Hon. Leo Housakos: Senator Gold, we know that Justin Trudeau is not worth the cost but we also see that he has a hard time with transparency and accountability.

On Tuesday, the Canada Border Services Agency, or CBSA, announced the suspension of contracts with three companies caught up in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or RCMP, investigation of “ArriveScam.” First, why only the CBSA? These companies have several contracts with many Trudeau departments at all levels of government. Second, why was it only done now? Why not when the RCMP investigation began? Why not when the whistle-blowers, more than two years ago, brought this information to public light?

Last week, when Minister Blair was before this committee, he promised to get back to us in regards to Dalian contracts in his very own department. Why does it take days and weeks to get simple information from this government? Are you able to provide this chamber information in regard to whether the Department of National Defence, or DND, and Minister Blair’s suspending of its contracts with Dalian, CORDEX and GC Strategies will occur? It’s a simple yes or no. When will we cancel the contracts with these companies?

Hon. Iris G. Petten: My question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate. I recently met with the Canadian Association for Long Term Care which brought up the importance of improving data collection in long-term care.

Senator Gold, will the government commit to two vital initiatives: one, prioritizing the funding of IT systems critical for data collection; and two, devising, delivering and financing a nationwide health workforce data strategy that encompasses the long-term care sector?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question. The government has been very clear that every senior in Canada deserves to live in dignity, safety and comfort regardless of where they live.

As senators know, long-term care is a matter regulated by provincial and territorial governments. However, the federal government is developing a safe long-term care act, and that act is being informed by public consultations and the feedback from provincial and territorial partners, stakeholders, experts and Canadians.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. The minister made an undertaking to this chamber, and I have every confidence that he will honour that.

As I said on many occasions, honourable senators, any misconduct in relation to the procurement process is unacceptable. That is why the RCMP is investigating. That is why the contracts have been suspended. Until the results of those investigations are complete and made public, no further comment is forthcoming.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. It is the position of this government that continued immigration is key to growing our economy and strengthening our communities. The government’s position on immigration is clear. It seeks to ensure that immigration continues to grow our economy while at the same time balancing the pressures that growing immigration imposes on our housing, infrastructure and essential services.

I have been assured that the government will continue to support and embrace newcomers and ensure that they have the supports they need to integrate into our communities and are supported fully in their new lives here in Canada.

Hon. Colin Deacon: My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate. Senator Gold, last week, you kindly committed to follow up with the Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister about open banking. Could you also ask her about marginalized and young Canadians who wonder if they will ever own a home? Open banking would give these Canadians access to convenient and safe tools to build credit score, better manage their cash flow, qualify for a mortgage on better terms and more easily compare offers across mortgage lenders.

Currently, banks monopolize the use of their customer data. Citizens in all other G7 countries have the right to securely use and access their financial data for their benefit rather than the bank’s.

On behalf of those Canadians who do not currently have the financial ability to purchase a home, when will they get access to the many digital tools and competitive offerings that open banking will provide?

Hon. Jane Cordy: Senator Gold, I want to follow up on a question that I asked October 4 on behalf of Cliff Williams, a Nova Scotia senior who is relying on the new Canadian Dental Care Plan to access dental services.

As I stated in my last question, one third of Canadians do not have dental insurance, and one in five avoid dental services because the price is prohibitive. We know that dental care is health care. I applaud the government for its commitment to providing financial assistance to those Canadians who face barriers in accessing dental services by bringing forward the new dental care plan.

A government media release from March 31 — from which you read your answer to my question on October 4 — simply says that by the end of 2023, the Canadian Dental Care Plan will become available to uninsured Canadians under 18, persons with disabilities and seniors with an annual family income of less than $90,000.

Senator Gold, Mr. Williams’ question is a simple one: When will the benefits be available to eligible seniors? As there are only a few weeks until the end of 2023, is the government still guaranteeing that the benefits will be available before the end of the year?

Hon. Donna Dasko: My question is directed to Senator Gold. As you may know, Canadians hold the most positive views towards immigration of any country in the world. However, a recent survey conducted by the Environics Institute in September shows:

. . . a significant jump in the proportion of Canadians who believe the country accepts too many immigrants, marking a dramatic reversal from a year ago when public support for immigration numbers stood at an all-time high . . .

One year ago, attitudes were more positive than they had ever been. Let’s be clear, this is not about where immigrants are coming from, who they are or how they might contribute, but about the numbers that are coming.

Senator Gold, is this shift in opinion a reflection on immigration policy or is it, as is sometimes said, a failure to communicate adequately to Canadians the benefits of immigration?

Hon. Denise Batters: Senator Gold, the Trudeau government has repeatedly claimed that their punishing carbon tax scheme aims to encourage Canadians to use more efficient sources of energy. We in Saskatchewan have been doing that for decades. In the early 1980s, Progressive Conservative premier Grant Devine changed our province’s heat source from heating oil to natural gas at a then cost of about $150 million — a huge investment for our small province. Now only about 0.3% of Saskatchewan homes still heat with oil. That is roughly equivalent to the number of Liberals we elect — net zero.

The Trudeau government’s supposedly national carbon tax carve-out applies only to homes heated with oil, which creates much more pollution than natural gas. Why is your government discriminating against the Saskatchewan people when we implemented cleaner energy 40 years ago?

Hon. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu: Senator Gold, my question is obviously for you.

A recent damning report by the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians reveals the alarming state of federal policing. According to the report, systemic weaknesses and poor resource management are undermining its ability to effectively protect Canadians against growing threats like violent extremism and cybercrime.

At a time when Canada is likely to be the target of terrorist threats, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or RCMP, appears to be bogged down by internal challenges. Governance was described as weak, and resources appear to be poorly distributed, with local police forces absorbing most of the budget to the detriment of crucial federal operations.

In this context, how does your government justify such turmoil in our national police force, a situation that undermines national interests? What immediate action does your government plan to take to rectify this situation in order to ensure that the RCMP is better equipped to deal with current and future threats to Canadian security?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you, Senator Boisvenu, for raising this important issue concerning the scope of the RCMP’s responsibilities.

The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians did indeed just publish a report that points to and sheds light on the following issue: How can we ensure that the RCMP can continue to protect Canadians from increasingly serious foreign — and perhaps even domestic — threats, while serving the public in several provinces and territories, the way that the Sûreté du Québec does in Quebec?

This is an important question being studied within the RCMP in an effort to maximize its effectiveness and meet the needs and desire of the provinces and territories to have better control over their police forces.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question and for your continued advocacy on this important issue. The government is still of the view that — as you mentioned — the Canadian Dental Care Plan is expected to roll out for those categories of eligible Canadians that you mentioned.

I have been informed that by 2025, the Canadian Dental Care Plan will be fully implemented to cover all who are eligible. Once fully implemented, the Canadian Dental Care Plan will support up to 9 million uninsured Canadians.

I’m told that there will be more information forthcoming and shared in the coming weeks. Given the scale and scope of this important program, the government is taking the time necessary to finalize all elements of the plan so that it is communicated clearly to Canadians.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you, Senator Batters. You have made me nostalgic for the good old days when there was a Progressive Conservative Party. But I digress.

Kudos to any government who took action and takes action to help its citizens transition to a cleaner, more sustainable economy, whether it is provincial, territorial, Indigenous or federal.

The fact remains that what you have termed the “carbon tax” — the price on pollution — continues to be and continues to be considered to be the most effective market-driven tool to create incentives for businesses and Canadians to make the change to a cleaner, more sustainable form of energy. It continues to be the centrepiece of this government’s environmental policy.

Hon. Leo Housakos: Senator Gold, Canada is providing financial aid to Gaza through a series of what the Trudeau government calls “trusted partners.” These are the same partners who operated in Gaza for years when Canadian aid ended up in the pockets of Hamas operatives. They include World Vision, whose manager of Gaza operations was convicted of funnelling millions of dollars of aid money and resources to Hamas. Yet here we are again sending Canadian financial aid — taxpayers’ money — to World Vision and other organizations.

My question is this: What measures have been put into place by this government to make sure that when Canadians’ hard-earned taxpayer money is sent to provide aid in Gaza or other areas of the world, that money doesn’t end up in the pockets of terrorist organizations like Hamas?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): It is my understanding, senator, that the Canadian aid, which is designed to assist the people in Gaza, is directed to organizations that are monitored and audited — that are monitored; I don’t want to use a technical term misleadingly — and that measures are in place to ensure, to the best of the government’s ability, that the funds are not diverted.

Hamas is a terrorist organization. It is a worldwide sponsor of terrorism. Its barbarity was celebrated by Hamas to the repulsion of all decent human beings. Canada provides aid to the citizens of Gaza who themselves are victims — and in many ways hostages — of this terrorist organization, and will continue to do so in pursuit of its humanitarian principles.

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Leader, the Trudeau government recently tried to hide why it wrote off hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ dollars, and who received the money. They finally admitted this loss relates to an unfulfilled contract with a Quebec company for COVID vaccines.

While that’s pretty bad, it is not the only example of this government hiding information about a massive loss of money. In the 2018-19 fiscal year, Export Development Canada wrote off $196 million, and the only thing that Global Affairs Canada said was that it was doing so in the best interests of Canada.

Leader, once again, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. If your government can provide basic information on one loss, why can’t they provide it on another?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): I’m not sure that there is anybody in this chamber who has any greater respect for former Justice Louise Arbour than me. We were colleagues and friends, and our relationship goes back half a lifetime.

However, as I have said in this chamber on many occasions in response to this question, the design that was chosen — notwithstanding the recommendation of the jury — was the one that the veterans and their families preferred and felt better honoured their role and, indeed, their sacrifice.

It is, I think, appropriate to underline that fact as we celebrate Veterans’ Week, and as we anticipate Remembrance Day. Let’s remember what this is supposed to honour. It is supposed to honour those men and women — those Canadians — who served and sacrificed. Their views counted in this decision, as they properly should have.

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): No, there are a number of other speakers on here —

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

As the government has stated, and as I have announced in this chamber, the loss to which you refer regarding the vaccines was a product of the precautions that the government took to ensure not only a safe supply of vaccines, but also the hope of developing a capacity in Canada to manufacture certain kinds of vaccines — it’s a capacity that, unfortunately, was lost in the past when previous governments made decisions that, at the time, seemed to be in the best interests of Canadians, but it left us without that capacity.