The Senate.

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

The 2011 fall-winter period was an active one for the Senate, both in the Chamber and in committees. The Senate considered a substantial array of bills during this quarter, amongst them Bill C-20, An Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867, the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act and the Canada Elections Act, which proposed that the constitutional formula for allocating seats in the House of Commons among the provinces be based on estimates from the census. The Senate passed the bill without amendment after receiving testimony from 16 witnesses before the Legal and Constitutional Affairs committee and several hours of debate in the Chamber.

In total, ten pieces of government legislation were dealt with, of which seven received Royal Assent in November and December 2011. The Senate also studied several Senate public bills including two that were given third reading and sent to the House of Commons for consideration.

The Senate passed a private bill (S-1002, An Act to authorize the Industrial Alliance Pacific General Insurance Corporation to apply to be continued as a body corporate under the laws of Quebec) and in accordance with section 5 of the User Fees Act, approved the proposal from the Parole Board of Canada to increase current fee for the processing of a pardon application.

Committees

Senate committees were busy as they progressed through the budget process,

examined a number of bills and continued their special studies. The Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources conducted a fact finding mission to western Canada as part of their aim to make recommendations to the federal government to strengthen Canada's long term energy future in all regions while respecting provincial and territorial jurisdictions on energy matters. The Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade went to Brazil to advance their study on political and economic developments in Brazil and the implications for Canadian policy and interests in the region.

Several committees issued reports on their special studies. One report of particular interest is the first report of the Standing Committee on Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament presented on November 16, 2011. This report, which is still under consideration by the Senate, seeks to reorganize, standardize and clarify the Rules of the Senate, without making major substantive changes. If adopted, the changes to the Rules would come into effect on...