Senator Plett: What is so difficult in answering my question? Adding security features to the passport could have been done without erasing images from Canadian history. It’s mind-boggling that the Trudeau government sees all the serious issues facing Canada and thinks it’s a good idea to put its time and energy into taking Vimy Ridge, Terry Fox, the War Memorial and the Famous Five off the passport.

Senator Plett: What is so difficult in answering my question? Adding security features to the passport could have been done without erasing images from Canadian history. It’s mind-boggling that the Trudeau government sees all the serious issues facing Canada and thinks it’s a good idea to put its time and energy into taking Vimy Ridge, Terry Fox, the War Memorial and the Famous Five off the passport.

Senator Martin: Shame.

Senator Carignan: Yes, I was raising a point of order. That’s what I said. I raised the point of order because we shouldn’t be criticized for calling the government leader “government leader.” According to the Rules of the Senate, when we ask questions in the chamber, we ask them of the Leader of the Government.

He can use whatever title he wants for himself. He can refer to himself as the go-between or whatever he wants, but he is the Leader of the Government. As my leader just mentioned, Speaker Furey’s ruling called him the government leader, so I find it strange to hear someone criticize me or imply that I am being disrespectful simply for calling him “government leader.”

[English]

Senator Gold: Thank you for your question. I certainly understand the frustration that many will feel in the face of delays. The government invested close to $340 million to hire hundreds of new staff in order to increase the capacity to process veterans’ claims so that they receive faster decisions. These resources were recently extended to continue to address the backlog and reduce wait times for our cherished veterans.

I’m advised that the government has seen a significant decrease — over 50% — in the backlog. That said, the government knows that there is much more work to do, and they are committed to doing it.

Senator Gold: Thank you for the question. The government’s position is that it will continue to appoint judges at an appropriate pace. More importantly, the Government of Canada has full confidence in the judiciary, which is capable and responsible for managing its cases, particularly the chief justices, and I speak from experience there. We will continue to work with the judiciary on our side, and we will also continue to fill those positions that are still vacant.

[English]

Senator Plett: Well, the fact of the matter is — I think if we check Hansard, we’ll see — that Senator Carignan rose on a point of order. You may not have understood that, Your Honour, but Senator Carignan clearly stood on a point of order and raised a point of order.

Senator Plett: What is so difficult in answering my question? Adding security features to the passport could have been done without erasing images from Canadian history. It’s mind‑boggling that the Trudeau government sees all the serious issues facing Canada and thinks it’s a good idea to put its time and energy into taking Vimy Ridge, Terry Fox, the War Memorial and the Famous Five off the passport.

Senator Martin: Shame.

Senator Plett: You know, leader, you’re upset when we, somewhat in frustration, ask you questions, and you don’t even attempt to touch the question. There’s no argument about the validity of our passports. I didn’t talk about that; I didn’t mention that. I asked about images, leader, and you didn’t even touch that. And then we’re being schooled on not being personal.

Senator Housakos: Why fix it if it’s not broken?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Honourable senators, it is with profound gratitude that I rise today to pay tribute to Speaker George Furey. Your Honour, you have had a rich and varied career as a teacher, a lawyer and a parliamentarian, but as our Speaker, you guided us through two historic and great transformations: the COVID-19 pandemic and the modernization of the Senate.

The COVID-19 pandemic placed enormous strains on Canadians, on our institutions and on our economy. But under your leadership, the Senate adjusted its practices, and we made this institution work to deliver the important supports that Canadians needed during those difficult years.

But your legacy, Your Honour, what students of Westminster parliaments will remember you by, is the skill with which you helped us navigate the modernization of the Senate. I recall in your opening remarks upon taking the chair as Speaker in 2015, you highlighted the need for this chamber to reinvent itself and to fulfill our constitutional role as an independent institution of sober second thought. Your Honour, your leadership throughout the process of reform was exemplary, and its effects will reverberate long into the Senate’s future.

Colleagues, many of us have had the great opportunity to travel with the Speaker or to join him as he welcomed parliamentary and diplomatic delegations here in the Senate, so you have seen how elegantly the Speaker represented our institution and, indeed, our country. Many of us have also had the pleasure of spending time with the Speaker in more relaxed settings, enjoying a good meal, fine wine, good whisky — often both — and being regaled by stories of his political life. These are some of the memories I cherish most fondly.

We all know that a successful political career requires a supporting family, and George has been blessed with a loving wife in Karen and with four talented children. We are all grateful to them, to all of you, for sharing George with us.

Your Honour, you have presided over this chamber with dignity, with fairness, with integrity and with a steadfast respect for this institution and all who work in it for the benefit of Canadians.

Above all, you have remained true to who you are as a person: modest and without pretension, a loving husband, father and grandfather, a person anchored in your faith and devoted to your province and your country.

You have been a mentor to me and to many, many Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, including a very important member of my team.

Your Honour, in my tradition, we have a word for people like you, and it’s a word that comes with the highest, highest praise. George, you are a true mensch. Thank you for your friendship and your support. I am going to miss you greatly.

The Hon. the Speaker informed the Senate that the following communication had been received:

RIDEAU HALL

May 10, 2023

Mr. Speaker,

I have the honour to inform you that the Right Honourable Mary May Simon, Governor General of Canada, signified royal assent by written declaration to the bills listed in the Schedule to this letter on the 10^th day of May, 2023, at 4:59 p.m.

Yours sincerely,

Maia Welbourne

Assistant Secretary to the Governor General

The Honourable

The Speaker of the Senate

Ottawa

Bills Assented to Wednesday, May 10, 2023:

An Act to enact the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act and to amend the Customs Tariff (Bill S-211, Chapter 9, 2023)

An Act to establish Food Day in Canada (Bill S-227, Chapter 10, 2023)

An Act to amend the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act and the Income Tax Act (Bill C-46, Chapter 11, 2023)

Senator Gold: Once again, colleague, I’m not sure I fully understood your question, but I will repeat what I just said.

Resolutions at political conventions, whether for the Liberal Party or, I assume, the Conservative Party, are brought forward by party supporters who want to express their views.

They have no bearing on the decisions the government must make for the well-being of Canadians. Once again, the Prime Minister and the minister have stated very clearly that the Liberals have no intention of pursuing this.

Senator Housakos: If I may finish my point of order, I think we’ve earned that right on this side of the chamber. I am trying to finish the case that number one, it is in the Rules, in the law, that he is the government leader. We insist that there is at least a respect and an appreciation for the Rules and the law in this institution.

We didn’t get a written copy of the Speaker’s ruling unfortunately because we remember it was done in haste when he ruled on the government having the right to use closure. In that ruling, he made it clear that Senator Gold was the leader of the government. That was the ruling as we understood it. If anybody wants to challenge it, they can go ahead on a point of order.

Senator Plett: Again, Your Honour, I will be raising another point of order in a minute, but right now we are dealing with a point of order that Senator Carignan raised. That is what he did.

Senator Housakos: If I may finish my point of order, I think we’ve earned that right on this side of the chamber. I am trying to finish the case that number one, it is in the Rules, in the law, that he is the government leader. We insist that there is at least a respect and an appreciation for the Rules and the law in this institution.

Senator Housakos: If I may finish my point of order, I think we’ve earned that right on this side of the chamber. I am trying to finish the case that number one, it is in the Rules, in the law, that he is the government leader. We insist that there is at least a respect and an appreciation for the Rules and the law in this institution.

We didn’t get a written copy of the Speaker’s ruling unfortunately because we remember it was done in haste when he ruled on the government having the right to use closure. In that ruling, he made it clear that Senator Gold was the leader of the government. That was the ruling as we understood it. If anybody wants to challenge it, they can go ahead on a point of order.

Senator Gold: As I said, the government engaged in a consultation with Canadians and stakeholders, and it was the position of the government that it was the appropriate way in order to address this important issue.

It is now taking further steps to draft government legislation, and that will be drafted carefully, with the support of the resources of government, and that will be tabled — my understanding is that we can expect that legislation — within the coming months.

Senator Martin: An answer I received to the question that I asked last year stated, “Unspent funds are a normal and expected part of a department’s budgetary process.”

$1.5 billion is a staggering amount of money for Veterans Affairs Canada to allow to lapse in only two years, especially when you consider that the department missed its own target to reduce the backlog to 5,000 cases by the spring of last year. Just one year ago, a report from the Auditor General found that our veterans “are waiting too long to receive compensation for injuries sustained in their service to Canada.”

Leader, do you believe that over $1.5 billion is a normal amount to go unspent at Veterans Affairs Canada while our veterans continue to wait in line for the help they need?

Senator Housakos: Government leader, both in the other chamber and in this chamber, it has been now six years that we’ve been asking about this issue of foreign interference. Semblances of this bill have been tabled back in 2019 by MP Kenny Chiu in the House of Commons. I tabled this bill now 14 months ago. That is a long time. The minister now, for a number of months, has been talking about publicly consulting. What do they need to consult on? We know what needs to be addressed, and this is a potential tool that can be put in place quickly.

Senator Housakos: Government leader, both in the other chamber and in this chamber, it has been now six years that we’ve been asking about this issue of foreign interference. Semblances of this bill have been tabled back in 2019 by MP Kenny Chiu in the House of Commons. I tabled this bill now 14 months ago. That is a long time. The minister now, for a number of months, has been talking about publicly consulting. What do they need to consult on? We know what needs to be addressed, and this is a potential tool that can be put in place quickly.

Our American allies have done it. Our allies in the U.K. have done it. Our allies in Australia have done it. Why can’t this government do simple things that the public is calling for, that the opposition is calling for and that can take a couple of months to do?

Senator Plett: — in his ruling. So today —

Senator Plett: This passport fiasco, leader, demonstrates one thing clearly: This Prime Minister doesn’t respect our history or understand the everyday lives and priorities of Canadians. How much time, energy and money was wasted changing these passports? Please, leader, don’t tell me how important our passports are. We understand that.

Senator Plett: Food banks across Canada, leader, are reporting unprecedented demand. One in five Canadians say they’re skipping meals due to the high cost of food. A quarter of Canadians say there’s no scenario in which they can afford a summer vacation unless the Prime Minister takes them on one of his.

He, of course, has no answers to the cost-of-living crisis. At a town hall in April, he advised taking on more credit card debt to pay for school or home renovations.

Senator Martin: Out of touch.