Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): I am not prepared to commit to you or to this chamber the advice or recommendations that I will give to the Prime Minister nor to report on the advice and recommendations that I have given to the Prime Minister. I stand by my answer.

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

That the Senate call on the Government of Canada to recognize the erasure of Afghan women and girls from public life as gender apartheid.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question and thank you for underlining the devastation to this community, and many others, that the wildfires of this summer did and continue to effect.

I certainly will take the question to the attention of the relevant minister. This chamber can rest assured that the government has done and will continue to do everything it can to help communities faced with these challenges.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, before I call Question Period, let me remind you, as was noted several times before the summer, that many senators wish to take part in Question Period. It would therefore be appreciated if questions and preambles, as well as answers, could be as concise as possible. This will allow as many colleagues as possible to participate in this important accountability exercise. Thank you so much for your cooperation on this point.

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): My question, Senator Gold, concerns NSICOP, the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians. Up until just a few weeks ago, leader, the Prime Minister spent the better part of a year telling us that NSICOP was the best place to investigate what he knew about Beijing’s interference in our democracy. A month ago, the Prime Minister showed us, again, how worried he is about making sure that people keep an eye on him by filling the third and final seat reserved for the Senate on this committee with a senator whom he named to the chamber — just as he did with the other two Senate seats on NSICOP. Senator Gold, why are there no Conservative senators on NSICOP?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. What a pleasure it is to be back in this role.

The Prime Minister took account of the needs of NSICOP, the diversity of membership already in it, the representation from all the parties in the House of Commons and selected based upon the criteria that best served the needs of NSICOP at this time.

Hon. Leo Housakos: Senator Gold, on the very serious issue of national security, while we’re finally getting a public inquiry on foreign interference — as you know, we’re getting one because the Prime Minister was dragged into one kicking and screaming. As we also know, government leader, we are still waiting for the government to take action on the foreign registry. Of course, I suspect we will not see action until a new government is elected.

We are all aware of the very serious allegations brought forward by the Prime Minister as well in the House of Commons yesterday. Out of respect for the ongoing investigative process, I won’t comment on that or ask you to comment on that, government leader. However, it does highlight the importance of parliamentary oversight and the opposition’s role in participation in that oversight when it comes to our national security and foreign interference.

Government leader, in your answer you said to the leader of the official opposition that the Prime Minister made choices vis‑à-vis NSICOP. There are no choices to be made. There must be a parliamentary body representative of all parties, particularly when it comes to the Senate Chamber and the official opposition.

Will you commit, government leader, to go back to the Prime Minister’s Office, the PMO, and explain to them that there must be a representative from the official opposition on NSICOP? If not, can you explain to this chamber why not?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): It is not correct that it is the intention or the desire of the Prime Minister to strip the opposition of its role. Recent amendments to the Parliament of Canada Act made that very clear, honourable colleagues.

It is not my intention to pressure the Prime Minister. That is not an appropriate exercise, but as I have said, I have made my views clear to the Prime Minister, and he has acted within his mandate and authority.

Hon. Jane Cordy: Senator Gold, Canada is in the midst of a housing crisis not seen since post-World War II. In my home province of Nova Scotia, Halifax Regional Municipality saw the highest year-over-year spike in residential rent in the country between 2021 and 2022. At the same time, the vacancy rate stayed around 1%, which is the second lowest in the country.

Yesterday, the Progressive Senate Group heard from a panel of experts on the housing crisis, and their urgency is echoed in the concerns of all Canadians. The Prime Minister’s announcement last week to remove the GST from construction of new rental units was a welcome one, to be sure. It is a great start, but this alone will not solve the problem.

What will the federal government do to ensure that all levels of government coordinate action on the critical housing issue? Senator Gold, the lack of housing is a human rights issue.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. Senator Dagenais, the government is aware of the challenges facing Canada’s airports and Montreal’s Trudeau Airport. For the first time in Canadian history, the government has implemented regulations to protect passengers and guarantee their rights, including compensation for flight delays and disruptions. The new Minister of Transport, the Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, is seized with the challenges here in Canada and elsewhere in the world. He is well aware of the challenges facing Montreal airport. I am certain he will pull out all the stops to ensure that things improve.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. This government is very aware, as are all Canadians, of the housing crisis that we confront. Thank you, in your question, for underlining the importance of coordination between not only all levels of government but all sectors that are responsible for this.

I won’t repeat things that I have said in the past. This government has taken important action, as you mentioned, with regard to removing the federal GST on the construction of rental apartment buildings and — importantly, and to your point — showing leadership in urging the provinces to follow suit. Indeed, many provinces have already done so. We hope that others, like my province of Quebec, will come on board as well.

Indeed, there is also a role for municipalities, as many commentators have observed. Once again, the government is committed to working with municipalities in order to exercise its leadership, moral and otherwise, as we seek a solution together to this crisis.

Hon. Jean-Guy Dagenais: Leader, over and above what’s being reported in the media, I have seen the chaos at Montreal’s Trudeau airport with my own eyes twice in recent weeks. I am talking about unacceptable lineups requiring 60 to 90 minutes to get through customs, NEXUS devices that don’t work, and hours‑long wait times to collect luggage, assuming it hasn’t been lost altogether in transit. Then, once out of the terminal, passengers face horrible traffic jams to get in and out of what must be the country’s second-largest airport.

As is often the case with the current government, no one seems to be accountable. More recently, poor service levels are being blamed on asylum seekers arriving in huge numbers by plane, rather than through Roxham Road, which has been closed. Nobody anticipated that. Is there anyone in your government who understands the urgency of the situation and who is willing to take responsibility for getting Montreal’s airport running smoothly again as quickly as possible? Right now it looks more like an airport in a Third World country.

Hon. Yonah Martin (Deputy Leader of the Opposition): My question is for the government leader, and it also touches on Prime Minister Trudeau’s Senate appointments to the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians.

Over the summer, the Prime Minister filled the last Senate vacancy by appointing yet again one of his very own Senate appointees, meaning that currently the three senators sitting on NSICOP are senators whom he has appointed and picked based on common values. By doing so, the Prime Minister eliminated the balance between the government and the opposition in the Senate. We all know that the Prime Minister wants to strip the opposition of its role of representing the voice of the political minority.

Senator Gold, will you pressure the Prime Minister to correct this mistake?

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Well, you’ve said before there’s a reason why it is called Question Period and not answer period.

In June, the Prime Minister’s made-up rapporteur confirmed he was receiving free media advice from Liberal and NDP strategists at the same time the crisis communications firm Navigator was being paid to help him. Leader, at that time, I asked you why taxpayer dollars were going to Navigator when he was getting free advice.

Yesterday, a written answer tabled in the House revealed that Navigator was subcontracted by the Torys law firm, which the Trudeau government awarded a sole-source contract worth $4.5 million.

Leader, given that the made-up rapporteur stepped down on June 9, how much of this $4.5 million was actually paid out? If I guessed all of it, leader, would I be right?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. The analysis or review is ongoing. When it is completed, the results will be made public.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you. I certainly don’t know if you’re right, but I certainly do know that the summer obviously hasn’t tempered your proclivity to insult the former Governor General. The rapporteur did the job he was asked to do and happily. We now have in place Justice Hogue, who will be conducting her inquiry into foreign interference, and we look forward to the results of that.

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Leader, between March 2018 and March 2022, the Trudeau government made five payments totalling $256 million to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Conservatives believe this infrastructure bank is a tool of Beijing’s communist party. On June 14, the Canadian who worked there at an executive level confirmed our opinion when he publicly detailed the many ways the bank is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, or CCP.

Leader, what is going on with the review of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank that Minister Freeland announced on June 14? When will this government bring home to Canada the quarter of a billion taxpayer dollars it gave Beijing for nothing in return?

Hon. Claude Carignan: My question is also about the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians. Leader, I note that only one of the 11 members is francophone. That is less than 10%, even though francophones make up more than 20% of Canadian society. I know that the Prime Minister has been approached about appointing francophone senators and has turned them down. Was it because these senators were Conservatives?

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Let me first of all start off by saying I certainly will not withdraw anything that I have said. I have used the term “official opposition,” because that, in fact, is the term. I am the leader of the loyal opposition in the Senate.

You can shake your head all you want. That is the term.

And I am quite happy, Your Honour, to have you take under advisement whether supposed senators appointed by Justin Trudeau have the right to come in here and start changing the titles of what we, in fact, have gone by. You can call yourself “liaison” and “representative” and whatever you want. When it talks like a duck and walks like a duck, it’s a duck.

Senator Gold is the Leader of the Government. As was decided by the previous Speaker in a ruling that he made, Senator Gold, in fact, is the Leader of the Government, even if he doesn’t want to call himself that.

So if your point of order, senator, is on whether we are officially the opposition, you may take this as an insult, but I would like to say that’s a ridiculous argument. We are the official opposition. You can complain about us using the wrong terms when we talk about others. I didn’t besmirch any senator in this chamber. I was attacking the Prime Minister for making partisan appointments to NSICOP, because that’s what they are. They are his senators that he appointed to this chamber and then appointed to NSICOP to help him there.

I will stand on the position that we are the official opposition, Madam Speaker.