The Members convened were:

The Honourable Senators

AndersonArnotAtaullahjanAucoinAudetteBattersBellemareBernardBlackBoehmBoisvenuBonifaceBoyerBureyBussonCardozoCarignanClementCordyCormierCotterCoyleCuznerDagenaisDalphondDaskoDeacon (Nova Scotia)Deacon (Ontario)DeanDowneDuncanDupuisForestFrancisGagnéGalvezGerbaGignacGoldHarderHartlingHousakosKingstonKutcherLaBoucane-BensonLankinLoffredaMarshallMartinMassicotteMcCallumMcNairMcPhedranMégieMiville-DechêneMocklerMoncionMoodieOhOmidvarOslerPatePatterson (Nunavut)Patterson (Ontario)PetitclercPettenPlettPoirierProsperQuinnRavaliaRichardsRinguetteRossSaint-GermainSeidmanSimonsSmithSorensenTannasWallinWellsWhiteWooYussuff

The Members in attendance to business were:

The Honourable Senators

AndersonArnotAtaullahjanAucoinAudetteBattersBellemareBernardBlackBoehmBoisvenuBonifaceBoyerBureyBussonCardozoCarignanClementCordyCormierCotterCoyleCuznerDagenaisDalphondDaskoDeacon (Nova Scotia)Deacon (Ontario)DeanDowneDuncanDupuisForestFrancisGagnéGalvezGerbaGignacGoldHarderHartlingHousakosKingstonKutcherLaBoucane-BensonLankinLoffredaMarshallMartinMassicotteMcCallumMcNairMcPhedranMégieMiville-DechêneMocklerMoncionMoodieOhOmidvarOslerPatePatterson (Nunavut)Patterson (Ontario)PetitclercPettenPlettPoirierProsperQuinnRavaliaRichardsRinguetteRossSaint-GermainSeidmanSimonsSmithSorensenTannasWallinWellsWhiteWooYussuff

The first list records senators present in the Senate Chamber during the course of the sitting.

An asterisk in the second list indicates a senator who, while not present during the sitting, was in attendance to business, as defined in subsections 8(2) and (3) of the Senators Attendance Policy.

PRAYERS

Senators’ Statements

Some Honourable Senators made statements.

ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS

Tabling of Documents

The Honourable Senator LaBoucane-Benson, tabled the following:

Copy of the Commission appointing Richard Wagner Deputy of the Governor General, to do in Her Excellency’s name all acts on her part necessary to be done during Her Excellency’s pleasure, dated December 4, 2023.—Sessional Paper No. 1/44-2470S.

The said Commission is as follows:

MARY MAY SIMON

(L.S.)

By Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary May Simon, Chancellor and Principal Companion of the Order of Canada, Chancellor and Commander of the Order of Military Merit, Chancellor and Commander of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada.

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE RICHARD WAGNER, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada,

GREETING:

WHEREAS by letters patent under the Great Seal of Canada bearing date the eighth day of September in the year of Our Lord one thousand nine hundred and forty-seven, it is constituted, ordered and declared that there shall be a Governor General and Commander-in-Chief in and over Canada;

WHEREAS Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, by Commission under the Great Seal of Canada bearing date the twenty-first day of July in the year of Our Lord two thousand and twenty-one, was graciously pleased to appoint me, during the Royal Pleasure, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief in and over Canada, and has further, in and by that Commission, authorized, empowered and commanded me to exercise and perform all and singular the powers and directions contained in the said letters patent constituting the Office of the Governor General and Commander-in-Chief, and in any other letters patent adding to, amending or substituted for the same;

WHEREAS under the provisions in that behalf in the Constitution Act, 1867, in and by the said letters patent Her Excellency the Governor General for the time being is authorized and empowered subject to any limitations and directions from time to time expressed or given by His Majesty King Charles the Third to appoint any person or persons, jointly and severally, to be her Deputy or Deputies within any part or parts of Canada, and in that capacity to exercise, during the Royal Pleasure, such of her powers, functions and authorities as she might deem it necessary or expedient to assign to such person or persons, provided that the appointment of such Deputy or Deputies should not affect the exercise of any such power, authority or function by the Governor General and Commander-in-Chief in person;

AND WHEREAS, I deem it necessary and expedient with a view to preventing delay in the performance of the public business and affairs of Canada to appoint some fit and proper person to be my Deputy within Canada for the purposes hereinafter mentioned;

KNOW YOU that being well assured of your loyalty, fidelity and capacity, I, the Right Honourable Mary May Simon, Governor General of Canada, under and by virtue of and in pursuance of the power and authority vested in me by the Commission of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, under the Great Seal of Canada, dated the twenty-first day of July in the year of Our Lord two thousand and twenty-one, constituting and appointing me to be the Governor General of Canada do nominate, constitute and appoint you, Richard Wagner, to be my Deputy within Canada, to be styled Deputy to the Governor General, whether I be absent from Canada or not, and in that capacity and when directed by me, to exercise, subject to any limitations and directions from time to time expressed or given by His Majesty King Charles the Third, all the powers, authorities and functions vested in and of right exercisable by me as Governor General, saving and excepting the powers of dissolving, recalling or proroguing the Parliament of Canada.

PROVIDED ALWAYS that the appointment of my Deputy shall not affect the exercise of any such power, authority or function by me, the Right Honourable Mary May Simon, in person.

AND PROVIDED ALWAYS that you, Richard Wagner, shall during your continuance as my Deputy obey all such orders and instructions as you shall from time to time receive from me or the person administering the Government of Canada.

GIVEN under my hand and seal at Ottawa, this fourth day of December in the year of Our Lord two thousand and twenty-three and in the second year of His Majesty King Charles the Third’s Reign.

BY COMMAND,

Deputy Registrar General of Canada

o o o

The Honourable Senator LaBoucane-Benson, tabled the following:

Copy of the Commission appointing Kenneth MacKillop Deputy of the Governor General, to do in Her Excellency’s name all acts on her part necessary to be done during Her Excellency’s pleasure, dated November 28, 2023.—Sessional Paper No. 1/44-2471S.

The said Commission is as follows:

MARY MAY SIMON

(L.S.)

By Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary May Simon, Chancellor and Principal Companion of the Order of Canada, Chancellor and Commander of the Order of Military Merit, Chancellor and Commander of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada.

TO KENNETH MacKILLOP, of Ottawa, in the Province of Ontario,

GREETING:

WHEREAS by letters patent under the Great Seal of Canada bearing date the eighth day of September in the year of Our Lord one thousand nine hundred and forty-seven, it is constituted, ordered and declared that there shall be a Governor General and Commander-in-Chief in and over Canada;

WHEREAS Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, by Commission under the Great Seal of Canada bearing date the twenty-first day of July in the year of Our Lord two thousand and twenty-one, was graciously pleased to appoint me, during the Royal Pleasure, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief in and over Canada, and has further, in and by that Commission, authorized, empowered and commanded me to exercise and perform all and singular the powers and directions contained in the said letters patent constituting the Office of the Governor General and Commander-in-Chief, and in any other letters patent adding to, amending or substituted for the same;

WHEREAS under and pursuant to the provisions in that behalf in the Constitution Act, 1867, in and by the said letters patent Her Excellency the Governor General for the time being is authorized and empowered subject to any limitations and directions from time to time expressed or given by His Majesty Charles the Third to appoint any person or persons, jointly and severally, to be her Deputy or Deputies within any part or parts of Canada, and in that capacity to exercise, during the Royal Pleasure, such of her powers, functions and authorities as she might deem it necessary or expedient to assign to such person or persons, provided that the appointment of such Deputy or Deputies should not affect the exercise of any such power, authority or function by the Governor General and Commander-in-Chief in person;

AND WHEREAS, I deem it necessary and expedient with a view to preventing delay in the performance of the public business and affairs of Canada to appoint some fit and proper person to be my Deputy within Canada for the purposes hereinafter mentioned;

KNOW YOU that being well assured of your loyalty, fidelity and capacity, I, the Right Honourable Mary May Simon, Governor General of Canada, under and by virtue of and in pursuance of the power and authority vested in me by the Commission of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, under the Great Seal of Canada, dated the twenty-first day of July in the year of Our Lord two thousand and twenty-one, constituting and appointing me to be the Governor General of Canada do nominate, constitute and appoint you, Kenneth MacKillop, to be my Deputy within Canada, to be styled Deputy to the Governor General, whether I be absent from Canada or not, and in that capacity and when directed by me, to exercise, subject to any limitations and directions from time to time expressed or given by His Majesty Charles the Third, all the powers, authorities and functions vested in and of right exercisable by me as Governor General, saving and excepting the powers of dissolving, recalling or proroguing the Parliament of Canada, of appointing members of the Ministry and of signifying Royal Assent in Parliament assembled.

PROVIDED ALWAYS that the appointment of my Deputy shall not affect the exercise of any such power, authority or function by me, the Right Honourable Mary May Simon, in person.

AND PROVIDED ALWAYS that you, Kenneth MacKillop, shall during your continuance as my Deputy obey all such orders and instructions as you shall from time to time receive from me or the person administering the Government of Canada.

GIVEN under my hand and seal at Ottawa, this twenty-eighth day of November in the year of Our Lord two thousand and twenty-three and in the second year of His Majesty Charles the Third’s Reign.

BY COMMAND,

Deputy Registrar General of Canada

o o o

The Honourable Senator LaBoucane-Benson tabled the following:

Charter Statement prepared by the Minister of Justice in relation to Bill S-15, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act, pursuant to the Department of Justice Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. J-2, sbs. 4.2(1).—Sessional Paper No. 1/44-2472.

Presenting or Tabling Reports from Committees

The Honourable Senator Omidvar presented the following:

Monday, December 11, 2023

The Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology has the honour to present its

EIGHTEENTH REPORT

Your committee, to which was referred Bill S-244, An Act to amend the Department of Employment and Social Development Act and the Employment Insurance Act (Employment Insurance Council), has, in obedience to the order of reference of June 13, 2023, examined the said bill and now reports the same with the following amendment:

1.Clause 4, page 4: Add the following after line 37:

“(6.1) The Council must hold at least three meetings every year.”.

Respectfully submitted,

The Honourable Senator Omidvar moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Clement, that the report be placed on the Orders of the Day for consideration at the next sitting.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

o o o

The Honourable Senator Ataullahjan, Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights, informed the Senate that, pursuant to the orders adopted by the Senate on March 3, 2022, and October 26, 2023, the committee deposited with the Clerk of the Senate on December 11, 2023, its seventh report (interim) entitled Anti-Black Racism, Sexism and Systemic Discrimination in the Canadian Human Rights Commission.—Sessional Paper No. 1/44-2464S.

The Honourable Senator Ataullahjan moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Marshall, that the report be placed on the Orders of the Day for consideration at the next sitting.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

Introduction and First Reading of Government Bills

A message was brought from the House of Commons with Bill C-60, An Act for granting to His Majesty certain sums of money for the federal public administration for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, to which it desires the concurrence of the Senate.

The bill was read the first time.

With leave of the Senate,

The Honourable Senator Gold, P.C., moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator LaBoucane-Benson, that the bill be placed on the Orders of the Day for a second reading at the next sitting.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

Question Period

The Senate proceeded to Question Period.

DEFERRED VOTES

Pursuant to the order adopted by the Senate on December 7, 2023, the Senate proceeded to the taking of the deferred standing vote on the motion in amendment of the Honourable Senator Woo, to the motion of the Honourable Senator Wells, seconded by the Honourable Senator Batters, for the third reading of Bill C-234, An Act to amend the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, as amended.

The question being put on the motion in amendment of the Honourable Senator Woo, seconded by the Honourable Senator Cotter:

That Bill C-234, as amended, be not now read a third time, but that it be further amended, in clause 2 (as amended by the decision of the Senate on December 5, 2023):

(a) on page 2, by replacing line 23 with the following:

“into force on the day that is the third anniversary”;

(b) on page 3, by replacing line 6 with the following:

“third anniversary of the day on which this Act”.

The motion in amendment was adopted on the following vote:

YEAS

The Honourable Senators

AucoinAudetteBellemareBernardBoehmBonifaceBoyerCardozoClementCordyCormierCoyleCuznerDalphondDaskoDeanDupuisForestGalvezGerbaGignacGoldHarderHartlingKingstonKutcherLaBoucane-BensonLankinLoffredaMassicotteMcNairMégieMiville-DechêneMoncionMoodieOmidvarPatePetitclercPettenRinguetteSaint-GermainWhiteWooYussuff—44

NAYS

The Honourable Senators

AndersonArnotAtaullahjanBattersBlackBoisvenuBureyBussonCarignanCotterDagenaisDeacon (Nova Scotia)Deacon (Ontario)DowneDuncanFrancisHousakosMarshallMartinMcCallumMcPhedranMocklerOhOslerPatterson (Nunavut)Patterson (Ontario)PlettPoirierProsperQuinnRavaliaRichardsRossSeidmanSimonsSmithSorensenTannasWallinWells—40

ABSTENTIONS

The Honourable Senators

Nil

MESSAGES FROM THE HOUSE OF COMMONS

A message was brought from the House of Commons with Bill C-56, An Act to amend the Excise Tax Act and the Competition Act, to which it desires the concurrence of the Senate.

The bill was read the first time.

The Honourable Senator Gold, P.C., moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator LaBoucane-Benson, that the bill be placed on the Orders of the Day for a second reading two days hence.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

Orders of the Day

Government Business

Motions

The Honourable Senator LaBoucane-Benson moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Gold, P.C.:

That, notwithstanding the order adopted by the Senate on September 21, 2022, the sitting of Wednesday, December 13, 2023, continue beyond 4 p.m., if Government Business is not completed, and continue until the earlier of:

(a)the end of Government Business;

(b)the adoption of a motion to adjourn the Senate; or

(c)midnight;

That, on Wednesday, December 13, 2023, Senate committees be authorized to meet for the purposes of considering government legislation, even though the Senate may then be sitting, with rule 12-18(1) being suspended in relation thereto; and

That, on Monday, December 11, 2023, and Friday, December 15, 2023, once the Orders of the Day have been called, the Senate only deal with Government Business.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

Bills – Third Reading

Order No. 1 was called and postponed until the next sitting.

o o o

Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Yussuff, seconded by the Honourable Senator Duncan, for the third reading of Bill C-21, An Act to amend certain Acts and to make certain consequential amendments (firearms).

After debate,

In amendment, the Honourable Senator Carignan, P.C., moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Poirier:

That Bill C-21 be not now read a third time, but that it be amended on page 28 by adding the following after line 20:

“13.01 Section 231 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (6.2):

(6.3) Irrespective of whether a murder is planned and deliberate on the part of a person, murder is first degree murder when the death is caused by that person’s discharge of a firearm at or into a public place as defined in section 150.”.

After debate,

The question was put on the motion in amendment.

Pursuant to rule 9-10(2), a standing vote was deferred until 5:30 p.m. at the next sitting, with the bells to sound at 5:15 p.m. for fifteen minutes.

Bills – Second Reading

Orders No. 1 and 2 were called and postponed until the next sitting.

Reports of Committees – Other

Orders No. 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 were called and postponed until the next sitting.

Motions

Orders No. 1, 131, 132, 143 and 144 were called and postponed until the next sitting.

Inquiries

Orders No. 3, 4, 5 and 6 were called and postponed until the next sitting.

ADJOURNMENT

The Honourable Senator LaBoucane-Benson moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Gold, P.C.:

That the Senate do now adjourn.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

(Accordingly, at 7:54 p.m., the Senate was continued until tomorrow at 2 p.m.)

DOCUMENTS DEPOSITED WITH THE CLERK OF THE SENATE PURSUANT TO RULE 14-1(7)

Seventh report (interim) of the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights, entitled Anti-Black Racism, Sexism and Systemic Discrimination in the Canadian Human Rights Commission, deposited with the Clerk of the Senate on December 11, 2023, pursuant to the orders adopted by the Senate on March 3, 2022 and October 26, 2023.—Sessional Paper No. 1/44-2464S.

Annual Report of the Specific Claims Tribunal for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023, pursuant to the Specific Claims Tribunal Act, S.C. 2008, c. 22, s. 40.—Sessional Paper No. 1/44-2465.

Report on the administration and enforcement of the fisheries protection and pollution prevention provisions of the Fisheries Act for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022, pursuant to the Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. F-14, sbs. 42.1(1).—Sessional Paper No. 1/44-2466.

2030 Emissions Reduction Plan, pursuant to the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, S.C. 2021, c. 22, sbs. 18(1). —Sessional Paper No. 1/44-2467.

Reports by Federal Authorities with Obligations under Section 71 of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023, pursuant to the Act, S.C. 2012, c. 19, s. 52 “71(2)”.—Sessional Paper No. 1/44-2468.

Report on the comprehensive review of the implementation of the Eeyou Marine Region Land Claims Agreement, pursuant to the Eeyou Marine Region Land Claims Agreement Act, S.C. 2011, c. 20, s. 14(2).—Sessional Paper No. 1/44-2469.

Changes in Membership of Committees Pursuant to Rule 12-5

Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights

The Honourable Senator Pate replaced the Honourable Senator Hartling (December 8, 2023).

Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration

The Honourable Senator Francis was added to the membership (December 8, 2023).