The Senate.

AuthorMoss-Norbury, Vanessa
PositionLegislative Reports

In the Chamber

During the first quarter of 2017, the Senate adopted three government bills: S-2 (Strengthening Motor Vehicle Safety for Canadians Act), which amends the Motor Vehicle Safety Act to give the Minister of Transport new vehicle recall powers, as well as the two supply bills to fund on-going government operations. Debate also continued on other government and public bills at second reading and much time was spent debating the nine reports of the Special Committee on Senate Modernization that had been issued in the fall of 2016 which remained on the Order Paper. Two of the reports were adopted in February 2017. The first one introduced changes to simplify the structure of the Order Paper and Notice Paper by listing most items in numerical order, while the other report recommended that the Standing Committee on Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament study the issue of how the Senate deals with omnibus bills.

Speaker's Ruling

On February 14, a point of order was raised alleging the use of unparliamentary language during a speech in the chamber. Two days later the Speaker ruled that, when interpreted contextually, the language used had indeed been unparliamentary. He stated that:

Rule 6-13(1) states that "All personal, sharp or taxing speeches are unparliamentary and are out of order." The Senate is characterized by the respectful exchange of ideas and information, even when we deal with topics about which honourable senators have strong views. We should always show respect for each other, no matter our views on an issue, since the right to hold and express our divergent opinions is the basis of free speech.

Committees

Committees were busy during this quarter studying legislation and continuing their special studies. Several committees travelled, including the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, which continued its study on Canada's maritime search and rescue operations with a fact-finding mission and public hearings in Newfoundland and Labrador in March.

That same month, the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade travelled to Mexico to meet with counterparts in the Mexican Senate for discussions on the relevance of the Canada-Mexico bilateral relationship. Committee members also took the opportunity to meet with more than a dozen other Mexican stakeholders, government officials, academics and business people, as well as with Canada's diplomatic corps in Mexico to hear analysis of the...

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