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 Gold: Thank you for your question. Let me be perfectly clear: This government is very proud of Canada’s history. The decision to move forward to the current passport design reflects the feedback that the government heard from an extensive process of consultation.

Every 10 years, colleagues, the government continually changes themes and designs of passports to make them harder to counterfeit and to protect Canadians from fraud. This is not and should not be a partisan issue. This is about ensuring that Canadians get the most secure and reliable travel document that they can use around the world.

To the other points that you raised, this government is very concerned with the challenges that Canadians face with regard to cost-of-living issues. That is why the government has provided support on many different fronts for those most in need. I’m glad that the Senate saw fit to pass Bill C-46 as it did, which will provide yet another measure of support.

[Translation]

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: 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.

Hon. Claude Carignan: The person who designed the passport is more of a fan of the Granby Zoo than a history buff.

On another subject, members of the government passed a resolution at your party’s convention — the Liberal Party, that is. Resolution 472 asks the government to limit the publication of online information, which obviously includes newspaper articles. It says, and I quote, “. . . limit publication only to material whose sources can be traced.”

After passing Bill C-11, the censorship bill, now the Liberals want to hunt down sources. Even though Parliament unanimously passed a law to protect journalistic sources, it is now government policy to hunt down sources.

Leader, is this the result of Chinese interference? Sources spoke out and embarrassed the government, so now it has decided to make it government policy to hunt down journalistic sources?

Hon. Yonah Martin (Deputy Leader of the Opposition): My question is for the government leader in the Senate. It was mentioned earlier that the Royal Canadian Legion expressed its disappointment when the Trudeau government removed the image of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, as it signifies the sacrifices made for the very sort of freedom that the passport provides.

In March, the Legion said it wants assurances from the Trudeau government that the money announced in this year’s budget to tackle the backlog in disability benefits will be spent. The Legion pointed to the most recent public accounts, which show that Veterans Affairs Canada did not spend $920 million in 2022. Leader, when I raised this issue with you a year ago, the amount of funding lapsed by Veterans Affairs Canada in 2021 was over $634 million.

Why has your government allowed over $1.5 billion to lapse at Veterans Affairs Canada in just two years — when thousands of applications remain in the backlog?