The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: I’m sorry. You said “no,” Senator Martin?

[Translation]

Senator Martin: No.

Senator Pate: Thank you for the question. It’s the same thing that I have been saying here. In fact, I have spoken to those women. That was the most they felt they could get. They saw it as a way that the government could posit some support and appear to be dealing with violence against women. Some of them are from the same group who have now come forward in the CBC report that I mentioned in my comments. Those same groups are saying that this money could have been devoted to more bed spaces and might have had more effective use, because those in remote and rural communities were not being served by this.

So it goes back to the very point that I hope I have made clearly — but perhaps I haven’t, and thank you for the opportunity to rearticulate it — which is that it is not that women do not say they want this, but they say they want it when it is the only thing offered. That is the issue that I think we have to grapple with as a Senate.

Senator Gold: As you know, honourable senators, in 2017, the government published its strategy to address gender-based violence. It’s outlined in a document that’s entitled, It’s Time: Canada’s Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence.

This strategy builds on several federal initiatives, coordinating existing programs. It lays the foundation for greater action to combat gender-based violence, including initiatives to support survivors and their families, and to promote a responsive legal and justice system.

There are other ways that the government is also taking action, notably through the introduction of Bill C-21 which proposes to implement Canada’s most significant action against gun violence in at least a generation and which will — as we know, because of the impact that gun violence has on women and the degree to which firearms, tragically, are used in cases of violence against women — benefit women.

I do not know the answer to your specific question about the status of that recommendation. I’ll certainly make inquiries and report back.

Hon. Dennis Glen Patterson: I’d like to ask a brief question of Senator LaBoucane-Benson.

Thank you for your speech.

Would you have any comment on the significance of the respected organization that represents the Inuit of Canada — ITK — which has rejected this bill as being prejudicial to Inuit in Canada?

Senator Gold: Thank you for your question. As I stated in my speech, significant improvements were made to the bill by the Senate which were accepted by the government: These include strengthening the protection of privacy, as well as strengthening the presence and role, of Black Canadians, racialized Canadians and Indigenous voices; making it clear that innovation is an important objective of the regulatory framework and of our Canadian Broadcasting Act; ensuring that audiences figure into the calculations and ensuring the diversity of audiences; and so on and so forth. These were improvements to a bill that was already a good bill.

The bill came to us with massive support in the cultural sectors — supported by large numbers of stakeholders, and supported by three political parties who ran on its modernization as part of their electoral platforms.

This is a good bill; we agreed to and the House agrees to 99% of the bill. We’re talking about a handful of clauses where there is disagreement. I think that’s important for senators to understand at this message stage — when we have received a message from a minority Parliament, supported by a majority of members of the House of Commons who have carefully and responsibly studied our amendments. They’ve read the transcripts and listened to the debates. They have come to different policy choices than the ones the Senate preferred. That is not a reason to ignore the benefits that this bill will bring to Canadians, and the importance of passing it and having it receive Royal Assent as soon as possible.

Senator Gold: The Prime Minister is not vacillating. Although you have many talents, Senator Housakos, you’re hardly a mind reader, so you don’t actually know and should not presume to know what goes on in other people’s minds.

The government is taking this seriously. Investigations are under way. Institutions that are in place, such as the Committee of Parliamentarians and others, have looked and are continuing to look at the issue, as is the Special Rapporteur. Canadians should be secure in the notion that this government is taking their and our interests to heart.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. This past budget, as I’ve stated in this chamber, is designed to provide a road map for the future for Canadians while helping Canadians get through these difficult times. Indeed, despite the obsession of some with debt as the only measure of a country’s economic strength, viability and prospects, the facts remain, apart from the rhetoric, that Canada is well positioned — indeed, positioned better than G7 countries going forward — in terms of having the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7 and triple-A credit ratings. It is a testament to the practical, real-world, responsible management of this government.

The Hon. the Speaker informed the Senate that a message had been received from the House of Commons returning Bill S-214, An Act to establish International Mother Language Day, and acquainting the Senate that they had passed this bill without amendment.

Senator Gold: I understand because I attended the meetings as well. First, the bill is clear. It doesn’t apply to digital creators. This bill targets the platforms, not those who create the content.

Second, the minister repeated this several times very recently during a televised public program.

Third, the text makes it clear that this doesn’t apply. The fact that people create something and put it online doesn’t make them broadcasters. Far from it. The definitions are very clear.

Finally, as I mentioned in my speech and in the motion itself, the government has committed to spelling out in the policy direction that this won’t apply. I understand the fears, but they are not based on the text of the bill or the government’s position.

It is a clear and public commitment. If we approve the motion, the will of the Senate will be to ensure that the government is held to the commitments it made.

[English]

Senator Cardozo: I want to make one point that I think is lost sometimes. The CRTC has the ability to make its own regulations within the framework of the act — I use the word “framework” generally, Senator Gold — and it doesn’t have to wait for a directive from cabinet. The point being, over the next few years, the CRTC has the ability to change regulations. If you think of the word “TikTok,” five years ago, “tick-tock” only referred to the sound of your grandfather’s clock — today, it has a different meaning, and, five years from now, it will have a different meaning again. A lot of technology will change.

My question is this: For viewers who are watching us today, our debate so far, over the last hour, has been on a couple of issues that were turned back by the House of Commons. Senator, could you remind us of a couple of highlights where the House did, in fact, agree with the good work we have done, particularly regarding what we advised them on? You outlined them briefly in your opening comments, but I think the viewing public — outside this room — might want to be reminded that the House did agree with a whole lot of things. Although I’m a new senator, 20 out of 26 strikes me as quite high; you can correct me if I’m wrong.

Senator Tannas: We’re arguing over how equivocal the government wants to be here. I wondered if the word “intent” in that paragraph is an equivocation.

Again, would it be possible and acceptable, if this house decided — and maybe you don’t want to answer an “if” question — that that stated intent become something like a public assurance or a public commitment?

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Maxime Gagnon, Émilie Bouchard Labonté and Saoud Messaoudi. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Petitclerc.

On behalf of all honourable senators, I welcome you to the Senate of Canada.

Senator Gold: Of course.

Senator Tannas: Your thoughts?

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear.

[Translation]

The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: Honourable senators, it being 5:15 p.m. I must interrupt the proceedings, pursuant to rule 9-6. The bells will ring to call in the senators for the taking of a deferred vote at 5:30 p.m. on the second reading of Bill C-18, An Act respecting online communications platforms that make news content available to persons in Canada.

Call in the senators.

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Harder, P.C., seconded by the Honourable Senator Bellemare, for the second reading of Bill C-18, An Act respecting online communications platforms that make news content available to persons in Canada.

Hon. Hassan Yussuff moved second reading of Bill C-224, An Act to establish a national framework for the prevention and treatment of cancers linked to firefighting.

He said: Honourable senators, I will not be speaking today; my good friend Senator Wells, the critic of the bill, will be speaking.

Senator Plett: I find that strange: “Don’t ask me the question; ask somebody else.”

Every day, it seems there are new revelations about foreign interference by Beijing and what the Prime Minister knew. The Prime Minister has always said there is a wall between him and the Trudeau Foundation. Last week, La Presse reported that one of the senior staffers in the Prime Minister’s Office reached out to the Trudeau Foundation in November 2016 regarding the “Chinese donation.” That’s a pretty thin wall, leader. A former board member told La Presse last week that the so-called political polarization reason the foundation and the Prime Minister gave for the resignations was — wait for this — “a bunch of lies.”

Leader, Canadians deserve the truth. There has to be a public inquiry. Clearly, the Prime Minister doesn’t agree or he would have called one by now.

But what excuse does his cabinet have? Why can’t they see that a full public inquiry is the only right thing to do at this point? Finally, leader, what do you call someone who spews a bunch of lies? What kind of language would you consider that to be?

Hon. Donna Dasko: My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.

Senator Gold, members of the Canadian Museums Association are in Ottawa over the next two days as part of their 2023 Hill Day to speak with parliamentarians and others. The association includes many representatives from my city of Toronto, which is the home of fabulous galleries and museums.

However, people I know in the museum community are greatly concerned about the continuing turmoil at the National Gallery of Canada. As the search for a new, permanent director continues, my question to you today builds on the question posed to you by Senator Bovey last December, and that question is: Can you confirm that the new, permanent director will have two essential qualifications — an advanced degree in art history or in contemporary expression, and a career in directing and running a major gallery or museum? Thank you.

Senator Gold: Thank you for the question. My answer is twofold. First, if my memory serves me well, the Prime Minister says that he is open to discussing a bilateral agreement with his counterpart, the Government of Quebec, given that Quebec has a program that doesn’t necessarily exist anywhere else.

We will closely monitor that process and how the national program will be received in Quebec, and the amounts paid out.

That said, I must emphasize the importance of this dental program for thousands upon thousands of Canadian families, young people and not-so-young people, who don’t have access to dental care and who don’t have the means to obtain dental care, which is vital to physical and mental health. This is an important program for Canadians, and the Canadian government is proud to move forward with this program.

[English]