Senate.

• Author: Castleton, Katie
• Position: Legislative Reports

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Early in this new session of Parliament, much effort was focussed on the state of the Canadian economy. The federal budget was announced the day after the opening, and Bill C-10, the budget implementation bill, which included the government's economic stimulus package, was introduced in the House of Commons on February 6, 2009. Once it arrived in the Senate, the bill was considered over the course of five sitting days and passed on March 12. At the same time, the Senate agreed to a motion to authorize four Senate committees to examine and report on specific parts of the bill, notably those that affected the Navigable Waters Protection Act, the Competition Act, equitable compensation and employment insurance.

On March 3, Mac Harb introduced Bill S-229 to ban Canada's commercial seal hunt. The routine motion to place the bill on the Order Paper for a second reading failed when no seconder was identified. As a result, the bill cannot be debated. Not deterred, Senator Harb subsequently introduced motions and inquiries in order to open the debate on this issue. He has also presented petitions from over 12,000 residents across Canada supporting his initiative to ban the hunt.

Speaker's rulings on the need for a Royal Recommendation

A number of points of order were raised regarding certain Senate public bills. It was argued that four bills each needed a Royal Recommendation, which is required for any bill that proposes to appropriate public funds. This can only be obtained by a Minister of the Crown and signified in the House of Commons. Senators are aware of these limitations and make efforts to ensure that their bills do not appropriate any public funds. However, even if an expense is not evident in the wording of a bill, the ramifications of the proposals in a bill can sometimes lead to unforeseen expenses that would require a Royal Recommendation.

The Speaker made four consecutive rulings on February 24, 2009 addressing each of these bills. In the first, he outlined various criteria that must be considered to determine if a bill needs a Royal Recommendation or not: "First, a basic question is whether the bill contains a clause that directly appropriates money. Second, a provision allowing a novel expenditure not already authorized in law would typically require a Royal Recommendation. A third and similar criteria is that a bill to broaden the purpose of an expenditure already authorized will in most cases need a Royal...