Senate.

• Author: Moss-Norbury, Vanessa
• Position: Legislative Reports

Of particular importance to the Senate of Canada in recent months has been the implementation of a revised version of the Rules of the Senate, which came into effect on September 17, 2012. Adopted by the Senate on June 19, 2012, after several years of study in the Standing Committee on Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament, and after a comprehensive examination by a Committee of the Whole, where amendments were proposed and adopted, the revised rules aim to clarify the Rules and to make them easier to use. The chapters are now separated into distinct subjects. For instance, all the rules relating to debate can be found in the same chapter, and all the rules pertaining to time allocation are in another chapter. This reorganization is complemented by a new numbering system that makes rules easier to locate, with each rule identified with the number of its chapter. For example, Chapter 4 deals with the order of business, and the first order of business is Prayers. Therefore, the rule pertaining to prayers is rule 4-1.

Another purpose of the revisions was to make certain clarifications to the Rules while avoiding significant changes. Most changes simply reflect current practice. One such clarification negates the need to pass a motion at the beginning of each session to allow committees the permission to broadcast their proceedings. This permission is now included in the revised Rules (see rule 14-7(2)). An additional new feature of the revised Rules is the use of constitutional and statutory references as well as lists of exceptions to any particular rule. One of the effects of the revised Rules that will be most evident is the reorganization of the Order Paper and Notice Paper, to make it easier to follow the progress of proceedings.

Legislation

The spring and summer sittings of Parliament brought a heavy legislative agenda to the Senate. Fifteen government bills, seven Senate public bills, eleven Commons public bills, one private bill and two proposals for user fees were introduced and/or considered by the Senate. Of the bills that received Royal Assent during this period, eleven were proposed by the Government, four were Commons Public Bills and one was a Private Bill. One of the bills of note included Bill C-11, An Act to amend the Copyright Act, which aimed, amongst other things, to modernize the Copyright Act to bring it in line with advances in technology and international standards. Another significant bill that was considered...