Canada over the last 22 months with all of these outstanding achievements.

Hon. Jean-Yves Duclos, P.C., M.P., Minister of Health: Thank you, Senator Forest.

I will limit my remarks to two aspects. First, as I mentioned a little earlier, not only has there been ongoing collaboration among the different levels of government, but it has yielded several results. In the past few weeks alone, I have attended seven meetings with my fellow health ministers from across the country.

The Prime Minister has held nearly forty meetings with his counterparts, the premiers of the provinces and territories. Many of these meetings have focused on the health response and investments in health care to protect health. In my case, the meetings have always been about that, of course. We just spoke about $2.5 billion for rapid tests, on top of investments of several hundreds of millions made a little earlier for Pfizer’s Paxlovid treatment courses.

In the meantime, vaccines are being provided free of charge to Canadians by the Government of Canada and, in my opinion, in a relatively efficient manner.

However, more needs to be done. That is why, knowing the priorities of the provinces and territories, we identified elements during the election campaign and in our platform that we believe could form the foundation for a relationship that respects provincial jurisdictions. By recognizing the government’s shared responsibility and by focusing on results, I think this relationship will continue to progress over the coming years, because we’re all in the same boat and we all have a responsibility to take care —

Hon. Jean-Yves Duclos, P.C., M.P., Minister of Health: I believe I already answered that question earlier, but I can sum up my response again.

First, the commitment was made, and that was the right thing to do.

Second, we are working together with the provinces and territories to do this in the most appropriate way possible.

Third, I don’t set the parliamentary agenda. Parliamentarians do. However, my responsibility is to ensure that all of this is done efficiently and quickly, and I will be there to do that.

Senator Dalphond: The answer is more interesting than I expected. So the amendment is being proposed at the request of the province that is involved in a court battle with Canadian Pacific to end the litigation.

The Hon. the Speaker: Your time has expired, senator.

Yes, “neglect and death” is a key phrase, as you have mentioned. I would say that, again, we have a joint responsibility to look after our seniors.

We have different roles to play, but the responsibility is common. That’s why we, as a country and a government, will be both a leader and a partner. It’s about leadership, but also about a partnership. We need to do this respecting provincial and territorial jurisdictions while we focus on the results of protecting the dignity and the lives of Canadians; those results are absolutely key to our conversations and partnerships with provinces and territories.

Your Honour, I am being told that I have to leave for a period of time because I need to vote in the House of Commons. To do that I will need to turn my camera off.