Senate.

• Date: 22 September 2019
• Author: Simpson, Ferda

Legislation

On June 21, Governor General Julie Payette granted Royal Assent in a traditional ceremony that was broadcast on television for the first time from the Senate of Canada Building. There had previously been written declarations of Royal Assent on April 11, April 30 and May 27.

A total of 26 bills received Royal Assent during this quarter, including one Senate government bill, one Senate private bill, one Senate public bill, 22 House of Commons government bills and one House of Commons public bill. Full details about proceedings on bills are available through LEGIinfo at www.sencanada.ca.

The trend of increased messages between the houses concerning amendments to bills has persisted throughout this quarter; some of the messages, such as those concerning Bill C-69, An Act to enact the Impact Assessment Act and the Canadian Energy Regulator Act, to amend the Navigation Protection Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, have been extremely complex and lengthy. In these cases, all involving government legislation, the House of Commons either disagreed with Senate amendments, or accepted certain amendments, sometimes with changes, and disagreed with others. Ultimately, the Senate did not insist on its amendments and responded accordingly in its messages.

Chamber, Procedure and Speaker's Rulings

There were numerous points of order and...