If the federal government fails to allow the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project to take place and otherwise limits the ability of producers to bring energy products to international markets, the rising global demand for oil will be filled by petro-states with poor environmental, labour and human rights records, witnesses told members of the Senate … Read more
The Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry has launched its study of Canada’s value-added food sector. Senators are looking for ways to make it more competitive around the world. The committee will hear from industry stakeholders including farming associations, experts in technology, environmental certification and intellectual property. In February, the Senate authorized the committee to conduct … Read more
On April 12, Senate staff and members of Parliamentary Protective Services participated in ‘Jersey Day’ in honour of the families of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash victims. Call 613-614-1180. Senator Thanh Hai Ngo issued a statement regarding the sentencing of Vietnamese political dissidents on April 5, 2018: “I condemn Vietnam’s harsh and unfair sentencing of the six human rights … Read more
Senator Larry W. Smith, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate and Leader of the Conservative Senate Caucus, made the following statement on the Kinder Morgan Canada Limited decision to suspend non-essential activities and related spending on the Trans Mountain Expansion Project: “In light of the deteriorating condition on the Kinder Morgan Pipeline, I call on … Read more
Conservative Senators Claude Carignan, Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu and Denise Batters met with various senior U.S. leaders to discuss predictable consequences of legalization for Canadians travelling to the United States. They met with officials in the Trump Administration, the U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and high-level advisors to the Official American Administration, including senior officials in the Department of Homeland Security, the Office … Read more
While the shift to a low-carbon economy is essential to meet Canada’s greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, these industries — economic drivers that are already vulnerable to international market fluctuations — must not be hobbled by commitments to combat climate change. This is at the core of the Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and … Read more
Senator Doug Black delivered his second reading speech on Bill S-245, the Trans Mountain Pipeline Project Act, which recognizes the project as in the national interest and critical to the future prosperity of Canada’s economy. Black stated: “This bill will provide a foundation for federal action. The Government of Canada has indicated by words their intention. However, … Read more
Saskatchewan Aboriginal Senator Lillian Eva Dyck has asked the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs to include the use of peremptory challenges in their study of Bill C-51: An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Department of Justice Act and to make consequential amendments to another Act. It has long been known that … Read more
Charlottetown Senator Percy Downe welcomes the decision of the Canada Revenue Agency to finally provide the Parliamentary Budget Officer with the information he has been requesting in order to calculate the tax gap, the difference between what is owed in taxes and what has actually been collected by the federal government. “I originally asked for this … Read more
At the request of Senator Kim Pate, the Parliamentary Budget Officer compiled a report on the costs of keeping an individual in prison. The PBO notes that keeping a woman in a medium security unit in a federal prison for women costs $172,717 a year. This is a fraction of the cost of keeping a … Read more
