Senator Gold: As I tried to explain in my discussion of the Charter, the position of the government is that it is not discriminatory because the nature of the cases is different. When there is a grievous and irremediable physical condition, whether or not it’s accompanied by a mental disorder, that is a qualitatively different kind of assessment, it is submitted, than if someone is presenting only with a mental disorder as the underlying condition.

The suffering is the same. The desire for access to MAID is the same, but the actual assessment is going to be done differently because, unless I am incorrect, I believe that those who qualify for MAID under Track 2 — or Track 1, for that matter — are qualifying because of the irremediable physical disability or ailment, and not because they have, as some do, though not all do, a mental disorder that accompanies it.

Senator Kutcher: Thank you so much for your contribution to the debate. It’s very appreciated, and I do appreciate the consistency in your position. I don’t agree with it, but I appreciate your consistency.

You talked about necessity for medical consensus before we allowed medical assistance in dying for a sole mental disorder, but we are all aware that there is no medical consistency on MAID itself. In fact, we have heard lots of testimony in our committees that there are lots of physicians in the palliative care community who don’t want MAID and say it’s bad and to forget it. There’s no consensus.

How can we allow MAID for people with a physical illness when there’s no consensus but deny people with a mental illness when there’s no consensus?

[Translation]

Hon. Iris G. Petten: Honourable senators, sealing has been a vital industry in Newfoundland and Labrador for centuries. To the Labrador Inuit in particular, the seal was, until recently, a staple component of a way of life. The meat was eaten or fed to the dogs, the fat was rendered into oil for light and food, the skin was used for clothing, boots and a myriad of other purposes in addition to trade with European merchants. The demand for seal products led to the development of both inshore and offshore fisheries, driving economic growth.

In 1965, Canada initiated its first seal protection regulations requiring humane harvesting practices and licensing for all harvesters, alongside increased monitoring efforts by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The government later implemented a seal harvest management plan with continued emphasis on sustainability, scientific oversight and humane practices, reflecting a commitment to the integral role of the seal harvest in a rural economy with zero tolerance for any inhumane practices.

Issues such as seal overpopulation is more and more in the news as of late. We know that the excessive numbers of pinnipeds along Canada’s three coastlines are not only creating an imbalance within our marine ecosystems, but it is also causing detrimental effects on the health and conservation of fish stocks.

I recently heard from a community member who said that this issue has two dimensions of equal importance. First is the survival and continuance of properly managed fur, sealing and fishing industries, thus ensuring the ability of rural communities to succeed. Then there is the issue of destroying the propaganda that has defined us as murderers and, somehow, a lesser people — this message really struck me.

We are also just under a month away from what some refer to as the “International Day of Action Against Canadian Seal Hunting.” Just the name of this day demonstrates the need to work together to ensure disinformation, as it relates to the sealing industry, is being countered at all levels of government. Let us fight these misleading campaigns with educational campaigns. Let us promote Canadian seal products as the sustainable, high‑quality and eco-friendly options that they are, including for omega-3 oil, meat, accessories and more.

The harmful rhetoric spread by some organizations cannot be permitted to be the only voice on national and international stages. We must unite our voices in support of our fisheries from coast to coast to coast. Thank you.

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Point of order, please. I would like Senator Gold to read that Notice of Motion in English. The translation was very poor at the start of it, and I could not understand.

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Government leader, my question concerns, again, the failed $60 million “ArriveScam” app. Last week, two senior officials who have been suspended in relation to the “ArriveScam” told a committee of the other place that there is an ongoing cover-up related to this scandal.

Liberal MPs have shut down committee meetings into “ArriveScam,” including a meeting last fall, just as the Auditor General was about to testify. Last week, Liberal MPs filibustered a motion to compel the two-man GC Strategies to appear before the committee or face arrest by the Sergeant-at-Arms.

The Trudeau government is certainly acting like it has something to hide — is it not, leader? Who gave the order to shut down the meetings and stall for time? I want the name, please.

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Honourable senators, I give notice that, at the next sitting of the Senate, I will move:

That, notwithstanding the order adopted by the Senate on September 21, 2022, the sitting of Wednesday, February 28, 2024, continue beyond 4 p.m., if Government Business is not completed, and adjourn at the earlier of the completion of Government Business or midnight; and

That the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade be authorized to meet after 4 p.m. on that day for the purpose of considering Bill C-57, An Act to implement the 2023 Free Trade Agreement between Canada and Ukraine, even though the Senate may then be sitting, with rule 12-18(1) being suspended in relation thereto.

[English]

Hon. Leo Housakos: Senator Gold, we heard more explosive evidence on “ArriveScam” last week at a House of Commons committee.

Thank God for the Conservative opposition for trying to hold this government to account. For that matter, thank God for the Conservative opposition in this new independent Senate. It seems this is the only group who is really preoccupied by “ArriveScam.” We’re the only ones asking any questions of you.

Last week, the committee heard again from the only two senior bureaucrats involved with this faulty and fraudulent scheme that the chief technology officer, Minh Doan — who oversaw the whole thing — deleted tens of thousands of emails related to “ArriveScam.” Yet, he received a promotion within your government, and the two whistle-blowers are the only two people who suffered consequences. That’s how much you care about getting to the bottom of these allegations or innuendoes, or whatever you call them. Why is that, Senator Gold? Why is your government protecting Minh Doan? Is it because he was following the instructions of the Trudeau government, and now you don’t want him to point fingers back at this government?

Hon. Yuen Pau Woo: Senator Gold, it has been a month since the International Court of Justice, or ICJ, asked Israel to ensure that humanitarian relief be provided to Palestinians in Gaza. It has also been about a month since any meaningful amount of relief entered Gaza. Senator Gold, what is Canada doing to ensure that we’re not complicit in any finding of genocide or war crimes that the ICJ and its sister organization, the International Criminal Court, are currently investigating?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. The government is not trying to hide anything, senator. The reason given by the members — at the time — is that the meeting was shut down because there was information that they felt would compromise the ongoing investigations.

I will remind senators in this chamber that since these allegations came to the attention of the government, it has taken appropriate steps to get to the bottom of what has been a very regrettable, unfortunate and unacceptable set of situations. That includes ongoing investigations within the Canada Border Services Agency, or CBSA, and the suspension of contracts with a number of companies that have been implicated, as well as ongoing RCMP investigations. The government will continue to make sure these unacceptable procurement practices, and the reasons for them, are brought to light.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Canada is not complicit, and I don’t accept the premises of some of the ways in which our international judicial system is being used.

Canada — the Minister of Foreign Affairs — is in regular contact with its counterparts in the G7. Indeed, the minister has just come back from meetings with leaders in all the neighbouring Arab countries, and is working with our allies and Arab states toward enhancing the humanitarian aid, as well as working toward an arrangement whereby the hostages would be released and hostilities would cease. Canada is doing its part to provide relief to all citizens in that region.

Hon. Kim Pate: Senator Gold, Correctional Service Canada received funding in Budget 2018 that it told our Social Affairs Committee was to increase the number of external mental health beds in community hospitals and mental health facilities to which prisoners can be transferred to receive the health care they need. Now, more than five years later, Correctional Service Canada has revealed to at least three Senate committees that, in fact, no new beds were created. Despite promises to provide written answers to the National Finance Committee by December, as well as to the Legal Committee, Correctional Service Canada has failed to clarify how it actually spent some $46 million in allocations, with additional amounts ongoing.

Will you please commit to providing a response regarding how the missing amount was spent?

Hon. Yonah Martin (Deputy Leader of the Opposition): My question also concerns the $60 million “ArriveScam” app, specifically the deleted emails. On Friday, the Information Commissioner issued a statement that says:

Based on allegations related to the destruction of records that were the subject of access to information requests, the Information Commissioner of Canada has initiated an investigation into matters related to requesting and obtaining access to records regarding ArriveCAN between March 2020 and February 23, 2024.

Leader, that’s almost four years’ worth of emails which have allegedly disappeared. Based on the statement, the commissioner appears to have launched the latest investigation into “ArriveScam” on her own accord. Why didn’t the Trudeau government ask her to investigate?

Hon. Claude Carignan: My question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate. Last week, we learned that another company, with just two employees, was awarded $7.9 million in contracts to develop the notorious ArriveCAN app. Can the leader explain how two people can be awarded $7.9 million in contracts?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): The answer is no, I have no explanation. That’s why the contracts of several companies involved in the development of ArriveCAN have been suspended. It’s also why an investigation is under way within the department to shed some light on what happened. If any illegal activity is found to have taken place, a police investigation will follow.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): I’m not in a position to answer that question. I think the government is pleased that the investigation is under way, as it is with all the other investigations. Once again, colleagues, politics aside, the situation that we now understand took place with the development of ArriveCAN had so many problems and flaws, as the Auditor General properly pointed out in her report, including lack of documentation, which makes it even harder — impossible, in some cases — for her to get to the bottom of the matter.

These are things that should never have happened and will not happen again if all the measures that are put into place are followed through as they should be.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question. It is important to point out that Canada has one of the largest budgets of the 31-member defence alliance; I believe we rank seventh in terms of contributions. As you know, the government increased its spending by more than 70% as part of its 2017 defence policy. Over the past year, Canada has shown that it is ready to go even further.

Rest assured that Canada will continue to increase its military capacity to meet the challenges of today’s world and invest in modern equipment for its armed forces.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. Senator and colleagues, it’s important to note that more than half of all the plastic waste thrown out in Canada is from packaging, and most of it ends up in a landfill, incinerators or in the environment, whether on land or in the sea. While plastics, of course, play an important role in the everyday lives of Canadians, getting rid of problematic plastic food packaging, replacing single-use packaging with reuse-refill systems and ensuring that plastics — when and if needed — are designed to be safely reused, recycled or composted, can help Canada move towards zero plastic waste for the benefit of our environment.

Hon. Clément Gignac: Last week, some of my colleagues and I were at NATO headquarters in Brussels for the annual meetings with the parliamentary associations of NATO countries. It would appear as though 19 of the 32 member countries will meet the required defence spending target of 2% of GDP in 2024. With a rate of 1.38% of GDP, it seems as though Canada is still far from meeting the required minimum target.

In an interview last Tuesday with the Canadian channel CTV, NATO’s Secretary General said that he was still waiting for Canada to give him a date as to when it expects to meet its commitment. The U.S. ambassador to NATO added that Canada is the only member country that has not committed by providing a timeline.

On this historic day marking Sweden’s accession to NATO, when does your government intend to honour its commitment to our allies?