Hon. Leo Housakos (Acting Leader of the Opposition): My question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate. Senator Gold, as you know, Conservative member Larry Maguire’s Bill C-208 received Royal Assent last June. It sought to correct some tax inequities that occur when an SME is transferred to a family member.

During the debate on Bill C-208, the government spokesperson, Senator Woo, Senator Harder, Senator Dalphond and you claimed that passing the bill would create a huge loophole in the tax system. You said, and I quote:

 . . . Bill C-208 as currently structured would enable loopholes within the tax system that create opportunities for tax avoidance by the wealthy at the expense of those these measures should rightfully support.

Six months have passed and your government has still not found it necessary to make amendments to the Income Tax Act. My question is simple, Senator Gold. Did the government mislead senators during the debate on Bill C-208?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question and for quoting what I said in this chamber.

The government’s position that I shared with you remains the same. The government’s priorities for this period were well established and properly communicated. Fortunately, we are doing our part to ensure that the government’s legislative priorities are implemented.

[English]

Hon. Salma Ataullahjan: Honourable senators, my question is for the government leader in the Senate.

Senator Gold, we have all heard of Fatemeh Anvari, a Grade 3 teacher who was removed from her classroom because she wore a hijab. Sadly, that is only one story of many. I would love to share with you the exact number of Canadians Bill 21 has impacted since its inception in 2019, but no such data exists.

Senator Gold, when will the government commit to investigate and collect data on the ramifications of Bill 21?

Senator Housakos: Senator Gold, if what you and your fellow colleagues who spoke on behalf of the government in this chamber said was true, how do you explain the Minister of Finance’s lack of action on this huge loophole that Bill C-208 has created? According to your own speech and according to what Senator Harder said, hundreds of millions of dollars would have been lost by the treasury because of Bill C-208.

The government had two opportunities to correct this with Bill C-2 and Bill C-8. Why has the government done nothing? Is it because what you said was just not true or because the government is asleep at the switch, or is it just a question of neglect?

Senator Ataullahjan: Senator Gold, we have been informed by NGOs and through various university studies that Bill 21 has negatively impacted hundreds of Canadians. For example, families had to relocate after making the impossible choice between their career and their faith. Some were forced to go back to school to change their field of expertise. Many, because of their faith, struggle to find meaningful employment and now suffer from poor mental health.

Senator Gold, what are the government’s plans to implement services and financial support for Canadians whose lives have been upended because of Bill 21?

Senator Gold: Thank you for your questions about the federal government’s position on this bill. The position of this government is clear: It is not removing from consideration measures to intervene in the court proceedings, unlike some other leaders of national parties.

The Government of Canada provides support to Canadians through a myriad suite of programs. To my knowledge, there is no specific program contemplated for those who choose to relocate or whose lives are disrupted because of Bill 21.

Again, members of this chamber know my personal position on the bill. They also know the government’s position on Bill 21, which is that it is an unacceptable interference with the freedom of individuals to believe what they want and to exhibit those beliefs through their dress. It is also the position of the government that it regrets the rather broad invocation of the “notwithstanding” clause. Beyond that, senator, I’m afraid I have nothing more to contribute to your question.

[Translation]

Hon. Chantal Petitclerc: My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.

An article in the Toronto Star last week caught my attention. The article was about lack of accessibility in federal penitentiaries. It tells the story of Kitten Keyes, an inmate at Grand Valley Institution who uses a wheelchair.

She says she was forced to sleep on the floor for 21 days straight because her cell wasn’t accessible, so she couldn’t get to her bed. She also soiled herself because she couldn’t reach the toilet in her cell. I found that so upsetting, that I dug deeper and found out that the problem is all too real, as laid out in the 2019 report by the Office of the Correctional Investigator and the Canadian Human Rights Commission entitled Aging and Dying in Prison: An Investigation into the Experiences of Older Individuals in Federal Custody.

When the Accessible Canada Act was passed, the federal government committed to making Canada a barrier-free country, starting with places under its direct authority.

This much is clear: Accessibility should be universal for everyone, including inmates. Senator Gold, how will your government fix this problem? I witnessed the problem first-hand when I visited a prison with Senator Pate.

Hon. Jim Quinn: Honourable senators, the members of this chamber have heard many comments over the past few weeks regarding climate change from various senators, in the Speech from the Throne and, last night, from the Minister of Finance. There is no doubt that climate change has a dramatic effect on our economy and on jobs associated with that sector.

It’s excellent to learn that the Government of Canada will be convening a summit of industry and transportation officials to discuss critical infrastructure supply chain in early 2022. Having broad representation is extremely important in such a summit. Atlantic Canada plays an important role in transportation in this country, and sometimes representation from Atlantic Canada in such endeavours is thin.

When we are looking at who will be invited, we need to ensure that Atlantic Canada is well represented, particularly from the port sector. One of those ports is Port Saint John, the third-largest volume port in Canada and the only port in Atlantic Canada serviced by our two national rail lines. Can the government ensure that Port Saint John will be invited to the table?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Senator Quinn, thank you for your question. The government was very pleased to announce a national supply chain summit to discuss the challenges and strategies which you referred to, and importantly the next steps that will enable recovery for Canada’s transportation supply chain.

With regard to your specific question, the government is very aware of the importance of the port to Canada as a whole, much less the Atlantic provinces and your province in particular. I have been advised that the details of who will be invited and attending have not yet been finalized. I have been advised that different levels of government and different representatives of the industry that have an interest in supply chains and notably — and this was made explicit — ports, rail companies and trucking alliances will be in attendance.

Senator Smith: Senator Gold, during our Committee of the Whole deliberations yesterday with respect to Bill C-2, Minister Freeland highlighted that Canada’s debt-to-GDP ratio, which is still forecasted to be 48% in 2021-22, is the lowest in the G7. However, CPA Canada, in a recent statement, made it clear that it recommended “the government replace the debt-to-GDP target with a ‘fiscal anchor framework’.”

A fiscal framework would move beyond the simplistic ratio and pursue a series of metrics which would provide a more complete picture of the health of the economy, but also instill confidence in both households and businesses that the government is addressing its large deficits and levels of indebtedness.

Senator Gold, why won’t your government move away from the debt-to-GDP metric and implement a series of fiscal anchors which will provide more enhanced measures of accountability but also provide some sense of certainty for businesses and consumers?

Senator Mégie: Although you said that the government is working very hard on this matter, Canada is one of the few remaining countries in the World Trade Organization that have not explicitly stated their position on temporarily suspending the rules. Nearly all developing countries, France and the United States have already supported this initiative. If the suspension is to be effective, Canada must insist that there be a concurrent transfer of know-how and equipment to developing countries. Many countries would be able to produce vaccines if they were free to do so and could rely on our support. Does the federal government plan to support this suspension? It will not work without that support.

Hon. Marie-Françoise Mégie: My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.

Professors Gold, Liu and Morin, from McGill and Laval universities, issued the following statement in Le Devoir on December 11, 2021:

Taxpayers in wealthy countries have largely funded the development of new vaccines through public research, subsidies and purchase commitments. These same taxpayers can legitimately insist that developing countries have access to the vaccines as well.

The professors proposed that we amend Canada’s Access to Medicines Regime, or CAMR, to include vaccines, tests and other pharmaceutical products needed to combat COVID-19.

The CAMR makes it possible for less expensive drugs and medical devices to be produced and exported to developing countries in a health emergency, without waiting for authorization from patent holders.

Does our government plan to amend the CAMR to respond favourably to these requests to expand the list of medical products and create the right conditions for ending this pandemic?

Hon. Diane Bellemare: Thank you, Senator Yussuff, for your presentation. It was very informative.

Naturally, I am in favour of this bill. It is about having decent work, minimum standards and public health, at a time when people who are not protected find it difficult to stay home when they have a communicable disease, since they are not always aware they do. I believe that this is a very important aspect of this bill.

My question revolves around the ability or the willingness of businesses in this matter.

I know that this bill covers federally regulated businesses. These are generally larger firms that already offer benefits. From what I know about this, the Canada Labour Code has often been amended as a result of negotiations between the big unions and businesses.

Does this bill have a meaningful and significant impact, or were the large firms already offering these minimum benefits?

Also, do you still want the Canada Labour Code to be amended in future, as part of negotiations between major associations or the union movement and businesses?

Could you please comment on that? Thank you.

[English]

Senator Yussuff: Thank you, Senator Bellemare, for your question.

As you know, a number of workers and employers already, of course, provide for paid sick leave through their negotiated process or outside of that. The reality is there are far too many workers for whom it’s not covered because they didn’t have success at the bargaining table to achieve the 10 days of paid sick leave.

I think these amendments are going to improve the opportunity for those who do not have it, but at the same time, for those who exceed the code, I think it shows that efforts by their employers and their unions is something that we can learn from. More importantly, I think within the provincial jurisdiction, where 90% of workers reside in this country, we have a long way to go. Based on the statistics I provided this morning — whether in Prince Edward Island or in Quebec or more recently in British Columbia — we know there are tremendous gaps. In Ontario, there are just emergency measures that provide for sick days. There are no permanent amendments in the code in Ontario. I think that will be the discussion we need to have.

I’m hoping that as a result of the passage of this bill there will be far more engagement across this country to recognize that all Canadians, regardless of the jurisdiction they work in, should have paid sick days as a fundamental right of going to work. We know what this pandemic has revealed. If you have any symptom of the virus and you go to work because you have to, and you can’t take the time off, you are going to affect others. It’s going to have a profound effect on the workplace and it could have a profound effect on the colleagues you work with.

Given our efforts to try and prevent Canadians from getting sick — through vaccinations, through wearing masks and washing hands — we need to recognize that paid sick days give workers the comfort to ensure they can take time off when they need it. Equally, I think we need to recognize both employers and unions need to work harder to ensure all workers in this country have paid sick leave as a fundamental right of going to work every single day. It is something that is the norm in a lot of European jurisdictions. In Canada, we have a long way to go to achieve those same objectives.

Senator Simons: Like most Canadians, I was horrified by the sight of angry mobs of people intimidating hospital workers and patients outside of hospitals, screaming abuse at parents and children outside of vaccination clinics, but I also worry about unintended consequences. When I look at this bill, I am concerned about the prospect of a provincial government misusing this bill against strikers, especially health care workers, outside of a hospital during a strike where emotions are running high.

With your background in the labour movement, what assurances can you offer me and Canadians that there are going to be sufficient safeguards that this legislation is not misused to affect the right to strike and the right of strikers to protest outside of health facilities?

Senator Yussuff: Thank you for very kindly, senator, for your question.

As you know, when the Minister of Justice did come to the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, this question was asked of him on the record. He stated very clearly that this is not the objective of the legislation and those fundamental rights are protected.

As a former leader of the Canadian Labour Congress and having spent a lot of time on picket lines and protests, I understand fundamentally what those rights are all about. I think there are safeguards, but of course we still have an independent judiciary in this country. Should any provincial jurisdiction overstep the limitations that are in this legislation, we have a course of action to restore those imbalances should they happen. But I am very conscious of this fact. That is why I asked the minister the question when he came before the Legal Committee.

Senator McPhedran: Thank you very much.

As many have mentioned, Bill C-3 is welcome and it is also long overdue. The issues that this bill is seeking to alleviate — the expansion of paid sick leave and sadly needed protections for health care workers to counter violence, harassment and aggression — were identified at the very outset of this pandemic almost two years ago. The government has been pressed continuously to bring the legislation forward. It’s here now and it’s important that we process this as quickly as we can.

However, Senator Yussuff, as you have stated, this legislation covers only those workers under federal jurisdiction, which amounts to less than 10% of the Canadian workforce. My question is geared to the implementation of the standards and the protections in this bill.

We have optimism about this legislation, but the danger we have all seen many times before is that hope and optimism do not always translate into legislation and implementation of a new law.

Given your long professional experience with Canadian unions and the worker environment, do you have specific suggestions or strategies that you are promoting or will promote in order to ensure that federal and provincial negotiation occurs, and there is a much wider implementation process of the protections of this law?

Senator Yussuff: Thank you, senator, for your question.

Once this bill is passed, there is no question that the reality that we are now faced with is how we will engage at the provincial and territorial level to broaden the scope of workers’ protections in those jurisdictions.

As you know, this federation of ours has always been a bit of a challenge. It has its optimistic moments when things happen and there are times when we struggle.

A long time ago, not so long ago, we started some work to bring forward protection for domestic violence. When we started the effort, not a single province, including the federal government, had protection for workers suffering from domestic violence. In a very short period of time, in less than seven years, every single jurisdiction in this country now has legislation that protects workers from domestic violence. It allows them to take paid time off to achieve that.

I know some provinces might resist bringing in paid sick days for workers in various jurisdictions, but I am convinced that the labour movement will see this as an opportunity to push even harder. Other activists and groups will join them in that effort, of course, to try to get our province — I am hoping equally, as the Minister of Labour has indicated in his letter, he will convene his provincial counterpart very shortly to have a very fundamental discussion on how they can work together to achieve this objective.

Our federal government certainly has provided many supports to the provinces to help them achieve some equality in regard to how we have dealt with this pandemic. I’m hoping similarly the federal government provides some leadership with the provinces to ensure they can bring in sick leave to complement what we are doing here in the federal jurisdiction.

Senator Dasko: Thank you very much for taking on the sponsorship of this bill. This is a very important bill, requiring 10 paid sick leave days for federally regulated workers. It’s especially important now with the new COVID variant that we have been confronted with. It is very important that the federal government has taken a leadership role in this area.

As a member of the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology, a number of issues were raised which you referred to in your speech. One of them is an issue that I have just a little bit of confusion on, and that is the coming into force of this law. It was raised at our committee. I’m left with a little bit of confusion about it. At one point there was a suggestion that, in fact, it wouldn’t come into force until negotiations were done, and this didn’t seem to be quite right. I don’t know if there is any truth to this.

Obviously, negotiations with the provinces are going to be difficult, because I can name at least one province, the one where I live, where I think there will be a lot of kicking and screaming before they move in the same direction as the federal government.

My question is: Can you provide some clarity to the issue of the coming into force of the bill and of the law, this being especially important now in terms of paid sick leave given the new COVID situation that we are in?

Senator Yussuff: Thank you, senator, for your question.

In regard to the implementation of this bill, the federal government does not require provincial consent, of course, to implement the law.

There is a need to bring some regulatory regime that will complement the implementation of the law, and there is a process for doing so. In doing that, regulations have to be gazetted. The government can pass an order-in-council to move that process along much quicker than the traditional way, which will take about 90 days.

There has been discussion with a recognition that the federal government will need to consult with employers, unions and others with regard to the implementation. I believe that can be done in a very short time. This legislation can be enforced and be taken advantage of by workers in the federal jurisdiction certainly within the next 60 days, as we will be in this position. It is my hope that the minister and his staff will work diligently during the holidays to try to accomplish that. There is a mechanism. I know from my past that there are ways for the government to do so, if they desire.

With regard to the negotiation with the province, you are right to acknowledge this reality; I don’t think the province will simply come to the table and say, “Thank you very much, we’ll do what you ask us to do.” It has never worked that way. I don’t think it will work that day on this bill.

I think there is a lot of goodwill to recognize that workers at the provincial jurisdiction equally, as they have been in the federal jurisdiction, are the ones who have kept this economy going. Those workers deserve the recognition that, when they get sick, they should not have to lose pay to go to work. It is a way to fight the pandemic. It is a way to win this fight against the pandemic. It is also a way to send a message to those workers that what they are doing to keep this country going matters, and we are going to have their backs.

I hope that our provincial leaders will listen to the advice of the federal government, and take some leadership from them as to how they can work together to achieve the greater good of Canadians right across this country.

Hon. Scott Tannas: Honourable senators, I want to thank Senator Yussuff for his tremendous work on this bill.

Yesterday, our group came under some significant pressure not to refuse leave, such that we would have allowed the bill to be passed last night. I won’t say there was intimidation, but there was pressure, and a lot of it. In fact, when we refused leave that was requested by Senator Gold, I heard a senator shout, “Shame.”

I would like to, for the sake of some of the new senators, and also to remind those of us who have been here longer, what should be happening now at second reading of this bill.

We should have a speech from the government sponsor; we have had that. We should have a speech from the critic; we don’t have that. We should have speeches from others, and we are, in fact, having that. We should, as senators, be sitting and listening and thinking about the intention of this bill, and considering whether or not it is worthy for further consideration. That’s what a second reading vote, which we will shortly have, is about. It is a vote to ratify if the bill is worthy of further consideration. Typically, then, once we have that vote, and if it passes, we would refer it to committee for study.

In this case, we had a pre-study done by the committee. But even in matters of pre-study, we would refer it back to the committee for clause-by-clause consideration. They would also examine the bill in its final form and see if there had been changes from the pre-study, and see if their concerns that had been outlined and enumerated in pre-study — which is one of the reasons why, sometimes, pre-study gets done — were dealt with by the government and amendments put forward in the House of Commons.

In this particular case, there were changes made. There were concerns raised by the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs that were largely ignored. There is a whole new section in the bill dealing with bereavement leave. In Senator Yussuff’s speech, I noticed that it was the last thing he talked about because it was a last-minute addition that was done in the House of Commons for wonderfully good reasons. Nonetheless, the details of this amendment and this whole new section were hot off the press last night.

I would expect that normally the committee that completed the pre-study would have some work that they would do in order to bring us clause-by-clause consideration, potential amendments and a final report before third reading. That’s how it should work. If that worked, then at that point we would have a bill with potentially some Senate amendments, or at least we would have a report that said all our concerns were dealt with, or not; this is still a concern, and this is still a concern. We could then say that the important quality control component of what we do was finished. That part of our sober second thought was done, and we could now move on to a fully informed debate in third reading of the merits of the bill as it was before us. None of this will happen. Why?

We have heard in some quarters that the bill is so urgent that we just simply can’t wait. Senator McPhedran raised the fact that a number of these issues have been around since before COVID, and they were certainly highlighted during COVID, but we are two years into it. I think it is debatable, at least, just how urgent this bill is and that it get passed with us waving it through.

We also heard, even though there were last-minute amendments and a lot of drama in the House of Commons, that we can’t put through any amendments to improve the bill in any way because the House of Commons has gone home, so there is no point in putting amendments forward. That speaks volumes about a number of things that I won’t even bother to get into right now.

The final one that always signals that there are problems with the bill is the famous letter from the minister that things will get fixed, and I see that features with this bill as well.

So colleagues, in a few minutes we will be asked to forgo our rights and obligations instead of doing our full and complete job on a bill with, to say the least, a very unusual legislative journey through the House of Commons.

It’s a bill that brings significant permanent changes to the Criminal Code and employment law in Canada and is arguably not an emergency bill to address COVID-19. There are a lot of flashing red lights for sober second thought on the bill, notwithstanding the important and positive impact the bill intends to have on Canadian workers.

I submit to you that this is a shame. It’s a shame that we will not be able to do our full and complete duty with proper time and all the levers we have to improve the bill.

In June, when we ended the last session, I think we all felt a great sense of pride that we had done our work, had done it well and were looking forward to better days ahead. I don’t feel that way today. I think there is some reflection and potentially some action in the future that we need to take in order that we at all times are able to do the job that the Constitution and Canadians expect from us. Thank you.

Senator Tannas: I would agree. In fact, in your speech last night you raised your discomfort with this method of dealing with legislation. I agree with that.

On the question of unanimity in the House of Commons and how that ought to be a signal for us to waive our rights and obligations, I could argue the opposite. We are here to divorce ourselves from politics, and believe me, we would have to be the most naive creatures on the planet to think what happened with this bill didn’t involve a whole bunch of politics last night. It should be one of the first things we look at when there’s something unanimous coming from the House.

We had another example of it. It was maybe a result on Bill C-4; a result that we were all hoping for, that we would pass that bill. But the fact it came unanimously should be a cause for pause for us, not the green light to wave the thing through without our having done our jobs.

Senator Tannas: Absolutely.