Senate.

• Author: Barrette, Emily
• Position: Legislative Reports

Legislation

The opening of the Forty-fourth Parliament occurred on November 23, 2021, and Governor General Mary May Simon delivered the Speech from the Throne in the Senate Chamber. She read portions of the speech in Inuktitut.

Four government bills received Royal Assent by written declaration. Bill C-4, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (conversion therapy), was ordered read a second and third time and passed unanimously. The bill received Royal Assent on December 8. Bill C-6, An Act for granting to Her Majesty certain sums of money for the federal public administration for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022, was read a third time and passed on December 15. Bill C-2, An Act to provide further support in response to COVID-19, was, with leave, read a first, second and third time on December 16. Bill C-3, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Canada Labour Code was read a third time and passed on December 17. Bills C-2, C-3 and C-6 all received Royal Assent on December 17, after which the Senate adjourned until February 1, 2022.

The Senate adopted Bill S-2, An Act to amend the Parliament of Canada Act and to make consequential and related amendments to other Acts, at third reading on December 7, and a message was sent to the House of Commons accordingly. The Speaker of the House of Commons made a statement inviting comments concerning the bill and the financial prerogative of the Crown and of the House on December 8, and the Bill has not been read a first time in the House of Commons.

With leave of the Senate, the order of the day for second reading of Bill S-3, An Act to amend the Judges Act, which contained provisions similar to those in Bill S-2, was discharged and the bill withdrawn on December 15.

Five Senate public bills were adopted at third reading and sent to the House of Commons: Bill S-202, An Act to amend the Parliament of Canada Act (Parliamentary Visual Artist Laureate), and Bill S-206, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (disclosure of information by jurors), on December 8; and Bill S-214, An Act to establish International Mother Language Day, Bill S-216, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (use of resources of a registered charity), and Bill S-223, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (trafficking in human organs), on December 9. In all cases, the bills were similar to bills that had been introduced in previous sessions and were not referred to committee in the Senate.

Chamber...