Senate.

• Author: Mussell, Mary
• Position: Legislative Reports

When the Senate received two important Government bills from the House of Commons late in June, it became necessary to sit beyond the usual time of summer adjournment. The passage of these two bills, C-48 and C-38, were not only critical to the stability of the minority Government but controversial and their consideration occupied the Senate until mid July.

Bill C-48, which proposed additional spending in social areas from budgetary surplus funds, had come about as a result of an agreement between the Liberal and the New Democratic parties in the House of Commons. Conservative members of the Senate National Finance Committee recorded their opposition to the bill in a minority report appended to the committee report presented to the Senate on July 18. Although the Conservative Senators strongly objected to the lack of transparency and accountability, the bill was passed by the Senate and received Royal Assent by written declaration on July 20.

In keeping with its perceived constitutional role to protect the rights of minorities, the Senate has the responsibility to shape legislation consistent with the values enshrined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The contribution of the Senate over the years in ensuring the rights of minority language groups, aboriginal peoples and equality for men and women has been significant. In recent years as well, the Senate has been instrumental in changing federal laws to include sexual orientation as a prohibitive ground of discrimination. Although debate on same-sex issues has sometimes been contentious, the Senate has stood united in its desire to present a balanced view on human rights and debate on Bill C-38, which changes the traditional definition of marriage to include same-sex couples, was no exception. At issue was the reconciliation of equality rights with the right to freedom of conscience and religion. Opinions ranged from those who argued for the right of gay and lesbian people to civil marriages to those who contended the bill did not adequately protect the right of churches to maintain the traditional view of marriage. Forty-one Senators took part in second and third reading debate and in the end, after exhaustive consideration, passed the bill late on July 19. The following day, on July 20, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada signified Royal Assent by written declaration.

In addition to Bills C-48 and C-38, nineteen other bills received Royal Assent by written declaration on...