Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): As Government Representative in the Senate, and at the risk of repeating myself, I have to say neither of those.

As part of Budget 2021, the government invested in helping workers reskill to meet the needs of employers. I have been told that the government has a plan to address this labour shortage by welcoming talented workers to Canada, keeping experienced workers in the workforce, boosting the participation of diverse Canadians in the skilled trades and address the specific needs of evolving sectors.

The problem in the sector that you mentioned is clearly not just a problem in Quebec, but elsewhere as well.

The Government of Canada will continue to work on this issue with its provincial and territorial partners.

[English]

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): I thank the senator for the question.

I would like to begin by expressing my condolences and those of senators and the Government of Canada to the family and loved ones of Thomas Trudel, who lost his life recently. The Government of Canada has done many things to reduce gun trafficking overall, including creating a cross-border task force to address smuggling and gun trafficking, creating a fund to provide financial support to the provinces and territories, and not only giving money to Quebec, but also granting $250 million to the municipalities to meet the needs of the communities.

To answer your question more specifically, as announced, the Government of Canada is prepared to work not only with the provinces, but also with the municipalities that want to ban handguns in their jurisdiction, and it will continue to provide financial support to the provinces, municipalities and territories that want to move forward.

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

The government remains committed to supporting equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics, as well as diagnostics. Since the start of this crisis, the government has contributed $545 million to the COVID-19 vaccine Global Access Facility for vaccine procurement, distribution and delivery for 92 low- and middle-income economies that are eligible for the COVAX Advance Market Commitment. It is reported that, as of November 22, the government has delivered more than 8.3 million doses of the vaccine through COVAX.

Canada has also shared 763,080 doses of AstraZeneca through direct bilateral agreements with countries from Latin America and the Caribbean. At the recent G20 summit, the Prime Minister announced Canada’s commitment to donate the equivalent of at least 200 million doses to the COVAX Facility by the end of 2022.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): The Government of Canada, as I have stated before in this chamber, is deeply disturbed by many aspects of what is transpiring in China.

With regard to Canada’s participation, as I have mentioned as well, the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic committees are independent from the Government of Canada. We are not alone in facing this particular challenge, and Canada will do everything it can to secure and protect the well-being of Canadian athletes, should they be in China.