Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question, senator.

The government is well aware that immigration is essential to the vitality of our francophone minority communities. That is why the government has announced additional measures for francophone and bilingual applicants under the Express Entry program. The government is committed to finding new ways to attract francophones, including the development of a francophone integration pathway and programs like the Welcoming Francophone Communities Initiative.

Senator Gold: The answer is yes. The survival of the French language in Canada is dependent primarily on an increase in francophone immigration. The Government of Canada is committed to working with the provinces and territories to promote access to and the provision of quality French as a second language programs and I can cite several examples. The government is committed to protecting and promoting French across Canada.

[English]

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the series of questions, all of which are important and none of which I can answer with any precision today. With your indulgence, I will make inquiries and report back.

Senator Gold: Thank you for your question. I will certainly make initial inquiries, and first and foremost, with regard to the situation in the United States. The hundreds of countries elsewhere in the world each have their own sovereign right to determine access and the conditions under which tourists and others can visit. To determine the situation around the world will take much longer, even for a government that is well known for finding answers very quickly. I will do my best to get as many answers as I can and as quickly as I can.

Senator Boisvenu: Senator Gold, according to the information I received, Ms. Levesque’s family was offered $2 million in compensation — $2 million. There must be a very good reason the Parole Board decided to offer Marylène Levesque’s family that much money, and we would like to know what that reason is.

Does Public Safety Canada acknowledge its responsibility for the murder of this 22-year-old woman who was stabbed more than 30 times?

Senator Gold: I cannot answer for the minister, and as to correctional services and the board I was formerly a member of, they have their own chain of command. Once again, I will ask the government for information and get back to you.

[English]

Senator Gold: Thank you for your question. The government continues to provide funding under the National Trade Corridors Fund and announced yesterday funding for $4.1 million to the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority to help with bottlenecks and supply chain issues in British Columbia. I have been advised and assured that the government is monitoring supply chain issues in the Atlantic provinces, as well as in the rest of the country, caused by the combination of weather and the pandemic. I’ve been informed as well that the government continues to work closely with industry and provincial partners to assess transport needs going forward and to smooth out supply issues that continue to emerge.

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Honourable senators, my next question is for the government leader as well and concerns the cost-of-living crisis in our country.

Last week, Statistics Canada reported that inflation is at its highest level in 18 years. In August, during the federal election campaign, the Prime Minister admitted that he doesn’t think about monetary policies. I believe him. It is clear he never thinks about these. But massive inflation is making everyday life unaffordable for Canadians. These Canadians are thinking about monetary policies.

On December 31, the agreement between the Bank of Canada and the Government of Canada on our country’s inflation-control target will lapse — just over a month away. We still don’t know the Trudeau government’s position on this. Leader, you didn’t have an answer for Senator Bellemare yesterday, so perhaps I will have better luck. Will the inflation-control target be renewed at its current rate of 1 to 3%, yes or no?

Some Hon. Senators: Question.

Hon. Dennis Glen Patterson: Honourable senators, there are some points I would like to make on this important issue. One of the realities we need to acknowledge is that we are not the same demographic as those serving in the other place. Many senators are older or have underlying conditions and that does require us to be more vigilant and take more precautions than our counterparts. That is why, in principle, I am in favour of continuing hybrid sittings.

However, before we vote on this motion, I want to put on the record something that we are all aware of but maybe are not actively considering — not every Canadian has access to the same level of internet service required to fully participate in Senate proceedings. In Nunavut, the entire territory lost its internet connection when it rained on a satellite dish in Saskatchewan. That may sound odd, but that is the reality of our satellite-based internet services. I know there are other senators who would be joining our proceedings from rural or remote locations, and I know and share their frustrations when the signal drops in the middle of a statement or when asking a question.

The fact of the matter is that Canada consistently underperforms when compared to internet and wireless service delivery across the world. A recent study conducted by Opensignal showed that Canada came second to last in nearly every category when benchmarked against 24 different OECD countries. We did come first in one category, though; cost per gigabyte. Yes, we have the second-worst availability in service, but we have the highest cost per gigabyte out of the 24 countries examined. I could go on about the fact that Canada is one of the last countries that uses a spectrum auction to line its coffers, as opposed to using it as an opportunity to allocate a vital public resource.

I could talk about the absurdity of only having 60 megahertz available for auction when the International Telecommunications Union has set a standard for 200 megahertz of capacity per provider in order to ensure that consumers receive the proper level of service. Or I could go on about the loopholes being created by our current policy of set-asides and the need for better and stronger measures to foster competition in our telecommunications market.

Instead, I will only say that we clearly have a broken system and poor infrastructure, because it is relevant to this debate. When senators are forced to stay home due to medical reasons or pandemic restrictions, and then are not able to access the level of internet required to fully and actively participate in Senate proceedings and committee work, I would go so far as to say — and I believe — that it’s an infringement of our privileges. We must ensure that we have the tools and every opportunity available to us to exercise our duty and privilege to participate in the work of the Senate.

In the short term, that may mean new technology that ensures we have strong, stable signals when attending the Senate virtually. In the long term, to me that means we need to be firm and consistent in our demand for change. We need to ensure we have better, more transparent, accountable and streamlined decision making when it comes to telecommunications policy.

It means we need to make smart and strategic investments in future infrastructure, and it means we need to really hold our institutions to their promises of making internet affordable and service delivery competitive in every region of this vast and beautiful country. Thank you. Qujannamiik.

An Hon. Senator: On division.

(Motion agreed to, on division.)

[Translation]

Some Hon. Senators: Agreed.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you. Notwithstanding that health is a provincial jurisdiction, the Canadian government, the Ministry of Health and their counterparts have been working with their provincial and territorial counterparts in all kinds of ways. The chamber knows the effort that the federal government has made to move and help move personnel from place to place as need be. Military personnel and the like continue to work with their provincial counterparts to make sure that we can do our part collectively to make sure the human resources that are necessary for a vital health care system are strengthened, nurtured and promoted.

Senator Omidvar: Oh, thank you.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, when shall this bill be read the second time?

(On motion of Senator Patterson, bill placed on the Orders of the Day for second reading two days hence.)

[Translation]

Hon. Diane F. Griffin, with leave of the Senate, for the Honourable Senator Black, introduced Bill S-227, An Act to establish Food Day in Canada.

(Bill read first time.)

Hon. Pierre J. Dalphond: Honourable senators, with leave of the Senate and notwithstanding rule 5-5(j), I move:

That, from the start of the current session until the earlier of the start of hybrid sittings of the Senate, if authorized by the Senate, or the end of 2021, senators who were not or are not present at a sitting of the Senate be presumed to be or to have been on public business unless they advise the Clerk of the Senate otherwise.

Hon. Paula Simons: Honourable senators, my question is for the government representative. As Senator Plett rightly noted yesterday, farmers in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley are just now beginning to reckon with the full impact of this month’s devastating flooding on their operations. I am afraid to say the weather forecast for the next few days shows more heavy rain ahead.

In the meantime, grain farmers in Alberta and Saskatchewan are facing their own economic challenges, because rail closures and slowdowns have led to bottlenecks and congestion. Prairie farmers face the prospect of significant ongoing delays in getting products like wheat, canola, oats and lentils to market. It’s a particular problem, because they don’t get paid until delivery. Can you tell us what financial supports your government can deliver to farmers in the face of this crisis?

Hon. Bev Busson: My question is for the representative of the government in the Senate. Senator Gold, on October 5, the presidents of the Canadian Medical Association and the Canadian Nurses Association called an emergency COVID-19 summit of representatives of 30 national and provincial health organizations. We know how many challenges to the country the COVID pandemic has created, but the profound and longer-term threat to the integrity of our national health care system caused by the burnout, fatigue and moral distress experienced by front-line health care workers is amongst the most serious. Many nurses and doctors are packing up and leaving the profession.

Against this background, could you please inform the Canadian people, by means of informing us here in the Senate, whether the Minister of Health or Health Canada is in talks with its provincial counterparts to develop a strategic plan to confront this human resource crisis in health care. If Health Canada is not in such talks, might the Minister of Health consider sponsoring this strategic initiative?