Senator Gold: No, it is not. Members of NSICOP, under the act, include representatives from all recognized parties in the other house and three senators from the Senate. The Prime Minister put in place a change in the way in which senators are appointed and indeed in the conception of the Senate as an independent chamber of sober second thought. Senators are chosen for NSICOP based upon the needs of the committee and other criteria relevant to the work of the committee. It is neither in the act nor necessarily in the conception of an independent senator that seats are reserved for or otherwise allocated to particular groups.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question. The Prime Minister’s decision to appoint members to NSICOP follows the terms of the legislation setting up NSICOP. It is a prerogative of the Prime Minister. My understanding is that the Prime Minister assesses first and foremost the needs — the expertise, competency and balance — of the committee in terms of experience, competency, regional representation and the like.

I have not been advised as to why the Prime Minister made the appointments that he did, nor the timing of it, nor have I been advised as to what his intentions are with regard to the remaining vacant seat.

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Government leader, my question today is about the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, or NSICOP, which the Prime Minister claims is the best place to investigate what he knew about Beijing’s interference. Two seats reserved for senators on this committee were vacant for some months. On Friday, the Prime Minister filled only one of those seats as he appointed Senator Duncan to NSICOP.

Now, let me be clear that I have no doubt Senator Duncan is very worthy and will be a valuable member of that committee. But as a result, two of the three Senate seats on NSICOP are now filled with members from the same caucus — the Independent Senators Group. These two senators were also named to this place upon the advice of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who put them on NSICOP.

Leader, can you tell us why the Prime Minister filled only one of the two vacancies on this committee last Friday? Why wasn’t a member of the official opposition in the Senate appointed to NSICOP? Leader, you have access to the Prime Minister. You’re a member of the Privy Council. Please don’t pass this off, leader. Tell us why this happened.