Pam Damoff

[Government Appointments, March 24th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak tonight on the matter of Senate appointments from the province of Alberta.

Let me start by saying that this government strives to appoint outstanding people who represent the diversity of this country. We are committed to vibrant and inclusive representation in the Senate. The Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments, established in 2016, plays an important role in ensuring representation by providing the Prime Minister with non-binding, non-partisan, merit-based recommendations for Senate appointments that meet a high standard of integrity and collaboration.

As members know, under Canada's Constitution, senators are appointed by the Governor General. By convention, the Governor General's power is exercised on the advice of the Prime Minister. One of the Senate's fundamental roles is to serve as a chamber for the representation of regional interests. This government believes that a less partisan Senate would be able to fulfill this role and other roles more effectively.

That is why, in 2016, the government introduced the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments to provide non-partisan, merit-based recommendations for Senate appointments for the Prime Minister's consideration. Moreover, in recognition of the important role the Senate plays in regional representation, the advisory board provides unprecedented and equal opportunity for all provinces and territories to participate by recommending individuals from their jurisdictions to serve. In fact, two of the five advisory board members are selected from the province or territory in which a vacancy arises. The provinces and territories are given an opportunity to engage in the process by providing a list of individuals for consideration as provincial or territorial members of the advisory board.

The advisory board for Alberta may consider the Senate election nominees against the established criteria for current or future vacancies. However, these individuals, the ones the hon. member spoke about tonight, like all others, would still need to formally apply through the online application process to be considered by the board as a potential candidate for an appointment to the Senate.

Canadians may also nominate an individual for a Senate appointment, though nominees would still need to submit their own application to be considered. This process is the same for everyone and everywhere across Canada, including Alberta. All applications are reviewed using the same assessment criteria, which are publicly available online. These include constitutional eligibility requirements, a range of merit-based criteria established by the government and additional considerations, such as gender, indigenous and minority representation and bilingualism, to ensure the Senate increasingly reflects Canada's diversity.

The government remains committed to the non-partisan and merit-based Senate appointment process in place, and we are confident this process will continue to result in a less partisan and more effective institution to serve Canadians. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments for its continued work in the service of parliamentary democracy on behalf of all Canadians.

[Public Safety, March 23rd, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to extend to the hon. member my condolences and those of every member in this House. We thank the RCMP members who go to work every day to protect Canadians and keep us safe.

No one should go work and not expect to come home safely. I appreciate the member's comments in the House today and I will follow up with him.

[Labour, March 22nd, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I had an opportunity to visit the prison farm at Collins Bay. I know what a tremendous organization is there. I will check into that matter for the hon. member and I will respond to him.

[Royal Canadian Mounted Police, March 21st, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I want to make it clear that the Government of Canada remains committed to the public safety of all Canadians across the country and remains proud of the services the RCMP provides to our contract police jurisdiction partners. The agreement was fair for our hard-working RCMP members and for Canadian taxpayers.

To reiterate, we appreciate the financial planning challenges and the complexity of the implementation of the collective agreement, and we are mindful of the significant cost this represents for municipalities, provinces and territories. The Government of Canada remains steadfast in our commitment to continue our strong collaboration with our contract partners, with a view to supporting their ability to meet their financial obligations under the contracts.

[Royal Canadian Mounted Police, March 21st, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to address this historic first collective agreement for Royal Canadian Mounted Police members.

Let me begin by saying that there is no greater responsibility for the Government of Canada than to keep our citizens and communities safe. RCMP members continue to play a primary role for Canadians in supporting this objective. The RCMP provides policing services across Canada, including much of rural Canada, all of the Canadian north and many towns and large urban centres. It delivers local and regional policing services under a contracted cost-sharing agreement with jurisdictions that have opted to have the RCMP as their police service of jurisdiction. They include all provinces except Ontario and Quebec, as well as the three territories and 155 municipalities.

The Government of Canada shares the cost of RCMP contract policing by paying 10% of salary, equipment and other costs in large municipalities and 30% of these costs in municipalities with a population of less than 15,000. This collective agreement between the Government of Canada and the National Police Federation, the bargaining agent for RCMP members, went into effect on August 6, 2021. It provided a reasonable economic increase and market adjustments to address long-standing wage differences that existed between RCMP members and reservists and other police services across Canada. As a result of the agreement, RCMP salaries are now in line with those of other police services across Canada.

The agreement marked the first time that RCMP members received a pay increase since 2017. Government officials kept partners informed throughout the collective bargaining process starting in 2017, including on anticipated salary increases, to help them plan accordingly. However, the Government of Canada is mindful that policing represents a significant cost for all communities, including municipalities that contract RCMP police services. We have heard the calls from municipalities that the cost of the agreement, while fair for regular members, presents challenges. For this reason, our government remains committed to continuing to meet with contract policing partners in order to effectively implement the collective agreement. In the coming weeks, officials will sit down with jurisdictions to discuss the impacts of the agreement and their specific needs.

The women and men of the RCMP work tirelessly to serve and protect Canadians, including those in rural areas, and for this I thank them wholeheartedly. Our partnerships with all contract jurisdictions to support the RCMP in the communities they police are strong. In these challenging times, our government remains committed to working closely with contract partners, and indeed with all provinces, territories and municipalities, to achieve our shared public safety priorities. We will listen and be there for all communities to support them in ensuring that the public remains safe and secure.

[Questions on the Order Paper, March 21st, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, with the coming into force of the National Security Act, 2017, on June 13, 2019, Parliament provided CSIS with the authority to collect and retain datasets relevant to its mandate while implementing appropriate measures to ensure the privacy of Canadians.

As part of these measures, the Minister of Public Safety must determine annually, by order, the classes of Canadian datasets that the service may collect under section 11.05 of the CSIS Act. The minister may determine that a class of Canadian datasets is authorized to be collected only if the querying or exploitation of any dataset in the class could lead to results that are relevant to the performance of CSIS’s duties and functions. This includes the ability to collect intelligence regarding threats to the security of Canada, to take measures to reduce threats to the security of Canada or to collect foreign intelligence within Canada. This decision must then be reviewed and approved by the intelligence commissioner, or IC, before it can take effect.

In 2019, the Minister of Public Safety issued an order determining four classes of Canadian datasets. The IC found the minister’s conclusions to be reasonable and consequently approved the determination of these four classes. The titles of these classes of Canadian datasets are classified and have not been released publicly. In 2021, the minister again determined the same four classes with minor adjustments, to respond to recommendations from the IC. Again, in 2022, the minister issued a determination for these same four classes of Canadian datasets, which the IC again found to be reasonable. None of these determinations have ever been refused or rescinded by the minister or the IC.

CSIS is working closely with the Department of Justice to ensure correct implementation of the requirements of this new and complex authority. The service is working cautiously to implement the framework, which is built upon layers of oversight and review to ensure the privacy interests of Canadians are adequately protected as it fulfills its national security mandate

[Public Safety, March 21st, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, we know that protecting communities from gun violence requires a comprehensive and effective strategy to protect communities, not just in Montreal but across the country.

Our position is clear. One of those actions we have taken is that we have said assault-style firearms have no place in Canada. Through a mandatory buyback program, we will remove the threat these deadly firearms pose to our communities from coast to coast to coast.

[Public Safety, March 21st, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, we absolutely take this crisis seriously. We know there are many prongs to solving the issue of guns and gangs.

That is why, just last week, the Minister of Public Safety was in Quebec, speaking with organizations, and announced funding for communities, for municipalities and for indigenous groups to deal with the scourge of guns and gangs.

[Public Safety, March 21st, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, our government is firmly committed to building safer communities.

To reduce gun crime, we must address social conditions that lead youth to join gangs. We are working closely with municipalities and indigenous communities to provide $250 million over five years to bolster gang prevention and intervention programming. By investing in community programming, we will stop the cycle of gun and gang violence, and prevent youth from enduring a life of crime.

[International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, March 21st, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians should be able to live a true and authentic life, free from violence and discrimination, no matter who they are, where they live or how they appear. Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. We know that the elimination of racial discrimination is not confined to 24 hours on March 21, but is required 24-7, 365 days a year.

Nelson Mandela shared the following truth many years ago, which I would like to highlight today. He said, “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of [their] skin, [their] background, or [their] religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

Let us keep raising our voices, bringing down the towers of oppression, and keep doing the right thing for generations of the past, present and future.