Senator Gold: I’m really perplexed by the question. You started by talking about adding regulations, senator, and then you talked about changing the title of the bill.

This bill is simple. It provides direct assistance to 11 million households with up to a total of $467 for eligible couples with two children. It provides money directly to the provinces to top up the considerable federal contributions that are already made to the health care system.

I am going to refrain from commenting on the insinuations that Canadians who would be eligible for this would spend the funds on vacations or irresponsibly. Again — again, we have —

Senator Gold: Again, the position of this government is that it has confidence in Canadians to exercise responsible decisions, and it is also deeply committed to helping those who really need help putting groceries on their table and feeding their families and to provide that assistance as quickly as possible.

You are perfectly willing to vote against this bill, which I hope you do not do, because you don’t like the title. I have explained as clearly as I can to you and to whomever is listening what the purpose of this bill is.

I have been as clear as clear can be. Canadians who are watching this will know exactly what this bill is about and exactly what will be provided to those most in need.

(On motion of Senator Martin, debate adjourned.)

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Audette, seconded by the Honourable Senator Mégie, for the second reading of Bill C-29, An Act to provide for the establishment of a national council for reconciliation.

Senator Brazeau: Thank you very much for your questions. With respect to the membership numbers of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, the Assembly of First Nations does not have individual members; the Métis National Council has individual members and organizations, but with respect to the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, they are made up of provincial affiliate organizations, which are predominantly strong in Eastern Canada right now. The Métis National Council is stronger in the West for historical and other reasons.

I’ll try to answer your question with respect to my experience. In the early 2000s, the former Martin government had decided at that time — leading up to the negotiations that led to the Kelowna Accord, which never happened — that they just wanted to deal with the Assembly of First Nations, the Métis National Council and the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami because at that time, those organizations were also looking at our Constitution and saying, “Here is the definition; therefore, we have a monopoly on representation.”

Not every Indigenous person in Canada relates to these organizations. Having said that, there are many who do. To have one Indigenous organization — again, 20 years ago I had to fight my way into council or federation meetings. I had to storm in there at one point because we were being excluded. Why are we being excluded?

I say “we” as Indigenous peoples collectively. We have five organizations — not three, not four, not two and not one — five. Is that so hard to comprehend? There are five organizations that the government also helped create.

Senator Brazeau: Yes.

Senator Brazeau: I absolutely agree. Of course, honourable senators now know that there are five organizations. What matters is making sure that the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, Mr. Miller, appears before the committee and clearly indicates why the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, one of the five national organizations recognized and funded by the federal government, was excluded. That’s all.

(On motion of Senator Martin, debate adjourned.)

[English]

The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Tonja Stothart. She is the guest of the Honourable Senator Osler.

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

Hon. Pierre J. Dalphond: Honourable senators, on behalf of Senator Cotter, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the twelfth report of the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs entitled Self-induced Extreme Intoxication and Section 33.1 of the Criminal Code.

(Pursuant to the order adopted by the Senate on Thursday, June 23, 2022, the government is requested to provide a complete and detailed response within 120 calendar days, with the response, or failure to provide a response, being dealt with pursuant to the provisions of rules 12-24(3) to (5).)

The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Sue Murray and Don Botten. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Hartling.

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

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Well, thank you for your question. The negotiations that are continuing between the unions and the government are being handled by a professional negotiating team, reporting to the minister responsible.

The business of the country carries on, notwithstanding the strike, and the Prime Minister is representing Canada in New York, as prime ministers do.

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): My question today is for the Liberal government’s leader in the Senate. We are now into the second week of the biggest federal public sector strike in Canadian history. The access Canadians have to many basic government services is being impacted, leader. For example, at 11 a.m., a taxpayer calling the Canada Revenue Agency for help filing their taxes had to wait for 2 hours and 18 minutes. The CRA’s helpline for businesses has been shut down entirely during the strike.

As well, the Wheat Growers Association and Keystone Agricultural Producers of Manitoba are very worried about the impact of this strike on the ability of our farmers to have their grain weighed and inspected for export abroad.

Leader, given all of this, why is the Prime Minister in New York City today?

Hon. René Cormier: My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.

Senator Gold, the 2SLGBTQI+ action plan states that consultations were to have started in the fall of 2022 on the criminalization of purely cosmetic surgeries on intersex children.

It is now April 2023, and those consultations have not yet begun. The Canadian Bar Association recently sent a letter to the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, asking her to complete those consultations by Intersex Awareness Day on October 26, 2023.

Senator Gold, when will the Government of Canada begin these consultations, and can you assure us that they will be completed by October 26, 2023?

Hon. Julie Miville-Dechêne: My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.

Senator Gold, as we commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Rana Plaza tragedy in Bangladesh this week, the House of Commons wrapped up debate on third reading of Bill S-211 on forced labour and child labour in supply chains. The bill is expected to pass on Wednesday.

In its most recent budget, the government nevertheless announced that it intends to do even more and introduce a bill on forced labour by 2024.

Can you tell us what further provisions the government is considering?

Hon. Leo Housakos: I want to follow up on the questioning from the opposition leader with regard to Prime Minister Trudeau’s incompetence.

You have to admit, government leader, that it takes a special type of incompetence to increase the public service in this country by 53%, spending $21 billion more in the public service while achieving what? — the largest public service strike in the history of the country. The Prime Minister has achieved this marvellous realization while spending $22 billion on outside consultants.

Honourable senators, that is $1,400 per year, per household, for those outside consultants.

You have to admit, government leader, that is a special type of ability. Can you please share with this chamber what kind of skill set and what kinds of policies are required in order to achieve this high level of incompetence?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you, Senator Cormier, for that important question that raises a major issue.

Unfortunately, I do not have the dates for the start of the consultations. Obviously, I will try to get answers shortly.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question, and congratulations again on the bill that has passed in the House of Commons. It reflects the importance of the work we do in this place. It is a credit to you and to us. Please allow me to share that honour with you.

That being said, the government’s intentions are not necessarily set in stone yet, so I don’t have anything specific to share with you in terms of the details of the government’s planned legislation. As soon as the discussions turn into proposed legislation, the Senate will be informed.

[English]

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. I do not accept your assertion that this is a measure of incompetence.

The civil service has done, and will continue to do, important work on behalf of Canadians. They did extraordinary work through the pandemic, above and beyond any reasonable expectations. They did deliver.

The use of additional assistance through consultants was a needed and appropriate measure to assist Canadians through this period and to ensure that government services were delivered.

I simply do not accept your assertion. Therefore, I cannot and will not answer your question.

Hon. Wanda Thomas Bernard: My question is also for the Government Representative in the Senate.

I am deeply concerned about the emergency situation in Sudan as the conflict escalates and violence rises. Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly has stated that 700 out of the 1,800 Canadian citizens or permanent residents who have registered their presence in Sudan are seeking help to leave.

Only 150 Canadians have been evacuated. A young Canadian medical student named Saydah Mustafa has been sheltering in her home for a week with her sister, living off canned foods for the unforeseeable future. She is scared and uncertain of what will happen. She said that she has not been able to access advice for evacuation via Canadian officials.

Senator Gold, we are seeing countless stories of people trying to evacuate Sudan who do not feel supported by the Government of Canada. What is the update from the government on what progress has been made to bring Canadians home from Sudan?

Hon. F. Gigi Osler: My question is for the Government Representative regarding national pharmacare.

The December 2021 mandate letter from the Prime Minister to the Minister of Health includes direction to engage with willing provinces and territories toward universal national pharmacare, proceed with a national strategy on high-cost drugs for rare diseases and advance the establishment of the Canada drug agency.

Similarly, the Delivering for Canadians Now, A Supply and Confidence Agreement of March 2022 between the Liberals and NDP commits to universal national pharmacare. That commitment was further clarified in Budget 2022, which stated:

. . . the federal government will also continue its ongoing work towards a universal national pharmacare program. This will include tabling a Canada Pharmacare bill and working to have it passed by the end of 2023, and then tasking the Canadian Drug Agency to develop a national formulary of essential medicines and bulk purchasing plan.

But there is no reference to it in Budget 2023 — not in the actual budget document, not in the minister’s speech and not in the notice of ways and means motion tabled in the other place last week.

Senator Gold, what has happened to the government’s interest in national pharmacare and the commitment to pass legislation by the end of this year?

Hon. Claude Carignan: My question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate.

Leader, on the evening of Friday, October 3, 1980, at the Union Libéral Israélite de France synagogue, also known as the Rue Copernic synagogue, in the 16th arrondissement in Paris, a large number of worshippers were celebrating Shabbat and the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah.

At 6:38 p.m., a bomb exploded. The synagogue’s glass roof collapsed on the worshippers, a door was blown through, and cars were thrown onto the roads. The blast damaged storefronts up to 140 metres away and left four people dead and 45 injured. It was the first attack against the Jewish community in France since the Second World War.

Senator Gold, as I’m sure you know, this was a heinous crime, a massacre fuelled by anti-Semitism and a desire to strike at the heart of the Jewish community in France.

On April 21, 2023, the Special Assize Court of Paris sentenced a Canadian, Hassan Diab, to the maximum punishment and issued a warrant for his arrest. This conviction came after three weeks of debates, eight hours of deliberations and over 43 years of painstaking investigations.

Hassan Diab is enjoying life as a free man here in Canada, in Ottawa, and continues to teach as a lecturer at universities here in Ottawa. Senator Gold, will the federal government agree to France’s request to extradite Hassan Diab?

Can the families, the victims of the anti-Semitic attack in Rue Copernic, count on your government, or will it be more inclined to protect the criminal, as usual, than to face the victims and offer them comfort?