Hon. Salma Ataullahjan: Honourable senators, I give notice that, at the next sitting of the Senate, I will move:

That, notwithstanding rule 12-15(2), the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights be empowered to hold in camera meetings for the purpose of hearing witnesses and gathering specialized or sensitive information in relation to its study of human rights generally, specifically on the topic of anti-racism, sexism and systemic discrimination in the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

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. 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?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): I will answer your question, Senator Batters. I will answer your question. But I’m also first going to say what has kept me very preoccupied since yesterday. Our Speaker made a ruling. You had the right to challenge the ruling. I’m looking at you collectively.

Senator Plett: So did you.

Hon. Denise Batters: Senator Gold, in Speaker Furey’s ruling last night on the time allocation point of order, he quoted and relied upon the first sentence of the definition of the government leader from the Senate Rules. Senator Gold, speaking about you as Leader of the Government or government leader, Speaker Furey said, “The Senator who acts as the head of the Senators belonging to the Government party.”

So, Senator Gold, after seven and a half years of you, your predecessor Senator Peter Harder, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and senior minister Dominic LeBlanc stating frequently and unequivocally that the Trudeau Government Representative doesn’t belong to the government party, according to Speaker Furey’s ruling, you do. Because this is required under the Senate Rules so you can use your cherished newfound time allocation power, can you confirm, Senator Gold, that you, Senator Gagné and Senator LaBoucane-Benson all belong “to the Government party” — that is, the Liberal Party of Canada?

Hon. René Cormier: Thank you for your question, Senator Quinn.

I recognize your passion and dedication for New Brunswick, and I appreciate having received your very important question in advance, so I will make sure I answer it properly.

With respect to the current process of modernizing our country’s Official Languages Act, the OLLO committee has always been and will continue to be very sensitive to the issues affecting official language minority communities, such as francophones in New Brunswick. I can assure you that francophones outside of Quebec, along with the English linguistic minorities in Quebec, have been and will continue to be heard by our committee and their interests are taken into due consideration. Actually, they are at the core of Bill C-13.

For instance, between 2017 and 2019 our committee conducted a comprehensive five-part study on the perspective of Canadians on the modernization of the act, including those of official language minority communities. During that study, we heard from approximately 300 witnesses, including nearly 200 in committee sessions and in 100 informal discussions during our study missions, which were held actually in places like Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. Last year, as you mentioned, our committee conducted a pre-study of Bill C-13 where we have heard from organizations and experts on some of the provisions that will directly support the vitality and development of French and English linguistic minority communities in Canada, such as those related to positive measures to be taken by federal institutions. I invite you, senator, to consult our final report, which details some of the witnesses’ comments and observations in this regard.

Finally, concerning New Brunswick, it is not forgotten in Bill C-13. The province is explicitly mentioned six times in the bill, namely in the preamble and Part VII. It is mentioned that the Constitution provides that English and French are the official languages of New Brunswick and have equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all institutions of the legislature and Government of New Brunswick, and that the Constitution provides that the English language linguistic community and the French linguistic community in New Brunswick have equality of status and equal rights and privileges.

[Translation]

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you. I don’t have a full answer for you, senator, because I’m not aware of the circumstances surrounding the sale, the subsidiary and the offshore company. I don’t want to pretend that I could unravel that without knowing more.

I will say, though — as you properly pointed out — the government has, with its allies, imposed sanctions on the regime and on officials who are responsible for the arms trade, facilitating arms and the like, and more recently — or at least subsequently — announced additional sanctions on individuals, but also including a new prohibition on the export, sale, supply and shipment of aviation fuel, which fuels the Myanmar military regime. That signals to me that the government is aware of the importance of cutting off the oil — in this case, the fuel — that fuels the military power of this regime.

I’ll make inquiries with regard to your question and try to get an answer as quickly as I can.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Senator, thank you for raising this. It’s a serious and tragic issue, and I don’t know what the government’s current plans are around the sanctions in this area. I’ll have to make inquiries and get an answer as best as I can.

Hon. Leo Housakos: Government leader, our problem isn’t with the Speaker’s ruling in itself; our problem is that this government likes to bend the rules to meet their political narrative. All you have to do is take out a Liberal Party membership, and you can move time allocation, you can be the government leader as per the Constitution. Life moves on, and we don’t have to have these debates.

My question is for the Leader of the Government, which happens to be a Liberal government, but I digress. Last week, I raised my concern in this chamber about the troubling human rights situation in Turkey, in particular, the abduction, torture and detention by regime officials of eight Canadians. The Kaçmaz and Acar families, with whom I met personally last month, filed a submission with Global Affairs asking the Government of Canada to implement targeted sanctions on 12 Turkish officials responsible for gross violations of human rights committed against them and against their friend Gökhan Açikkollu, who was tortured to death in a Turkish prison around the same time. Senator Gold, can you please confirm to this chamber if the government intends to implement targeted sanctions on these 12 Turkish officials, and if not, why not?

Hon. Marilou McPhedran: My question is for Senator Gold. On February 1, 2021, Myanmar’s military took power in a coup, abruptly halting the country’s fragile transition toward democracy. More than 16,000 people have been arrested, many tortured and executed. Almost 700,000 persecuted people, mostly Rohingya, have been forced to abandon their homes and are living in the world’s largest refugee camp in Bangladesh.

The economy is in crisis. Public services have collapsed. UN rapporteurs assert that the Tatmadaw military’s actions meet criteria for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Canada has responded to this crisis, for the most part, via coordinated sanctions with international partners, with one notable difference: the oil and gas industry.

Gas revenues sustain the Myanmar’s Tatmadaw junta. Last month, Chevron, the American multinational energy corporation, announced it was selling its 41% stake in Myanmar’s Yadana gas field project to Et Martem Holdings, based in the tax haven of Bermuda and a subsidiary of Edmonton-headquartered MTI Energy. Chevron and TotalEnergies, a French company, previously announced in January that they’re exiting the country.

Senator Gold, how does Canada allow this kind of support for Myanmar’s oil and gas, which props up the Tatmadaw? Why are Canadian companies permitted to invest in this brutal regime in Myanmar?