Senator Rose-May Poirier

Senator Poirier: Thank you for being with us. It’s really nice to be able to talk to you this evening about topics that are important to us. You’ve been the Commissioner of Official Languages for about three years. As we begin our study on health care services in official language minority communities, what do you see as the greatest challenge for Acadian communities with respect to health care services? Also, how could the federal government help address this challenge? I would also like to m…

Senator Poirier: Thank you to all the witnesses for being with us this evening. My question is for Mr. Désilets and concerns the consultation between the Société Santé en français, the French-language health networks and the federal government. Are you satisfied with the consultation mechanisms in place? Are they effective? Do they need to be improved and if so, by what means? Mr. Désilets: Thank you for the question. I think that the consultation mechanisms are quite effective. The last consul…

Senator Poirier: Thank you again for being here with us. I have a question, but I would also like to follow up on something. It was noted that the pool or number of bilingual employees has decreased. When a person in a bilingual position retires, are efforts made to replace that position or to place new employees in bilingual positions in order to maintain the same percentage? Ms. Fortier: As to recruitment in the public service, I can obviously say that a great deal of effort is made to ensure…

Senator Poirier: Thank you all for being here. A lot of my questions have been addressed to a certain point. I’m just going to add on a little bit extra to each one. First, I’m going to go back to the discussion we just had a few minutes ago on one of the questions my colleague Senator Wells had talked about: The problem where it looks like some people own the licence, but in reality, they don’t own the licence; somebody else owns it. Can you please clarify, as far as you’re concerned, will Bil…

Senator Poirier: Again, thank you all for being here. My first question is for Manitoba Hydro. Mr. Swanson, in your presentation, you say the water flow provision could result in increased costs over time — in the order of $3 billion — to Manitoba Hydro customers due to the loss generation and new infrastructure requirement. What is the new infrastructure requirement that you are talking about? Could you elaborate a bit? Mr. Swanson: I will first qualify and say I’m not a resource planner fro…

Senator Poirier: Thank you all for being here. We have also heard from other groups some of the concerns we’re hearing from you. I have a couple of questions. If I go overboard, the chair will probably stop me, I’m assuming. The Chair: Advise you. Senator Poirier: Advise me. My first question is for Ms. Jackson. In your brief you mention that the expansion of the definition of fish habitat was done without any consultations or engagement from stakeholders. Were you given a reason why you wer…

Senator Poirier: Thank you to all the witnesses for being here. My question is for Professor Frankel. In your remarks, you recommended that the act should require an appeal mechanism and guarantee that appellants be provided with resources to support filing and arguing their appeals. Applying for disability supports and appealing decisions is often heavy. Given your experience, I’m wondering if there is a Canadian or international example of jurisdictions that are doing a good job of supportin…

Senator Poirier: Thank you, Mr. Seeback. Unfortunately, I wasn’t here the first time, but I did follow and read everything that went on at that time. An issue with the bill is the implementation of it, or the lack of, by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, or IRCC, thus far. It has been disappointing to see them not get any work done on the ministerial instructions since July. If this bill is to be adopted, can you explain the implementation process, and would it put the wheels in mot…

Senator Poirier: Thank you all for being here. My question is a bit more straightforward. You received a ministerial instruction last July to facilitate entry for a super visa, which includes having a company outside of Canada providing this private medical insurance. Is it the same clause as in Bill C-242? How long would it take your department to implement the ministerial instruction, and what are the current obstacles preventing the implementation of that clause? Mr. Shankar: Thank you for…