Senate.

• Author: Belzile, Marie-Eve
• Position: Legislative Reports - Report

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Fifteen bills received royal assent from February to April of this year. Of that number, two deserve special attention as a result of the unusual practices surrounding their adoption. Bill C-3, among others, was introduced in response to the Supreme Court of Canada's February 2007 ruling that the procedure for judicial approval of security certificates was incompatible with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and was therefore inoperative. The Court suspended its declaration for one year (until February 23, 2008) to enable Parliament to amend the procedure.

Given its urgent nature, senators lost no time in studying the bill and referring it to committee. The Special Senate Committee on Anti terrorism reported to the Senate on February 12. In the brief time allotted to them to study the bill, committee members sat for more than 10 hours and heard from nearly 40 witnesses and reported the bill without amendment, but with certain observations. The bill was read for the third time and passed, on division, and received royal assent on February 14.

Bill C-2, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, combined five bills that had been handled separately during the 1st Session of the 39th Parliament. This was a priority bill for the government consistent with the objectives of the Throne Speech. The bill had moreover been the subject of a vote of confidence in the House of Commons. While it was being studied in committee, the House of Commons sent a message to the Senate urging it to give Bill C-2 priority and to pass it before March 1. The bill passed on third reading by a recorded vote in which 19 senators voted for it, 16 against and 31 abstained. Bill C-2 received royal assent by the Governor General on February 28 in the traditional ceremony in the Senate.

Senate Public Bills

Bill S-220, An Act respecting a National Blood Donor Week, received royal assent on February 14. This was the first private senator's public bill to receive royal assent since the end of the 1st Session of the 38th Parliament. It was followed by public bill S-203, which received royal assent on April 17.

A total of five bills received royal assent between February and the end of April. The Governor General granted royal assent to three government bills--C-8, C-2 and C-44 at the traditional ceremony in the Senate Chamber. Marshall Rothstein and Morris Fish, Puisne Judges of the Supreme Court of...