Senator Black: Thank you, Senator Gold. The government has chosen to prohibit certain assemblies around places that administer COVID-19 vaccinations, which means effectively all pharmacies across this country. At the very least, government or Parliament can take small but significant steps to offer similar protections to key pieces of critical agriculture infrastructure.

Could you please convey to the minister the section 2 critical infrastructure definition would need to be updated by the Senate or by cabinet, as this is a fundamentally different section than the ability of the minister to designate certain areas as protected places under section 6?

Senator Black: My question is related to agriculture, which I know is no surprise to you or my colleagues here in the chamber. The question refers to the use of the term “critical infrastructure” under paragraph 2(1)(b) related to prohibition and public assembly, which does not confer upon the Minister of Public Safety the power to designate additional places, similar to the designation of protected places per 6(f) of the regulation.

The Emergency Measures Regulations provide a definition of critical infrastructure, which is not reflective of the importance of agriculture supply chains here in Canada and to the world. For example, the definition does not include agricultural processing and distribution facilities, like the food terminal in Toronto or processing plants across the country, most of which are located on private property and not on federal or provincial land. This means that the regulation which prohibits assemblies that interfere with the functioning of critical infrastructure does not include many of these agricultural supply chain vulnerabilities. Further, it means that the Emergency Economic Measures Order does not cover financial activities designated to disrupt agricultural processing and distribution facilities. By contrast other essential services, like ports and hospitals, currently fall within the scope of the order.

Senator Gold, why is the agricultural sector not included as critical infrastructure? Is this an oversight? And while we have been told agriculture supply chains are included under section 2, the actual buildings used for the food processing and distribution would not be. Would the government support efforts by the Senate to amend the Emergency Measures Regulations pursuant to subsection 61(3) of the Emergencies Act related to this necessary change?

Hon. Robert Black: Will Senator Gold take another question?