The Senate.

• Author: Moss-Norburry, Vanessa
• Position: Legislative Reports

The period before the summer adjournment was a busy one in the Senate with a federal election scheduled for the fall. The legislative agenda was active with the passage of 20 bills prior to the June 30 summer adjournment, including 13 government bills, six Commons public bills and one Senate public bill. In addition to the Budget Implementation Act and the usual supply bills, there were also several other bills that were the subject of particularly vigorous debate, including Bill C-51 (Anti-terrorism Act, 2015) and Bill C-586 (Reform Act, 2014). An omnibus bill, C-51 amended several acts including the Criminal Code, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and enacted and amended other acts. Bill C-586 changed the process by which candidates for election to the House of Commons are endorsed by their political parties. It also added to the Parliament of Canada Act a leadership review process to endorse or replace the leader of a party.

At the end of the session, the Chamber was seized with the debate on Bill C-377, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (requirements for labour organizations). The bill changed the Income Tax Act to require that labour organizations provide financial information to the responsible minister for public disclosure. Debate led to a point of order arguing that the bill required a Royal Recommendation because it appropriates public money by expanding the Canada Revenue Agency's current functions. In his ruling on the matter, the Speaker allowed debate on the bill to continue stating that the Commons had not found that a Royal Recommendation was required and that there had been assurances made to the Chamber that the provisions of the bill align with some of the work currently performed by the Canada Revenue Agency. The government eventually moved a motion to dispose of the third reading stage of the bill, and a point of order was raised arguing that the government could not attempt to curtail debate on an item of nongovernment business. On June 26, the Speaker agreed with the point of order, citing a ruling of a previous Speaker in 2013 stating that such a motion before the Senate did not respect the fundamental distinction between Government Business and Other Business and as such, ruled that the motion was out of order and should be discharged. The Speaker's ruling was appealed, however, and overturned on a standing vote. The motion was ultimately adopted and...