Press Release Department: Federal - Senate of Canada

A report released by Parliamentary Budget Office reveals that Bill S-208 could outperform Canada’s current criminal record system. By implementing a simpler and more accessible, no-fee, no-application process, this bill would provide criminal record relief for Canadians who have been held accountable and have long since served their time. “Criminal records hinder rather than enhance public safety,” advised Senator Kim Pate. “When Canadians can move on from crime … Read more

Senator Rob Black wants to draw attention to the critical state of soil in Canada. As one of Canada’s most precious natural resources, soil conservation is a top-of-mind matter for the agriculture and agri-food sectors. The last federal report on soil health, entitled “Soil at Risk: Canada’s Eroding Future,” was published 35 years ago by the … Read more

Charlottetown Senator Percy Downe has asked the federal government why the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission did not hold the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for its decision to suspend local television news broadcasts at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, in direct violation of their licensing agreement. “At the onset of the pandemic, when … Read more

Independent Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne tabled a bill in the Senate to protect minors from exposure to online pornography. The bill will require commercial pornography sites to actually verify users’ age before they enter the site. Failure to do so will be a criminal offence. “This is a real and urgent public health and safety issue. It is unacceptable … Read more

Senator Salma Ataullahjan announced her candidacy for President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. Ataullahjan is the first ever Canadian to run for this prestigious international position. “Over the last decade I have witnessed and been proud to support the work the IPU does to address gender inequities, human rights, and maternal and child health. Not only … Read more

Senators Frances Lankin, Mary Jane McCallum and Kim Pate hosted a meeting with Indigenous women leaders and NDP MP Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre, Man.) to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on Indigenous women in Manitoba. “We heard so many examples of the ways in which the pandemic has amplified food and income insecurity, the tragedy of … Read more

Senator Dan Christmas and Senator Brian Francis issued the following statement: “Twenty-one years ago this week in the rendering of the Marshall decision, the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed the Aboriginal and Treaty right of the Mi’kmaw to hunt, fish and gather in pursuit of what the Court termed a moderate livelihood. That landmark ruling called … Read more

The Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration agreed with recommendations regarding compensation made by the Honourable Louise Otis, a former justice of the Quebec Court of Appeal who served as an independent evaluator to determine financial awards for employees affected by the misconduct of former senator Don Meredith. Otis recommends that the Senate offer … Read more

The Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration has received the final report of independent evaluator Louise Otis, who was contracted to determine appropriate financial compensation for employees of former senator Don Meredith. Committee members will be reviewing Otis’s report and will discuss the matter at the committee’s next meeting on Sept. 10, 2020. More information on … Read more

Dr. Anthony Doob, chair of the panel of experts appointed by Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair (Scarborough-Southwest, Ont.) to monitor the replacement of segregation and solitary confinement with structured intervention units, announced that their attempts to oversee and correct corrections have failed. “As we have now witnessed a thousandfold during the pandemic, there … Read more