The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Ousmanou Ngam and Anaïs Astrid Bytha. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Gerba.

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 His Excellency Tomasz Grodzki, Marshal of the Senate of the Republic of Poland. He is accompanied by His Excellency Witold Dzielski, Ambassador of Poland to Canada, and a delegation from the Senate of Poland.

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

Hon. Marty Klyne: Honourable senators, yesterday, May 3, was the thirtieth anniversary of World Press Freedom Day. To mark it, a number of other Parliamentarians and I attended the annual press freedom day luncheon, where we had the pleasure of hearing important words from journalists and news executives about online harassment facing women and marginalized journalists.

I must say, though, that I use the word “pleasure” advisedly, given the stresses, bullying and intimidation our colleagues in the media are currently facing. As many are aware, online harassment and threats against journalists have reached an all‑time high in this country, with many members of the press enduring regular hatred, racism, sexism, misogyny and other abusive messaging. Some have even been physically attacked and blackmailed with threats of violence against their families.

This unacceptable behaviour takes place despite the fact that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees freedom of the press. We all know what takes place in nations that don’t have protections such as those that the charter provides.

Ideally, all should engage in respectful dialogue online and in person with the news and members of the media. We should and we can do better because an attack on press freedom in this country is an attack on our right to know.

According to Reporters Without Borders, a new world record of 533 journalists were detained in 2022, 57 were killed, 65 were held hostage and 49 are still missing. Our thoughts are with American reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been imprisoned in Russia since late March for doing his job to bring news to the world out of an authoritarian state.

These abuses are taking place as news organizations struggle with how to cope with challenges brought about by the ever‑evolving digital world. At a time when we need them most, we see more and more outlets forced to close or cut back on staff.

The protection of press freedom in our country is in large part dependent on a strong media infrastructure supporting a wide array of practitioners of the craft. We need more voices, not fewer.

In closing, I wish to thank Canadian journalists and journalists around the world for their hard work and dedication to truth, transparency and accountability. Press freedom is a bedrock of our democracy and needs to be protected.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of students from the Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study Laboratory School at the University of Toronto. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Omidvar.

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 Ousmanou Ngam and Anaïs Astrid Bytha. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Gerba.

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

Hon. Gwen Boniface: Honourable senators, I rise today to acknowledge May as the month that recognizes both Mental Health Week and National Police Week. Issues of mental health crisis make up as many as 40% of the calls for police assistance, a significant increase in the last decade.

The social services available to assist people experiencing a mental health crisis have failed to keep up despite the very good intentions of workers. It creates a revolving door of police calls with little assistance and few solutions for those who suffer.

In the police community, they too have been affected. Mental health issues resulting from trauma that they and their fellow first responders experience at work have had a devastating effect on officers right across the country.

An Ombudsman Ontario report found that police officers are more likely to die from suicide than a violent crime. In a study of two Canadian police departments, 88% of police officers reported moderate to severe anxiety. In some services and circumstances in my province of Ontario, 20% of police officers are off work because of mental illness, according to a report by the Chief Coroner.

As these facts move from the shadows to the light, I am grateful for officers who have endured the trauma, advocated relentlessly and succeeded in bringing awareness and resources to their fellow officers.

One such officer joins us today. Retired OPP Constable Dave Blair has volunteered and worked tirelessly to raise awareness and seek assistance for police officers and first responders who suffer from the cumulative effects of PTSD and moral injury. He was instrumental in bringing a California program to Ontario.

He and many fellow peer supporters continue to work hard to support those in need of a path of recovery.

Honourable senators, there is a drastic reduction in applicants to police services. Police services are, in turn, experiencing serious staff shortages which further exacerbate the situation: too many calls involving trauma, and too few people available to respond.

This weekend in Toronto, the Ontario Police Memorial will add the names of four officers who have died in the line of duty this year: Constable Northrup, Constable Russell, Constable Hong and Constable Pierzchala.

For those officers who responded to assist after those calls and suffer today, may they have all the support they need. In the police business, you cannot unhear what you have heard, unsee what you have seen or undo what has been done. May their journey forward take them into the light and not into the shadows. Thank you.

Hon. Leo Housakos: Honourable senators, while we may have drawn the curtain on the month of autism awareness — or as it is now becoming known, Autism Acceptance Month — the challenges for autistic Canadians and the work to meet those challenges continue throughout the year.

I mentioned the change from awareness to acceptance in the designation of the month of April, and that’s a very importance distinction, as we learned during our study on Bill S-203.

While the word “autism” has become almost commonplace in our vernacular, the understanding of what it means to be autistic and what autistic people are capable of — and capable of contributing to the world around them — remains a challenge. That’s where organizations like Autism Speaks Canada, or ASC, and so many others come in.

Last Sunday, I had the pleasure of attending a morning with Autism Speaks Canada in Toronto, an event highlighting some of the good work being done by ASC and its partners.

One of their guiding principles is enhancing lives today and accelerating solutions for tomorrow. One of the main objectives of that work is building an inclusive Canada where autistic people can reach their full potential.

Autism Speaks Canada is committed to listening and learning from the autistic community and is proud to hold the highest share of voice among autism organizations and is ranked as the most well-liked brand in the non-profit space in Canada.

I wanted to take this opportunity to congratulate them on that and to thank them for all they do.

I especially want to thank Executive Director Jill Farber for her relentless efforts and unwavering dedication to autistic Canadians and their families.

I also want to thank Neil Forester and his business partner Xavier Pinto, who head up a jobs fair called Spectrum Works. Neil first approached me last year after he saw a news story about Bill S-203. He reached out to my office to tell me about this incredible project in which they match autistic Canadians with employers.

This job fair started as a small in-person event, but due to the pandemic, of course, they were forced online. Now they’re looking at returning to in-person events as well as online and to grow it to a much larger scale.

It’s an incredible and vital initiative but it can’t always be up to organizations like Autism Speaks Canada or individuals like Neil and Xavier to spearhead these efforts. They need commitments from government, corporate Canada and people of all walks of life.

Finally, I want to recognize the two most special people I had the pleasure of meeting on Sunday: Arjun Goenka, the National Team Up Ambassador, and a young man who spoke about his love for running; and a little girl named Faith Abraham, the Toronto Walk Ambassador, who stole everyone’s heart at this particular event.

It’s these individuals who inspire me to keep advocating for an inclusive Canada where all parts are united in one voice and one team in building up this great country. Thank you, colleagues.

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Government leader, today I’m going to return to your response yesterday about foreign interference, as well as your comments about respect.

The official opposition has nothing but respect for this institution. It’s the Prime Minister and his incompetent government that we don’t have respect for. We have the highest respect for this institution.

When we asked the government questions regarding what even Liberal Warren Kinsella says is the biggest scandal in the Trudeau era, and you, leader, refuse to answer the questions because you don’t like them, that is a lack of respect for this institution.

Cherie Henderson, a Canadian Security Intelligence Service, or CSIS, assistant director, told the House of Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs on February 9, 2023:

I can say that we definitely have seen specific cases of hostile activities of states against politicians. In those specific cases, we definitely brief our government on the challenges that are being faced.

Leader, this is the opposite of what the Prime Minister said and, indeed, what you said yesterday. Who, leader, is telling the truth?

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

As I stated yesterday, the Prime Minister stated clearly and categorically that he was not briefed by CSIS with regard to the coercion threatened against the family of member of Parliament Michael Chong; the Prime Minister said it clearly and definitively. He said that he learned about it from The Globe and Mail story, and that is what the Prime Minister has said to all Canadians — I believe his words stand for themselves and should be taken as true.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Dave Blair, a retired constable of the Ontario Provincial Police. He is the guest of the Honourable Senator Boniface.

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

Hon. Peter M. Boehm: Honourable senators, I give notice that, at the next sitting of the Senate, I will move:

That the twenty-sixth report of the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade entitled Cultural Diplomacy at the Front Stage of Canada’s Foreign Policy, tabled in the Senate on June 11, 2019, during the First Session of the Forty-second Parliament, be placed on the Orders of the Day under the rubric Other Business, Reports of Committees – Other, for consideration at the next sitting.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Dave Blair, a retired constable of the Ontario Provincial Police. He is the guest of the Honourable Senator Boniface.

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

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

Here is the government’s position. The government does a lot in many areas to help women who are the victims of family and intimate partner violence and also to ensure, through bills, that victims’ rights are better protected and respected. That includes the measures set out in Bill S-12, which we are going to debate and examine more closely as of next week.

The budgetary decisions that a government has to make to address the many demands and challenges it is facing have nothing to do with this government’s respect for and commitment toward victims of violence.

Hon. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu: Senator Gold, on April 29, we learned from Radio-Canada that your government plans to cut $145 million in funding for the Regroupement des maisons pour femmes victimes de violence conjugale in September.

I spoke to the managers of this network of women’s shelters, and they told me that many shelters across the country will have to close their doors or drastically reduce the number of women they take in.

Senator Gold, given that the number of women who were murdered by an intimate partner rose by 20% in Canada between 2019 and 2022, do you think that this decision on the part of your government shows respect for women who are the victims of violence, yes or no?

Hon. Dennis Glen Patterson: Senator Gold, since July of 2012, Transport Canada has made it mandatory for vessels of 300 tons and above to report via the Arctic Canada Traffic Zone, or NORDREG, to the Canadian Coast Guard to improve our awareness of ships in Canadian waters to enhance maritime domain awareness. However, a March 8, 2023, letter from the Nunavut Association of Municipalities, or NAM, to former Joint Task Force North commander retired Colonel Pierre Leblanc stated, “. . . we continue to see more ship activities in northern waters, many unannounced.” A 40% increase has been noted in recent years.

In a recent letter to me, Colonel Leblanc raised several reasons for lowering the tonnage requirement to 15 tonnes and above. These reasons include stopping illegal fishing, increased maritime domain awareness, responding to Inuit communities upset by super yachts arriving unannounced and so forth.

My question, Senator Gold, is this: Will your government consider lowering the reporting requirements to 15 tonnes in response to Inuit Nunavut municipalities and defence experts? It can be done by a stroke of the regulatory pen.

Hon. Dennis Glen Patterson: Senator Gold, since July of 2012, Transport Canada has made it mandatory for vessels of 300 tons and above to report via the Arctic Canada Traffic Zone, or NORDREG, to the Canadian Coast Guard to improve our awareness of ships in Canadian waters to enhance maritime domain awareness. However, a March 8, 2023, letter from the Nunavut Association of Municipalities, or NAM, to former Joint Task Force North commander retired Colonel Pierre Leblanc stated, “. . . we continue to see more ship activities in northern waters, many unannounced.” A 40% increase has been noted in recent years.

In a recent letter to me, Colonel Leblanc raised several reasons for lowering the tonnage requirement to 15 tonnes and above. These reasons include stopping illegal fishing, increased maritime domain awareness, responding to Inuit communities upset by super yachts arriving unannounced and so forth.

My question, Senator Gold, is this: Will your government consider lowering the reporting requirements to 15 tonnes in response to Inuit Nunavut municipalities and defence experts? It can be done by a stroke of the regulatory pen.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you, Senator Patterson, for your question and for bringing this to my attention. I was not aware of the correspondence.

I would be happy to inquire on this matter, and then perhaps you and I could meet. You could brief me further so that my inquiries with the government will be that much more productive. If it would be helpful to arrange a meeting with the responsible ministry officials, you know my office is always happy to do that for you or for any other senator on a matter of this importance.

Senator D. Patterson: Thank you for that answer, Senator Gold. The sixth Auditor General of Canada flagged that the long‑standing issues include incomplete surveillance and insufficient data about vessel traffic in Canada’s Arctic waters. The need for better Arctic surveillance was also echoed in the House of Commons National Defence Committee’s April 2023 report A Secure and Sovereign Arctic.

Senator Gold, would you agree that, especially given the current geopolitical realities resulting from the Ukraine war and China’s description of itself as a near-Arctic state, Canada should make better efforts to protect its Arctic and improve its maritime domain awareness overall?

Hon. Pierre J. Dalphond: My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.

[English]

Senator Gold, the budget bill proposes to amend section 41 of the Canada Post Corporation Act. The amendment aims to ensure the constitutionality of inspections of Canada Post parcels by Canada Post inspectors. This is an amendment that will likely fix the problem raised by the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador last year in the Gorman decision.

However, the amendment does not authorize inspectors to open letters that are being delivered by Canada Post even if they have grounds to suspect the presence of dangerous products such as fentanyl. As I said before, traffickers of fentanyl use Canada Post letters as their preferred means of delivery.

Will the government consider amending Division 30 of the budget bill to allow for the inspection of letters by Canada Post inspectors who have reasonable grounds to suspect the presence of fentanyl?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. AI technology has enormous potential but also enormous risk, and must be used responsibly and regulated appropriately.

With regard to one aspect of your question, Minister Champagne is already actively engaged with leading experts in the field as well as with counterparts in other jurisdictions. Among many aspects of this, Canadians have to have confidence that the regulation is appropriate and that their data and privacy is being respected.

You referred, senator, to Bill C-27. This is an important piece — not the only piece, but an important piece — in addressing the challenges that AI technology poses. This will ensure that Canadians have first-class privacy and data protection and that companies respect those rules, otherwise facing consequences. On the matter of AI, this bill will also put in guardrails to ensure that AI is built and deployed responsibly as well as provide penalties for non-compliance.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you, senator, for your question and for your engagement on this important issue. As you correctly pointed out, the amendment to which you refer was a direct response to a very specific issue, and, indeed, the amendment already reflects Canada Post’s usual practice of only inspecting parcels if there’s reason to suspect prohibited material may be inside. In that regard, the amendment does not change the day-to-day practices, though it does respond to the issue of constitutionality.

That said, in the opinion of the government, a broader reform of how mail is handled and inspected requires careful study and likely more changes than simply one provision in the Budget Implementation Act.

In that regard, I would be very happy to facilitate a meeting between you and the minister to discuss this matter further. I’m just not aware at this juncture and at this stage in the legislative process as to whether your suggestion is one that can be entertained. But it certainly merits discussion. I’d be happy to facilitate that.