Senator Gold: Well, many of the premises, assumptions and assertions in your question are simply false, and I am not going to take the time to catalogue them.

The process of appointing senators — and the senators that were appointed according to that process — is a fair, open and transparent one. It has provided a diversity of views, backgrounds, expertise and perspectives unparalleled in the history of this Senate. If it is true that we are still embarked upon a slow and sometimes painful progress towards a more effective, efficient and less partisan Senate, it is not because of the imputations you made yesterday and again today of interference in this Senate by the government or the Prime Minister’s Office, whether it’s with regard to Speaker’s rulings and interpretation of the Rules.

Let us be clear. You are entitled, and I respect the position of the opposition. You know I do, and I said so publicly long before I took this position. I also respect facts, and I respect the fact — and these are facts on the ground — that we are serving Canadians well in this Senate, and it is thanks in no small measure to the devotion of the people sitting here, regardless of who appointed them.

[Translation]

Hon. Salma Ataullahjan: Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the report of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association concerning the Sixty-fifth Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, from August 20 to 26, 2022.

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

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

[English]

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Lise Crouch. She is the guest of the Honourable Senator Busson.

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

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Senator Gold, when you are questioned about the Prime Minister’s many ties to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, you simply reply that there are no links between them and that I should stop asking you about it.

La Presse reports that the wall the Prime Minister said divides him from the Trudeau Foundation is found in his own office building down the street. On April 16, a meeting took place there between five deputy ministers and the foundation.

The wall between the Prime Minister and the Trudeau Foundation reminds me of the wall that exists between the Trudeau government and the new independent Senate. Both walls are so thin, they exist only in the Prime Minister’s mind and — quite frankly, Senator Gold — in yours.

Canadians see the truth for what it is. Time allocation votes always allow the public to see who represents the government and who doesn’t. Last night’s vote exposed that truth, didn’t it leader?

Hon. Stan Kutcher: Honourable senators, our recent break made it impossible for most of us to celebrate a rare event that acknowledged the many achievements of one of us — yet it went by relatively unnoticed. Today, it gives me great pleasure to draw to our attention an achievement of one of our colleagues — a senator whom many of us look up to; someone who is easy to spot in a crowded reception; a senator whom I am privileged to call a colleague, friend and seatmate.

About two weeks ago, Senator Peter Boehm received the Knight Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

This award was created by Theodor Heuss, the first President of the Federal Republic of Germany, on September 7, 1951 — three years before Senator Boehm was born.

[Editor’s Note: Senator Kutcher spoke in German.]

It recognizes special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellectual or honorary fields.

A look through the names of recipients shows that Senator Boehm is one of only a small number of non-German nationals who have been so honoured. He stands with people such as Umberto Eco, the great Italian writer whose novels The Name of the Rose and Foucault’s Pendulum were likely read by most of us; Viktor Frankl, the psychiatrist whose autobiography Man’s Search for Meaning should be essential reading for everyone; Pascal Lamy, the former director-general of the World Trade Organization; Jean-Marie Lehn, who received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry; Sviatoslav Richter, one of the greatest pianists of the last century; Uğur Şahin, the founder and CEO of BioNTech; Billy Wilder, who won five Academy Awards as a director and screenplay writer; and, of course, our own Senator Omidvar, who received the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2014.

Our Peter certainly moves in distinguished company.

We all know that he had an outstanding diplomatic career that included being the Deputy Minister for the G7 Summit and the Personal Representative of the Prime Minister, the Deputy Minister of International Development, the Senior Associate Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Ambassador to Germany.

We also know of his commitment to and wise counsel in the work of this chamber, as well as his dedication to improving the lives of those who live with disabilities, especially the autism spectrum disorder.

However, as his seatmate, I am privileged to know a bit more. He has a wickedly dry sense of humour. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of popular music and great taste in colourful socks.

Please join me in congratulating Senator Boehm on his recent award. It is an honour that brings status not only for him personally, but also to this chamber.

[Editor’s Note: Senator Kutcher spoke in German.]

Hon. Salma Ataullahjan: Honourable senators, I give notice that, two days hence, I will move:

That, pursuant to rule 12-24(1), the Senate request a complete and detailed response from the Government to the fourth report of the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights, entitled Human Rights of Federally-Sentenced Persons, tabled in the Senate on June 16, 2021 and adopted on June 23, 2021, during the Second Session of the Forty‑third Parliament, with the Minister of Public Safety being identified as minister responsible for responding to the report, in consultation with the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Minister of Indigenous Services, the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, as well as the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion.

Hon. Raymonde Gagné (Legislative Deputy to the Government Representative in the Senate): Honourable senators, I give notice that, at the next sitting of the Senate, I will move:

That, when the Senate next adjourns after the adoption of this motion, it do stand adjourned until Tuesday, May 2, 2023, at 2 p.m.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Jitinder Singh, Chief Executive Officer of Milli Micro Systems. He is the guest of the Honourable Senator Marwah.

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

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Chief Petty Officer First Class Gilles Grégoire and his wife Denise. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Patterson (Ontario).

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

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate) introduced Bill S-12, An Act to amend the Criminal Code, the Sex Offender Information Registration Act and the International Transfer of Offenders Act.

(Bill read first time.)

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Unfortunately, I do not have that information.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): I have been saying for three and a half years that I am proud to be the Government Representative in the Senate — that is, although I was named as government leader because that’s what the Parliament of Canada Act required at the time, I was asked by the Prime Minister to style myself as representative of the government. If this is news to you, honourable colleagues, I am glad to clear that up.

To your question: Neither the Prime Minister nor the Prime Minister’s staff participated in the meeting to which you were alluding in your reference to La Presse. The Prime Minister had no such knowledge of this meeting. It took place in a public service building, as you know. I’m sure you have been in the Langevin Block in your days when your party was in government. You know very well how vast and multi-purpose that building is.

In fact, according to research undertaken by La Presse, the Prime Minister’s schedule for that day — April 11 — contained no reference to this round table. Again, this is an example where the allegations just simply do not hold up.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you very much for the question. It’s always a timely one — no less so today for reasons we all heard.

The government is deeply committed to addressing the issues and working to eradicate gender-based violence in Canada — focused very much on the safety of vulnerable women. As we know — in the course of the pandemic as well as after — in a series of budgets, the government provided hundreds of millions of dollars of additional funding to support women’s shelters because, tragically — predictably perhaps, but tragically — the isolation and the forced isolation had devastating effects on those who were living at risk in their homes.

The National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence and the historic investments in Budget 2022 of over $530 million are key to support that work. I’m advised that Minister Ien is at the table actively in negotiations with provincial and territorial counterparts as a key step in implementing this plan. And if I can just say, personally, my dear wife Nancy has long been involved in a women’s shelter in Montreal. It touches all of our lives in so many different ways. The government is doing its part, as much as it can, with provinces and territories and the private sector, frankly, to support this important work.

Hon. Donna Dasko: I do have a serious question. Thank you.

My question is to the Government Representative in the Senate. Senator Gold, CBC reported this week that more than 600 women’s shelters across Canada will soon lose hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding. According to a national survey I commissioned in late 2021, 83% of Canadians think that violence in the home is a very important problem facing women, and almost as many — 77% — say that violence against women in society at large is a very important problem facing Canadian women. Indeed, violence against women is seen as the most important issue facing women in this country by both women and men.

Women’s shelters play a vital role in assisting women fleeing violence across this country by providing a place to go where they can find support. Senator Gold, can you explain to us the government’s intentions and plans with respect to funding these shelters? Thank you.

Hon. Claude Carignan: My question is for the proud Leader of the Government. Senator Gold, you gave Senator Plett a rather clear answer about how the Prime Minister didn’t know that there was a meeting of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation just a few feet from his office in an annex. I don’t know whether you have ever been to his office, but the room in question is quite close to it — and yet the Prime Minister did not know that was happening.

Can you answer my question? Does the Prime Minister at least know whether he paid for his infamous $9,000-a-night vacation to Jamaica? Did he pay for that? Can you answer that question?

If you can answer that he didn’t know there was a meeting four steps away from his office, then I would imagine that you have had the information about whether the Prime Minister paid for his vacation out of his own pocket for about two weeks now. The credit card statements for December and January have arrived.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question. The mistreatment and abuse of temporary foreign workers is completely unacceptable, period. Everyone deserves to work in a safe and healthy workplace with dignity. That is why the Government of Canada requires all employers to provide all temporary foreign workers with information about their rights in Canada. It prohibits employers from retaliating against workers and it prohibits employers from charging workers recruitment fees.

The Government of Canada has committed to strengthening these integrity measures to ensure that temporary foreign workers work in a safe and decent environment.

Hon. Amina Gerba: Honourable senators, my question is for the Government Representative in the Senate. The labour shortage is forcing employers to turn to temporary foreign workers. In 2022, Quebec welcomed 38,500 temporary workers, an increase of more than 50% compared to 2018.

However, a documentary entitled Essentiels, which recently aired on Télé-Québec, reveals that temporary immigrants who often arrive in Canada with closed work permits experience inhumane working conditions at their sole employer. Moreover, they are not allowed to settle in Canada.

Senator Gold, what is the government doing to end these slavery-like practices experienced by temporary workers who play a vital role in our country?

Hon. Jim Quinn: My question is for Senator Cormier in his capacity as Chair of the Standing Committee on Official Languages, or OLLO.

The Official Languages Committee undertook an exhaustive pre-study on Bill C-13. However, recently, the House of Commons Official Languages Committee made substantial changes to the bill at the request of the Government of Quebec. As a government priority, I expect the bill to be in the Senate soon. My question is as follows: Given New Brunswick’s unique constitutional position as the only bilingual province and the Senate’s role to give a voice to official language minority communities, what is the committee’s plan to ensure the bill is reflective of the views of francophones in New Brunswick and support the development of French and English linguistic minority communities in Canada?