The Senate Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs released its new report, entitled From Soldier to Civilian: Professionalizing the transition, which calls on the federal government to implement immediate changes to a transition process that — despite years of well-publicized and well-founded criticism — remains stubbornly inefficient. The report makes 13 recommendations, including three that the subcommittee believes should … Read more
Canada’s Senate voted to legalize and regulate cannabis while adding a series of amendments that will now go to the House of Commons for its consideration. “This was a process that does credit to the Senate,” said Senator Tony Dean, the bill’s sponsor in the Senate. “Sober second thought is truly working.” The House of Commons … Read more
Senator Thanh Hai Ngo issued the following statement regarding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau‘s (Papineau, Que.) invitation to Vietnam to the Special Outreach Session held in the context of the G7 Summit on June 9, 2018, in Charlevoix, Quebec. “I am terribly concerned about Canada’s unjustified invitation to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to a special … Read more
Senator Claude Carignan’s amendment to Bill C-45 to prevent the involvement of organized crime in the cannabis industry through the use of tax havens was adopted in the Senate in third reading by a vote of 45 to 29. Carignan’s amendment will make public the names of all shareholders and executives of companies in the cannabis-producing … Read more
Senator Linda Frum expressed her disappointment with the inaction from the Trudeau Government to eliminate foreign funding in Canadian elections. “Prime Minister Trudeau has failed to take any meaningful steps to prevent foreign influence in Canadian elections. For the past year, Bill S-239, the Eliminating Foreign Funding in Elections Act has been stalled in the Senate and … Read more
Independent Senator Pamela Wallin is pleased that Motion 334 (Silver Alert) was passed unanimously in the Senate. She brought the motion forward convinced the Silver Alert system would benefit Canadians. The message from the Senate will be sent to the House of Commons, asking the Government of Canada to immediately begin to work with provincial, territorial … Read more
Senator Percy Downe tabled in the Senate the report of the Parliamentary Budget Officer entitled Cost Estimate of Tax Credit for Confederation Bridge Tolls, which showed that eliminating the toll on Confederation Bridge would cost less than $17 million per year. “Taken together, these two reports raise a fundamental question about fairness: why is the Government of Canada … Read more
Senator Kim Pate introduced Bill S-251, which would allow judges the discretion to not impose mandatory minimum penalties. “The Supreme Court of Canada, and the British Columbia and Ontario Courts of Appeal have all found mandatory minimum sentences for certain offences to be grossly disproportionate and unconstitutional,” explained Pate. “Furthermore, in its 2015 election platform, the Government … Read more
Senator Larry W. Smith, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, made the following statement on Bill C-45: “Yesterday, some of the unanimous recommendations were rejected by the members of the Social Affairs, Science and Technology Standing Committee. We are disappointed by the fact that the handful of Independent and Liberal Senators, who have historically supported … Read more
On December 7, 2017, the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration authorized the Subcommittee on Human Resources to update the Senate Policy on the Prevention and Resolution of Harassment in the Workplace. The subcommittee will therefore hold a series of intensive consultations before the summer adjournment. Expert witnesses will testify in hearings that … Read more
