QUESTION PERIOD — Privy Council Office
Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (Senate)
December 7, 2021
Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate, and I’ll begin, Senator Gold, by offering my sincere congratulations because I know you just received a new parliamentary secretary representing you over on the other side of the house, the lower chamber.
Colleagues, for those of you who don’t know, on Friday the Prime Minister appointed Liberal MP Mark Gerretsen as the parliamentary secretary to Senator Gold. Leader, is this an entirely new creation? There has never been a parliamentary secretary, to my knowledge, stylized this way, and it appears to again acknowledge the fact that the Trudeau government has sort of raised their hands in the air, not knowing what to do with this new reformed Senate.
The truth of the matter is, Senator Gold, we talk about independence, yet never before have we seen this type of relationship between a government representative/government leader and a parliamentary secretary.
What exactly is MP Gerretsen’s responsibility under his new position? Wouldn’t it have been a lot easier, government leader, if you were allowed to represent this august chamber in the governing national caucus? Wouldn’t it have been even easier if you were allowed to take your rightful place as a member of the Privy Council sitting at the cabinet table so you can give us timely answers to our questions?
I was raised to always give gifts back when I’m offered one, so let me congratulate you on being consistent for the last five years in attempting to delegitimize the new and less partisan independent Senate. With all due respect, the fact is that your characterization of the reasons for which the parliamentary secretary was named — and it is indeed an innovation — have it completely backwards.
This is an indication of the importance that this government attaches to its relationship with the Senate. It’s a recognition that there is still work to be done — and this is not at all to visit this upon the honourable senator opposite — for all members of Parliament, whether in the Senate and certainly in the House of Commons, to recognize that the Senate has changed and that the Senate needs to be thought of in a different, more consistent and coherent way in the other place.
The parliamentary secretary, who I will have the pleasure to work with is part of a growing team of ministers who understand the value that the Senate brings and the work that it does and will continue to do. I’m proud to represent this government in this chamber and to be part of the process of modernization and growing independence of this chamber. It serves Canadians well.
The time for Question Period has expired.
