The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of a group of students from the “Centre régional d’éducation des adultes Kitci Amik.” They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Audette.

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 Tetiana Popil and Arsen Senyshyn. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Kutcher.

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

Hon. René Cormier: Colleagues, getting to know the Far North, the people who live there and the languages they speak has always been a dream of mine.

Knowing that we can’t understand our country without meeting the First Peoples who have inhabited these lands for millennia, and with that dream in mind, I embarked on a three-day trip to Nunavut, the land of the Inuit. It was a fascinating and transformative journey, made possible thanks to the support and help of our colleague Senator Dennis Patterson, whom I sincerely thank for his invaluable assistance.

[English]

Nunavut, Canada’s largest territory, is governed by a consensus-based legislative assembly, whose members are not attached to any political party — it’s a very inspiring mode of governance for an independent senator. Thank you, Speaker Tony Akoak and Pamela Hakongak Gross, Minister of Culture and Heritage, for your warm welcome to this chamber where respect prevails.

[Translation]

As I toured this land almost entirely made up of Arctic tundra, I was guided by Languages Commissioner Karliin Aariak, who works passionately and determinedly to ensure compliance with Nunavut’s Official Languages Act and the Inuit Language Protection Act. This is a monumental task that the governments of Nunavut and Canada absolutely must support.

In the land of the Qimmiq, one of world’s oldest dog breeds, languages and cultures travel to and for. They coexist, enriching this majestic land with their extraordinary sounds. Inuktut in its many forms, French and English resonate throughout the territory, representing the diversity of our country and our ability to live together.

[English]

In the land of the qulliq, the traditional Inuit lamp, I met the inspiring Leena Evic, owner of the Pirurvik Centre, which is a language training company that offers Inuktut language learning through a process that is both spiritual and restorative. It is an eloquent example of the inseparable link between language, culture and identity.

In the small community of Apex, Ann Meekitjuk Hanson spoke to me about the future of the Inuktitut language which she imagines with optimism and kindness.

In the land of inukshuk, I also met young artists who use throat singing to express their love of the land.

[Translation]

I also met with members of the Francophonie in Nunavut, people from all over, from Acadia, Quebec, Cameroon and more, people who embrace this land with passion and devotion, a community with the wonderful Trois-Soleils school at its heart.

Esteemed colleagues, as you can tell, I fell in love with Nunavut and its people, who draw creative energy, strength and spirituality from the land to steward, heal, repair and build the future.

[English]

Today, I dream of flying away again on the wings of the great steel bird to meet up with these people and learn more because this trip was just the beginning — the beginning of a journey that will transform me forever.

Qujannamiik, Nunavut.

[Translation]

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Tetiana Popil and Arsen Senyshyn. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Kutcher.

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 Harry Flaherty, President of the Qikiqtaaluk Corporation in Nunavut. He is the guest of the Honourable Senator Patterson (Nunavut).

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 your question.

The Prime Minister’s prerogative is to choose the members of NSICOP, which he has done, having taken input from all recognized parties and caucuses.

The NSICOP membership currently comprises representatives from all parties in the other place. Indeed, there are two vacancies, and when the Prime Minister has made the decision and is ready to announce it, he will.

Hon. Leo Housakos: Honourable senators, in recent years, I’ve had the honour and pleasure of working with an extraordinary group of people who have fully committed themselves to defending the freedom and human rights of others. They do so not for their own benefit, but because it’s the right thing to do. As a matter of fact, at times, it has come at a personal cost, including threats and intimidation of not only themselves but also their loved ones.

Although based in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong Watch has done an extraordinary job reaching across global borders, including right here in Canada. Through their advocacy and community-engagement work, they strive to bridge the gap between newcomers from Hong Kong and the Canadian government and parliamentarians. They also publish original research and regularly update parliamentarians and government officials on the human rights situation.

In the past year, Hong Kong Watch has launched the Youth Initiative program, successfully advocated for Canada’s Hong Kong open work permit pathway, drawn attention to and asked for Canadian pension funds to divest from Chinese companies linked to human rights violations and advocated for Canada to hold accountable Hong Kong and Chinese officials responsible for human rights abuses.

Hong Kong Watch also continues to urge the government to expand and extend the “lifeboat” scheme Stream B path to permanent residency and waive police certificate requirements that continue to create obstacles for Hong Kongers wishing to move to Canada.

When it comes to the safety of the growing Hong Kong community in Canada, Hong Kong Watch continues to raise cases of threats and intimidation by the Chinese Communist Party, including urging the government to adopt a foreign agent registry and a reporting hotline.

With an estimated 50,000 Hong Kongers having landed in Canada over the past two years, including Hong Kong Canadians returning home to Canada, and with many more expected to arrive in the coming months and years, Hong Kong Watch is expanding its mission of defending fundamental freedoms and human rights, and speaking up for Hong Kong Canadians who face intimidation and threats from the Chinese Communist Party right here on Canadian soil.

With that, it’s my honour to announce the launch of Hong Kong Watch Canada. The official launch is happening at a parliamentary reception this evening, to which you’re all invited. I really encourage you to come by and say hello. It’s an opportunity to meet the Hong Kong Watch team, including our friends from across the pond, Ben Rogers and Sam Goodman, who are here today; as well as the members of the new Canadian chapter: Max Wu; Katherine Leung; Aileen Calverley; and former Miss World Canada, Anastasia Lin.

Colleagues, I again encourage you to join us this evening. Until then, I will close my remarks today with a quote from one of this evening’s hosts, Ms. Calverley:

Our fight against authoritarianism is not only advocacy work for a faraway place done from a distance. It has reached the shores of Canada and is impacting the lives of Canadians. I am tremendously grateful for the support from parliamentarians from all sides in our work. I am pleased and excited to officially launch the Canadian chapter of Hong Kong Watch – it is important work and it is time to do so.

Thank you, colleagues.

Hon. Brian Francis: Honourable senators, I give notice that, at the next sitting of the Senate, I will move:

That the Standing Senate Committee on Indigenous Peoples be permitted, notwithstanding usual practices, to deposit with the Clerk of the Senate an interim report relating to its study on the constitutional, treaty, political and legal responsibilities to First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples, no later than June 13, 2023, if the Senate is not then sitting, and that the report be deemed to have been tabled in the Senate.

Hon. Tony Dean: Honourable senators, I give notice that, at the next sitting of the Senate, I will move:

That the Standing Senate Committee on National Security, Defence and Veterans Affairs be permitted, notwithstanding usual practices, to deposit with the Clerk of the Senate a report related to its study on issues relating to security and defence in the Arctic, including Canada’s military infrastructure and security capabilities, if the Senate is not then sitting, and that the report be deemed to have been tabled in the Senate.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Benedict Rogers and Sam Goodman. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Housakos.

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

Hon. Patti LaBoucane-Benson (Legislative Deputy to the Government Representative in the Senate): Honourable senators, I give notice that, at the next sitting of the Senate, I will move:

That the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance be authorized to examine and report upon the expenditures set out in the Supplementary Estimates (A) for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024;

That, for the purpose of this study, the committee have the power to meet, even though the Senate may then be sitting or adjourned, and that rules 12-18(1) and 12-18(2) be suspended in relation thereto; and

That the committee be permitted, notwithstanding usual practices, to deposit its report with the Clerk of the Senate, if the Senate is not then sitting, and that the report be deemed to have been tabled in the Senate.

Hon. Patti LaBoucane-Benson (Legislative Deputy to the Government Representative in the Senate): Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the Supplementary Estimates (A), 2023-24.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Benedict Rogers and Sam Goodman. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Housakos.

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

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): My question for the Liberal government leader concerns the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, or NSICOP.

Mr. Leader, the Prime Minister and his ski buddy, the made-up rapporteur, have told Canadians that NSICOP would be the perfect place to do in secret what a public inquiry into Beijing’s interference could do in front of all Canadians. There are currently two vacant seats reserved for senators on NSICOP, and that has been the case for months. The last two times this committee was set up, the Prime Minister refused to appoint a senator from the official opposition. Now, he is once again dragging his feet on the third try.

Leader, why is the Prime Minister waiting to fill the seats on NSICOP, and why does he continually refuse to do the right thing and appoint a senator from the official opposition?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. Again, the attribution to the government for the problems of food banks really beggars belief. The cost of living for Canadians is a serious issue and should be addressed in a serious way by serious people.

The fact is the government has invested properly and prudently in assisting Canadians. Canada’s economic performance remains enviable, and the government’s position is that the cost to manage the debt is easily managed by virtue of the strength of the Canadian economy and is more than amply justified by the good work and measures that it has introduced for the benefit of Canadians.

Hon. Mary Coyle: Senator Gold, in 2021, the federal Liberals committed to establishing a global centre of excellence on methane detection and elimination. As you well know, methane is emitted by venting and leaking during oil and gas production as well as from forms of agriculture and from landfill sites. Methane represents about 13% of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions, which is very significant.

Canada is already home to many experts in methane measurement, including Dr. David Risk of St. Francis Xavier University’s Flux Lab, who won a Clean50 award for his team’s work measuring the methane emissions of over 7,000 sites in the oil-and-gas-producing regions of Canada. The Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development recently reported that the methodologies used by Environment and Climate Change Canada may be underestimating methane emissions from the oil and gas industry by anywhere from 25% to 90%. Despite the clear need for more research and the commitment, the centre was not included in the 2023 federal budget.

Senator Gold, is the federal government still committed to establishing a centre of excellence on methane detection and elimination? Can we expect to see it in this year’s Fall Economic Statement?

Hon. Leo Housakos: My question is for the government leader. Now that we have confirmed from the answer you have given the Leader of the Opposition here in the Senate that your government doesn’t care much about dealing with foreign interference, let’s try another subject matter, which is the record that your government has set when it comes to food banks in this country and the pummelling that the middle class and the poor are receiving in light of these terrible economic policies of your government.

I am going back to a question I asked before the break, and I’m hoping, now that you have had a week to reflect on it and maybe go to your Liberal colleagues in the Prime Minister’s office or maybe even called your Minister of Finance, you can answer the question. It’s a simple question. Can you tell the Senate and Canadians how much your government, the Trudeau government, is paying in interest payments on the debt for this fiscal year?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for raising this question. First, I would note in reference to the comment that I had made to which you referred that I was not speaking about the Rules in general but specifically about the fair and equitable recognition of parliamentary groups in the various processes under our Rules, where I do think there is a broadly shared sense of urgency.

Having said that, properly processing non-government bills is an important part of the work that we do in the chamber and one that’s valued by parliamentarians in the other place and by Canadians alike. Senator Harder, for example, has written about the Senate’s silent or “pocket” veto on private members’ bills that come to us from elected members of the other place and how its exercise has harmed the reputation of the Senate in the past.

My office, the Government Representative Office in the Senate, has long supported the principle that law and non‑government business should be debated and considered fully by this chamber and that bills should be able to move forward appropriately following proper debate and study. Although the Government Representative Office would like to see non‑government legislation debated in a timely way, currently, the management of non-government business is an area that is to be taken up collectively by all groups and senators. It is my understanding that there are ongoing discussions amongst the deputy leaders and scroll coordinators about moving several non‑government bills forward.

If you’ll allow me an observation, which I would stress is my view alone, I think there are two problems with the way that we handle non-government business: The first is the one you have identified, where non-government bills can be stalled until there is a negotiated settlement, or until more robust or concerted procedural action. The second is a sense that I know is broadly shared — in many cases, non-government bills are expedited in a way that is not fulsome at times in order to make good on deals that have been made. It is often the case that private members’ bills that pass the Senate are rarely amended, and that’s not because they are perfect. We do see government legislation receiving much more scrutiny and levels of consideration.

With regard to specific changes in the Rules on other business — and I apologize, colleagues, for the length of this response, but I think it’s important — we, in the Government Representative Office, are always open to policy engagement with colleagues. I recall the proposal that you raised with me several years ago, which was creative, very well put together and built off a proposal backed by former Senator White. I also recall that others have floated different and interesting ideas, including the notion of adopting a lottery system similar to that in the other place.

In order for the Senate to be in a position to move forward on changes relating to the treatment of other business, there is a need to garner a sense of where the consensus lies in terms of preferred policy options. If only to distill where such a policy consensus may lie, I would certainly encourage our Senate Rules Committee to take up the issue, examine the proposal that you mentioned and evaluate the practices and methods used by our colleagues in the other place, as well as any other perspective that could lead to a modernized approach.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. Slashing, reducing methane emissions is one of the cheapest and fastest ways to reduce emissions and to combat climate change, as you properly point out. That is why the Government of Canada has worked with various stakeholders and partners to implement regulations in the oil and gas sector.

I’m advised that the government is on track to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by 75% by 2030, which is just about the most ambitious target in the world.

As for the specifics of your question, Senator Coyle, I’ll bring them to the attention of the minister.