Hon. Patti LaBoucane-Benson (Legislative Deputy to the Government Representative in the Senate): Honourable senators, with leave of the Senate and notwithstanding rule 5-6(2), I give notice that, later this day:

I will call the attention of the Senate to the life of the late Honourable Ian Shugart, P.C.

Hon. Claude Carignan: My question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate.

Leader, it seems another Liberal scandal is brewing involving funding for a foundation called Sustainable Development Technology Canada, which manages over a billion dollars. Apparently, there was evidence of misappropriation and mismanagement that would make the minister “flip out.” Rather than flipping out, the minister instead decided to ask the arsonists to put out the fire.

Can you explain what the private auditors found in terms of conflicts of interest and mismanagement?

Hon. Salma Ataullahjan: Honourable senators, I have the honour to inform the Senate that pursuant to the orders adopted by the Senate on March 3, 2022, and October 26, 2023, the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights deposited with the Clerk of the Senate on November 2, 2023, its sixth report (interim) entitled Combatting Hate: Islamophobia and its impact on Muslims in Canada and I move that the report be placed on the Orders of the Day for consideration at the next sitting of the Senate.

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

Hon. Senators: Agreed.

(Motion agreed to.)

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

As the Prime Minister stated, the government remains committed to fighting climate change and using a price on pollution as one of the tools appropriate to address the existential crisis.

My understanding is, senator, that further exemptions are not being considered at this time. The government will continue to hear from provinces and will work with provinces and territories to accelerate the emissions reductions in ways that make life affordable for Canadians.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question and for underscoring the importance of applying procedures and processes with integrity.

I’m not in a position to give you details about what you mentioned. I’m confident that existing procedures will allow us to determine what happened and the ensuing outcomes. The findings will be made public once they are ready to be made public.

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Government leader, contrary to what the Prime Minister might believe, Manitobans are also suffering under his carbon tax. People in my province who are struggling to pay their bills know he’s not worth the cost.

Yesterday, the new provincial government said that, in light of the recent carbon tax changes, it wants greater fairness extended to Manitobans as well. Four Liberals and three MPs from their coalition partners, the NDP, represent Manitoba ridings in the House of Commons, yet not a single one of them was able to convince the Prime Minister to give Manitobans a break on their home heating.

Why is that, leader? Why are they all so useless?

Hon. Clément Gignac: Senator Gold, I’d like to talk to you about the current confrontation between the federal government and the Government of Alberta regarding the province’s possible withdrawal from the Canada Pension Plan.

In response to Alberta’s bill to create its own pension plan, like Quebec has, Prime Minister Trudeau has publicly stated that he has asked his cabinet and officials to take every necessary measure to ensure that Albertans and Canadians are fully aware of the risks involved in this bill and, above all, to make every possible effort to keep the Canada Pension Plan intact.

Yesterday, in a letter to the Premier of Alberta, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance acknowledged, naturally, Alberta’s right to withdraw from the Canada Pension Plan, but challenged the figures put forward by Alberta concerning its fair share of the current assets managed by its CPP investment funds.

Senator Gold, would it not be appropriate for the federal government and the Province of Alberta to agree on or identify a third party to determine the correct figures?

Hon. René Cormier: My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate. Senator Gold, last summer and again recently, the Fédération culturelle canadienne-française wrote to the Minister of Canadian Heritage to express its concern that none of the eight commissioners of the Canadian Radio‑television and Telecommunications Commission, or CRTC, speak French as their main language. According to that letter, a few commissioners — including Alicia Barin who held the position before being appointed vice-chair — speak and understand French, but the CRTC should have some commissioners from francophone backgrounds who live their lives in French and understand that reality.

Considering the colossal amount of work involved in implementing the new version of the Broadcasting Act and the Online News Act, I share the federation’s concern.

Senator Gold, it is the prerogative of the Governor-in-Council to appoint CRTC commissioners. Can you assure us that the next appointments will be francophone?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question. The Canada Pension Plan enables all Canadians to have a dignified retirement with a stable and secure pension, and Canadians rightly expect that their retirement savings will be available to them when they need them.

I was assured that the government will always defend the pensions of Canadians and the security of their retirement. As you mentioned, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance is looking forward to meeting with her provincial and territorial counterparts to discuss this issue.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question. Canada’s ties — economic, political and otherwise — to the United States are so deep, close and substantial that it’s to be expected our two sovereign governments would have differences of opinion and even disputes about decisions made by one or the other to protect its interests as it perceives them.

I have confidence, and the Senate and Canadians should have confidence, in the professionalism, expertise and experience of the Canadians who are working with their American counterparts to find amicable solutions and, failing that, will follow the established dispute resolution process.

Hon. Jean-Guy Dagenais: Leader, polls predicting the Prime Minister’s defeat in the next election may have been the wake-up call that prompted him to reverse course on a number of things, including the carbon tax and immigration. Canada has cut ties with Russia, China and even India, and now the United States is threatening harsh reprisals if the government goes ahead with its plan to slap a “discriminatory” tax on foreign streaming services come January 1.

Given that the new Liberal tax will surely be passed on to taxpayers, is the Prime Minister prepared to admit his mistake and reverse course on this as he has on other issues before it’s too late?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question. The next CRTC regional commissioners will definitely be high-calibre, talented individuals who represent their communities. These appointments will occur in a timely manner to ensure that the CRTC continues to be an independent regulator that makes sound decisions. As always, Governor-in-Council appointments, including CRTC appointments, are subject to cabinet confidence.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. We all know that Canada’s population is aging, and that immigration is now driving most of our population growth and labour force stability. It is concerning that the worker-to-retiree ratio of 7 to 1 from 50 years ago has dropped to 3 to 1 now. While I cannot speak to the specific consultations, the new immigration levels have taken this reality into consideration and will permit the government to bring in the skills and talent needed to fill labour gaps and to ensure our ongoing prosperity.

[Translation]

Hon. Raymonde Saint-Germain: My question is for Senator Gold.

On October 26, 2022, more than 12 months ago, I asked you a question about Yves Bourque, a Canadian Paralympic athlete and a victim of thalidomide, who has been forced to deal with the extremely cumbersome, even inhumane, administration of the Canadian Thalidomide Survivors Support Program, a program that the government has entrusted to the firm Epiq.

Since then, my team and I have discussed Mr. Bourque’s case with the former minister of health, Jean-Yves Duclos, and his team, and more recently, with the team of his successor, Mark Holland. I was assured that follow-up had been done with Epiq, and the former minister even publicly stated that he had put pressure on Epiq to get things moving more quickly. However, nothing has changed.

Can the government assure us that additional measures will be taken to ensure that this program can be better administered immediately and to ensure accountability to address these unacceptable delays?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): No, that is not correct, Senator Plett, despite the litany of things that you have cobbled together in your question.

Senators are entitled to view their role as they see fit. This government is focusing on policy, not politics — certainly in this chamber. The government and the Prime Minister are engaged in the important work of governing this country and guiding this country’s policies — both domestic and foreign — through these difficult times, and shall continue to do so.

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Leader, as you know, the shady “ArriveScam” contract is under RCMP investigation. NDP and Liberal coalition MPs recently shut down a committee that was about to hear from the RCMP Commissioner regarding a different Liberal scandal: the SNC-Lavalin scandal. Yesterday, a senior government official compared the Prime Minister’s green slush fund to the sponsorship scandal, and last week, we heard confirmation that the carbon tax is a form of punishment for those not voting Liberal.

What does Prime Minister Trudeau do amidst all this? He skips Question Period. He’s not worth the cost, leader. He provides no serious leadership, and has zero interest in accountability. Isn’t that right, leader?

Hon. Stan Kutcher: Senator Gold, Bill S-5 was a significant step forward in enhancing Canada’s environmental health protections, and this government should be proud of that. But — and, sadly, there is a “but” — as we learned during the study of this bill, Canada does not have the capacity to be able to provide the essential, robust and comprehensive biomonitoring, biobanking, ongoing longitudinal cohort studies and toxicogenomic research needed to support the goals of this legislation. Can you please provide us with the plans that the government has to rapidly develop these needed scientific capabilities?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. I’m disappointed to learn that no progress has been made on this file. Thalidomide had devastatingly tragic results for a whole generation of children. It is only by chance that I escaped it myself.

I need to consult the current minister to better understand the progress that, I hope, is being made. I’ll undertake to do that.