QUESTION PERIOD — Canadian Heritage
Anti-Racism Strategy
May 19, 2022
Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate. Senator Gold, despite promising this past February that no more public funds will be risked on the Trans Mountain pipeline, the cabinet has approved another $10-billion loan guarantee for this project. At the same time, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination issued a letter in April 2022 urging Canada to stop construction of the TMX and the Coastal GasLink pipeline over concerns about Indigenous people’s rights.
Senator Gold, please justify continuing to back this project in light of being misaligned with our climate commitments and contradictory to the government’s commitments to reconciliation?
Thank you for your question. The government does not intend to be the long-term owner of the Trans Mountain Expansion Project, and the government will divest its ownership in a way and at a time that benefits all Canadians. The government, indeed, announced that no additional public money will be spent on the project and that Trans Mountain Corporation would secure the necessary funding from third-party sources to complete the project.
I’m advised, colleagues, that the corporation has now secured third-party financing with a group of Canadian financial institutions, and this will be used to fund the project construction costs. As part of this process, the government is providing a loan guarantee to the participating financial institutions, and this is a well-known practice for projects of this size. It does not reflect any new public spending.
This project is in the national interest, and it will make Canada and the Canadian economy more sovereign and more resilient. In that regard, and in all respects, the government remains committed to having good energy projects that fit in with our climate plan.
This is now the third letter from the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Canada is late submitting its twenty-first to twenty-third combined periodic report to the committee, which was due last year. Does the government plan to respond to these letters and fulfil its reporting commitments?
I thank the honourable senator for the question.
The government condemns racism in all its forms and recognizes and understands the importance of combatting systemic racism and discrimination in Canada and, indeed, has taken concrete steps over the past years to address these issues. In the last two years alone, the government has committed close to $100 million through Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy, including $70 million to support community organizations across Canada addressing issues of anti-racism and multiculturalism. Budget 2022 will invest $85 million to support the work under way to launch a new anti-racism strategy and national action plan on combatting hate.
With regard to the specifics of your question, I will make inquiries with the government and hope to report back to the chamber in a timely fashion.
