Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and President of the Queen’s Privy Council Dominic LeBlanc (Beauséjour, N.B.) announced the establishment of the Advisory Group on the Selection of the Next Governor General to assist with the identification of potential candidates to fill the vacant office. LeBlanc will co-chair the group, alongside Janice Charette, Interim Clerk of the Privy … Read more
Democratic Institutions Minister Maryam Monsef (Peterborough-Kawartha, Ont.) and Government House Leader Dominic LeBlanc (Beauséjour, N.B.) announced a new, non-partisan, merit-based process to advise on Senate appointments. An Independent Advisory Board on Senate Appointments will be established to provide advice to the Prime Minister on candidates for the Senate, which will be guided by public, merit-based criteria, in … Read more
Democratic Institutions Minister Maryam Monsef (Peterborough-Kawartha, Ont.), Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale (Regina-Wascana, Sask.), and Small Business and Tourism Minister Bardish Chagger (Waterloo, Ont.) issued a joint statement condemning the acts of hatred and racism that have occurred in Canada since last week’s terrorist attacks in Paris. “We strongly condemn the recent attacks that have targeted … Read more
Minister of State (Democratic Reform) Pierre Poilievre (Nepean-Carleton, Ont.) introduced the Citizen Voting Act to help ensure everyone who votes is a Canadian citizen and to require voters living abroad to follow the ID rules set out in the Fair Elections Act. The bill will fill the void created in the aftermath of the Ontario Superior Court … Read more
Minister of State (Democratic Reform) Pierre Poilievre (Nepean-Carleton, Ont.) introduced a bill designed to protect the fairness of federal elections, Bill C-23. “The Fair Elections Act will ensure everyday citizens are in charge of democracy, by putting special interests on the sidelines and rule-breakers out of business,” said Poilievre. The bill also makes it harder to … Read more
Minister of State (Democratic Reform) Pierre Poilievre (Nepean-Carleton, Ont.) issued a statement on the on the Supreme Court of Canada hearings on Senate reform. "[Nov. 12] marks the opening of the hearings in the Supreme Court for our Government's reference on the Senate. Our Government has asked the top Court for a legal instruction manual … Read more
Minister of State (Democratic Reform) Pierre Poilievre (Nepean-Carleton, Ont.) and Conservative MP John Carmichael (Don Valley West, Ont.) met with a group of Canadians living with visual impairment or blindness at a roundtable on accessibility within Canada's democratic processes at the CNIB facility in Toronto. Poilievre spoke of the need to make the system more … Read more
Minister of State (Democratic Reform) Pierre Poilievre (Nepean-Carleton, Ont.) announced that the government is submitting factums for references on Senate reform that will be heard respectively in the Quebec Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. The factums set out the government’s arguments for the questions raised in the two references, which focus … Read more
Minister of State (Democratic Reform) Tim Uppal (Edmonton-Sherwood Park, Alta.) and Conservative Senator and Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate Claude Carignan announced the launch of a reference on Senate reform to the Supreme Court of Canada. This is the first time in a generation that the Supreme Court will consider the constitutional amending … Read more
Minister of State (Democratic Reform) Tim Uppal (Edmonton-Sherwood Park, Alta.) welcomed the vote and second-reading passage of the Political Loans Accountability Act, Bill C-21. The bill seeks to bring greater transparency and accountability to Canada's political financing regime by banning corporate and union political loans and by requiring loans to politicians from financial institutions to … Read more
