The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Aneela and Qamrul Siddiqi, and Mustafa and Abdul Popalzai. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Ataullahjan.

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

Hon. Marie-Françoise Mégie: Today I rise in honour of the 220th anniversary of the Haitian flag, which was raised in front of Parliament at noon today.

On May 18, 1803, General Jean-Jacques Dessalines ripped out the centre of the French blue, white and red flag. White was seen as symbolic of the White French colonists.

Catherine Flon took the remaining two pieces, one blue, the other red, and sewed them together to represent the union of Black people and people of mixed heritage. Thus was born the Haitian flag.

The centre of the flag features the country’s coat of arms, including a palm tree surmounted by the liberty cap and, under the palm, a trophy of arms with the legend, “In union there is strength.”

Despite all the upheaval Haiti has been through from its independence to now, the Haitian flag remains a strong symbol of unity and hope for its people and its diaspora.

[Editor’s Note: Senator Mégie spoke in another language.]

I wish all my Haitian sisters and brothers a happy 220th Haitian Flag Day.

Thank you.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Dorothy Rhau, Jaël Élysée and Paula Caldwell St-Onge. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Mégie.

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 Louise Guérette, Julie Gagné and Yaël About. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Cormier.

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 Aneela and Qamrul Siddiqi, and Mustafa and Abdul Popalzai. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Ataullahjan.

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

Hon. Mary Coyle: Honourable senators, I would first like to thank my Conservative colleagues for allowing me to have this statement slot.

I rise today to pay tribute to my seatmate, the Honourable — and remarkable — Senator Margo Greenwood. Earlier today, just across the street in the drawing room of the Château Laurier Hotel, our esteemed colleague Senator Greenwood was celebrated for her 20 years of leadership as the academic leader of the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health at the University of Northern British Columbia.

The room was full of Margo’s colleagues from across Canada and also internationally. Dr. Theresa Tam, Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, paid tribute to Senator Greenwood. They had collaborated over the years and, together, made a significant difference in the health outcomes in Indigenous communities during the height of the COVID pandemic. Minister Carolyn Bennett lauded Margo for her leadership, creativity and significant impacts. Natan Obed, the President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, was there to celebrate his colleague and friend Margo. Many of her close friends and admirers from our chamber and beyond were there as Margo symbolically crossed over the bridge from her previous national leadership role to the one we have known her to have here in Canada’s upper chamber.

Margo was honoured with words, song and drum, and she was wrapped with love in a beautiful star blanket — the ultimate in honouring. Colleagues, quite frankly, the morning event was a Senator Margo Greenwood love-in, and it was so very well deserved.

Our colleague Senator Greenwood got up and spoke, and if I had a lot more time to prepare for this, I would have asked her for her remarks. But she started off with a beautiful image of a tree that she grew up with, which she called “the dreaming tree.” With every position Margo has held — and she was speaking of her position and her leadership in Indigenous health — she has been one to dream about the possible.

What she told us about in her remarks was how she — and she was very generous in this — and many of those in the room, as well as others who were not in the room, had brought about very important dreams of better health outcomes, dreams of collaboration, dreams of people operating on much better information and evidence — not just the kind of academic evidence that we usually look at, but, yes, academic evidence — and dreams of honouring Indigenous knowledge. It was an honour to be there.

She was generous, and on behalf of my Independent Senators Group colleagues and all of the colleagues here in this Senate Chamber, I want to thank Senator Greenwood for crossing over that bridge and being here with us. I know it wasn’t easy, and it can’t be easy every day, but we’re so fortunate to have you with us. Thank you, and congratulations. Hiy hiy.

Hon. Marie-Françoise Mégie: Today I rise in honour of the two hundred and twentieth anniversary of the Haitian flag, which was raised in front of Parliament at noon today.

On May 18, 1803, General Jean-Jacques Dessalines ripped out the centre of the French blue, white and red flag. White was seen as symbolic of the White French colonists.

Catherine Flon took the remaining two pieces, one blue, the other red, and sewed them together to represent the union of Black people and people of mixed heritage. Thus was born the Haitian flag.

The centre of the flag features the country’s coat of arms, including a palm tree surmounted by the liberty cap and, under the palm, a trophy of arms with the legend, “In union there is strength.”

Despite all the upheaval Haiti has been through from its independence to now, the Haitian flag remains a strong symbol of unity and hope for its people and its diaspora.

[Editor’s Note: Senator Mégie spoke in another language.]

I wish all my Haitian sisters and brothers a happy two hundred and twentieth Haitian Flag Day.

Thank you.

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, when shall this report be taken into consideration?

(On motion of Senator Cotter, report placed on the Orders of the Day for consideration at the next sitting of the Senate.)

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

The Special Rapporteur, the Honourable David Johnston, has been seized with an important task, which is to advise the Prime Minister as to the appropriate and prudent way to continue getting to the bottom of these allegations of foreign interference.

I find it difficult to refrain from —

Hon. Brent Cotter: Honourable senators, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the thirteenth report of the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, which deals with Bill C-9, An Act to amend the Judges Act.

(For text of report, see today’s Journals of the Senate, p. 1701.)

Hon. Fabian Manning: Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the seventh report of the Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, which deals with the subject matter of those elements contained in Subdivisions A, B and C of Division 21 of Part 4 of Bill C-47, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 28, 2023.

(Pursuant to the order adopted April 27, 2023, the report was deemed referred to the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance and placed on the Orders of the Day for consideration at the next sitting of the Senate.)

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, when shall this report be taken into consideration?

(On motion of Senator Cotter, report placed on the Orders of the Day for consideration at the next sitting of the Senate.)

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Government leader, my question today concerns the Prime Minister’s made-up Special Rapporteur.

Leader, your government is solidifying the fact that this appointment is anything but serious. I still cannot find a way for the rapporteur to be contacted by whistleblowers or Canadians who have been intimidated here in our own country by the Chinese Communist Party, or CCP. Three weeks ago, right here in this chamber, Minister Leblanc promised — he guaranteed — to provide an email or a postal address. We have received nothing.

Furthermore, leader, yesterday, the Liberal propaganda arm, CBC News, reported that the Privy Council Office — the Prime Minister’s department — is handling media requests for the Special Rapporteur. This is an independent Special Rapporteur, and the Prime Minister’s Office is handling media requests.

We are now learning that the rapporteur hasn’t even bothered responding to a letter from the Leader of the Opposition, Pierre Poilievre.

Leader, Canadians do see this for what it is. I hope you do. It is a way for the Trudeau government to deflect all difficult questions of foreign interference onto a made-up role. How can your government — how can you — continue to stand by this fake job with a straight face?

Hon. Claude Carignan: Leader, for nearly three years now, I have been asking you questions about the landfill and illegal dumping on Oka territory, in Kanesatake.

Yesterday, after three years, you surprised me with your answer. You said, and I quote:

As this is partially private land, the government’s legal means for intervening are limited.

Your minister said basically the same thing in today’s edition of La Presse, namely, that it is private property.

However, I have before me an email dated May 21, 2020, from the office of Quebec’s Minister of the Environment, the Fight Against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks, addressed to the Mayor of Oka, reporting on the situation at the Kanesatake site, which reads as follows:

Dear Mr. Quevillon:

On May 11, 2020, Indigenous Services Canada confirmed to our ministry that G&R Recycling is located on lands that are federally owned.

The email goes on to confirm that Quebec will not be responsible for the environmental liabilities related to this site.

Leader, why did your minister repeat to La Presse that the land is on private property? Why did you tell us that the dump was on private property, but you told the Quebec Minister of the Environment that it is on federally owned land and that he would not have to suffer the potential environmental problems?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question, senator. I think all of us eagerly await the arrival of new colleagues to join us.

The government continues to work to ensure that appointments to the Senate are made through an open, transparent and merit‑based process. Indeed, this government has appointed to the Senate 68 eminent Canadians of diverse and distinguished backgrounds.

I have been advised, as we all have been, that more appointments are forthcoming. However, I don’t have any more information that I can share at this juncture. We’re all crossing our fingers and looking forward to welcoming new colleagues as soon as possible.

Hon. Percy E. Downe: Senator Gold, more than 120,000 people living in Canada receive a U.K. State Pension. These pensions are indexed to inflation for pensioners in the U.K. as well as those living in many other countries, including the United States. However, for pensioners living in Canada, this is not the case.

The U.K. government policy stands in sharp contrast to Canada, where pension payments are always indexed, regardless of where in the world the recipient lives. Not only is this unfair to those who face pensions of steadily declining value as a result of inflation, but it represents an estimated $450 million not entering the Canadian economy, with all the benefits that would bring.

I’m interested in finding out whether there’s currently any effort on the part of the Government of Canada to fix this long‑standing problem.

Hon. Wanda Thomas Bernard: My question is for the representative of the government in the Senate.

Senator Gold, a few weeks ago, my colleagues and I asked Minister LeBlanc about the many vacancies in the Senate for senators representing the Atlantic region. The minister reassured us that we will be pleasantly surprised with the coming news, and indeed we were. I welcome our new Atlantic colleagues: Senator Petten, who is here in the chamber today, representing Newfoundland and Labrador; and Senator MacAdam, representing P.E.I., who will be with us shortly.

I would like to follow up about Nova Scotia appointments, since we have the longest vacancy for these seats in the Senate since April 9, 2020. What is happening with the three vacant seats for Nova Scotia?

What is happening with the other vacant seats for the Atlantic region: two in Newfoundland, one more in P.E.I. and three in New Brunswick?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question. Minister Miller went on the radio at about 8:15 this morning to further explain the issues and the complexity of this situation.

In terms of this unacceptable and intolerable situation, the federal government’s means for intervening are not unlimited — quite the contrary. The Province of Quebec has a great deal of responsibility here, particularly regarding law and order. It is a well-known fact that there are governance issues within the community in question, as residents are all too aware.

In addition, all levels of government are working together to find a solution, including the Government of Quebec, the Government of Canada and the Kanesatake band council. This is an intolerable situation, of course, but the solutions are not obvious and an effort is being made. Unfortunately, this is a tragedy for the residents; the solutions are not obvious in the short term.