Senator Martin: I don’t have the answer to whether we need to make the language broader, but I think, as a committee, we can look at whether having representation of a group that focuses on economic reconciliation — one or two perhaps — would be suitable. Again, that’s something we will consider carefully, and perhaps amendments will be put forward by me or by someone else.

Senator Plett: Good answer.

Senator Martin: Yes. I am not the expert in this chamber, but this is based on my conversation with the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, and I know that Senator Brazeau represented the group — he was an elected leader. The organization has been established for decades, and they should equally have a place on the council. I think that they represent all those who are off-reserve, as well as Métis, status and non-status Indians and southern Inuit Indigenous people living off-reserve in Canada.

Senator Martin: Yes. I am not the expert in this chamber, but this is based on my conversation with the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, and I know that Senator Brazeau represented the group — he was an elected leader. The organization has been established for decades, and they should equally have a place on the council. I think that they represent all those who are off-reserve, as well as Métis, status and non-status Indians and southern Inuit Indigenous people living off-reserve in Canada.

Senator Martin: Thank you for the question, Senator Omidvar.

Not being an expert, and this topic being of such importance, I was very careful in what I raised as my concerns. The concern of who is represented on this board and the fact that over 800,000 voices represented by the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples are missing are to be considered.

If members of the committee want to explore the importance of that economic reconciliation pillar, that is something the committee will need to look at carefully.

I know we have a robust draft plan that has been in the works. There are many witnesses who will be called. Being on the Indigenous Peoples Committee, I have a sense of confidence in the work of the committee. We will aim to look at that carefully at committee.

[Translation]

Senator Gold: Thank you for the supplementary question. Minister Champagne recently convened an emergency meeting of Canada’s Advisory Council on Artificial Intelligence, specifically on the issue of generative AI, to gather expert opinion on paths forward so we can assure Canadians that their use of AI will be done responsibly.

In addition, the government is engaged with G7 partners to ensure that high-risk regulation of AI moves forward. The government is also in discussions with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD, and Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence, or GPAI, on artificial intelligence. Indeed, as I alluded to earlier in my response, Minister Champagne is meeting directly with international partners, including Japan, to coordinate on the international responsible regulation of artificial intelligence.

Senator Gold: Thank you for the additional information. My answer remains the same: I’ll have to look into it.

Senator Martin: Yes.

Senator Martin: Yes. I am not the expert in this chamber, but this is based on my conversation with the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, and I know that Senator Brazeau represented the group — he was an elected leader. The organization has been established for decades, and they should equally have a place on the council. I think that they represent all those who are off‑reserve, as well as Métis, status and non-status Indians and southern Inuit Indigenous people living off-reserve in 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.

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.

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear.

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.