| REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE |
TUESDAY, March 5, 2002 |
The Standing Committee on Rules, Procedures and the Rights of
Parliament
(formerly entitled the Standing Committee on Privileges, Standing Rules and
Orders)
has the honour to present its
TENTH
REPORT
Your Committee, to which was referred Bill S-34, An Act
respecting royal assent to bills passed by the Houses of Parliament, in
obedience to the Order of Reference of Thursday, October 4, 2001, has
examined the said Bill and now reports the same with the following amendments, with observations which are appended to this report as Appendix A, and
with a letter to the Chair of the Committee from the Honourable Ralph Goodale,
Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and the Honourable Senator
Carstairs, Leader of the Government in the Senate as Appendix B.
1.
Page 1, New Preamble: Add after the long title the following:
Whereas the customary ceremony of
royal assent, which assembles the three constituent entities of Parliament, is
an important legislative tradition to be preserved;
And whereas it is desirable to facilitate the work of Parliament and the
process of enactment by enabling royal assent to be signified by written
declaration;”.
2.
Page 1, Enacting Clause: Replace
line 1 of the English version with the following:
“Now,
therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and”.
3. Page 1, Clause 2: Replace lines 9 to 14 with
the following:
“(a)
in Parliament assembled; or
(b) by
written declaration.”.
4.
Page 1, Clause 3: Replace lines 15 to 17 with the following:
“3. (1) Royal assent shall be signified in Parliament assembled
at least twice in each calendar year.
(2)
Royal assent shall be signified in Parliament assembled in the case of the first
bill of the session appropriating sums for the public service of Canada based
upon main or supplementary estimates.”.
Respectfully submitted,
JACK
AUSTIN
Chair
APPENDIX
A
Bill S-34, An Act respecting royal assent to bills passed by the Houses
of Parliament, received second reading and was referred to your Committee on
October 4, 2001.
Your Committee heard from several witnesses on this
bill. On Wednesday, October 17, 2001, the Honourable Senator Sharon Carstairs,
P.C., the Leader of the Government in the Senate, and the sponsor of the bill,
appeared before your Committee, accompanied by Mary E. Dawson, Q.C., Associate
Deputy Minister, Constitutional Affairs, and Louis Davis, Senior Counsel,
Constitutional and Administrative Law Section, Department of Justice. On
November 7, 2001, Mr. John Aimers, Dominion Chairman, and Mr. Paul Benoit,
Vice-President, of Monarchist League of Canada, appeared. Also,
on November 7, 2001, Professor David Smith of the University of Saskatchewan testified
before your Committee. On Wednesday, February 20, 2002, Senator Carstairs again
appeared before the Committee.
In addition, your Committee has held numerous
discussions regarding this bill and the underlying issues and concerns. Bill
S-34 is very similar to earlier bills introduced by the Honourable Senator John
Lynch-Staunton, the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, which were also
referred to and studied by your Committee.
Royal Assent – which is the final stage of an Act of
Parliament and the formal process by which a bill becomes law – is given by,
or on behalf of, the Sovereign after a bill has been finally agreed to by both
the Senate and the House of Commons. The coming together of the three entities
in a formal ceremony is an important part of the legislative process and
confirms their respective roles and relationships. In the Canadian context,
Professor Smith explained as follows: “The time of Royal Assent is when the Queen-in-Parliament makes law.
Then the representative of the Crown personifies the nation; the Senate embodies
the federal principle; and the Commons represents the people through their
representatives. One may dispute the description of the parts, but not the parts
themselves, nor their inclusion in a manner visible to all.”
In Canada, the Royal Assent ceremony is conducted in
the Senate chamber, to which the House of Commons is summoned. On behalf of the
Queen, the Governor General, or his or her representative, signifies Royal
Assent to the bills that are presented. The current Royal Assent ceremony dates
to pre-Confederation colonial days, and was based on British practice. Canada
appears to be unique among Commonwealth countries in retaining the procedure. In
1958, the Canadian ceremony was described in An Encyclopaedia of Parliament
as “that which most closely resembles the original.”
Other countries with parliamentary traditions have
moved away from the form of ceremony used in Canada. In the United Kingdom, the Royal
Assent Act of 1967 provided for a new procedure for the granting of Royal
Assent in addition to the traditional means of doing so through three Lords
Commissioners in a parliamentary ceremony: a written declaration that is
communicated to each House of Parliament. In Australia, the usual practice is
for the chamber that has initiated the bill to transmit copies of it to the
residence of the Governor General; after the Governor General has affixed his or
her signature, the assent is made known by Messages to the President of the
Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives, who duly notify their
respective chambers. In New Zealand, the Governor General has not attended in
person to prorogue Parliament or assent to bills since 1875; rather, bills are
presented for Royal Assent at Government House where the Governor General
assents to the bill by signing the two copies presented and returning these to
the House with a Message informing the House that assent has been given to the
bill in the name of the Sovereign.
In Canada, the issue of Royal Assent and the
procedures for signifying it have been discussed on a number of occasions over
the last 20 years. In 1983, Senator Royce Frith, then Deputy Leader of the
Government, tabled a notice of inquiry regarding “the advisability of
establishing alternate procedures for the pronouncement of Royal Assent to
bills.” He raised the question of whether there was a need for an additional
and simpler procedure and, if so, what form it should take and what method
should be adopted for implementing it. In 1985, the Special Committee on the
Reform of the House of Commons (the McGrath Committee) recommended in its Second
Report that the declaration of Royal Assent by written message be adopted in
Canada, with continued provision for the use of the present practice should that
be the pleasure of Her Excellency on the advice of Her Ministers. This proposal
was echoed in 1993 when the House of Commons Standing Committee on House
Management tabled a report on parliamentary reform.
In November 1985, the Standing Senate Committee on
Standing Rules and Orders, chaired by Senator Gildas Molgat, presented its
Fourth Report, in which it recommended that the present formal procedure of
Royal Assent be retained and that it be used at the request of the Governor
General or of either House of Parliament and at least once a session, for
example at the prorogation of a session; but that, in addition to the present
practice, a simpler procedure be established based on the following principles:
(a) that the procedure involve representation from both the Senate and the House
of Commons; (b) that it be public, and (c) that the declaration of Royal Assent
be subsequently reported to both Houses of Parliament.
In July 1988, Senator Lowell Murray, the then Leader
of the Government in the Senate, introduced Bill S-19 respecting the declaration
of Royal Assent by the Governor General in the Queen’s name to bills passed by
the chambers of Parliament. As an alternative to the formal Royal Assent
process, the bill proposed a system similar to that used in Australia for many
years. Although this bill died on the Order Paper, the issue was revived
by Senator John Lynch-Staunton in 1998, when he tabled Bill S-15. This bill and
three subsequent versions introduced by Senator Lynch-Staunton have been
considered by the Senate and its committees.
Your Committee benefited greatly through the proposals made by Senator
Jerry Grafstein in the form of draft bills brought to the Committee.
In connection with Bill S-34, your Committee wishes to
make the following observations:
1.
Your Committee believes that it is essential that measures be taken to
enhance the public visibility and the constitutional and symbolic significance
of Royal Assent.
2.
Your Committee is of the opinion that the presence of both the Governor
General and the Prime Minister for Royal Assent on those occasions where a
customary ceremony is held in the Senate Chamber are elements in demonstrating
to the Canadian public the paramount purpose of Parliament in its law-making
functions and the public expression of the Constitution of Canada wherein the
participation of the Queen and the two houses of Parliament are conditions
precedent to the making of laws of Canada.
3.
Your Committee believes that Members of the Senate should recognize the
importance of their presence in enhancing the Crown in Parliament, as well as
their role as representatives of Canadians in the legislative process.
With respect to customary Royal Assent ceremonies and ceremonies for the written
declaration of Royal Assent, the whips of the parties in the Senate should be
encouraged to invite the following persons to attend: the sponsor of the bill
and opposition critic, the chair and deputy chair of the committee to which the
bill was referred, the movers of any amendments proposed to the bill, any other
Senators directly involved in the passage of the legislation, and the Minister
or Ministers responsible for the bill. The Senate should encourage the House of
Commons to extend a similar invitation to those of its members involved in the
passage of the bill.
4.
In those rare circumstances where the Governor General is unavoidably
unable to attend Royal Assent personally, in the view of the Senate, and in
light of the separation of powers between the Legislative and the Judicial
Order, it would be desirable if Judges of the Supreme Court of Canada were not
to be asked to act as Deputies to the Governor General for the granting of Royal
Assent, but that the Governor General consider the appointment of companions of
the Order of Canada to serve as Deputies for such purposes, provided that no
member of the Senate or House of Commons, or of the Cabinet, should be so
authorized.
5.
To
further enhance the Royal Assent ceremony, your Committee believes that the
customary ceremony of Royal Assent in the Senate Chamber should be televised and
made available to be broadcast on television and on the Internet.
6.
Your Committee believes that the customary
Royal Assent ceremony should be held at a time which is more convenient for most
Parliamentarians, and when attendance would be greater. Insofar as possible,
provision should be made to give as much advance notice as possible of customary
Royal Assent ceremonies and to ensure that no other parliamentary activities are
scheduled at the same time.
7.
In connection with the written declaration of Royal Assent, your
Committee considers it desirable, depending on the nature of the legislation and
the impact on regions of Canada, that consideration be given to the holding of
such ceremonies outside Ottawa.
8.
In order to enhance the educational value of customary Royal Assent
ceremonies, efforts should be made, in collaboration with groups or
organizations for young people and schools, to invite students and others to
attend Royal Assent ceremonies.
9.
Since the granting of Royal Assent is designed, in part, to give the
public notice of a new law passed by Parliament, initiatives are essential to
enhance public knowledge of the significance and substance of the bills being
assented to by developing public education and communications strategies in
order to educate the public. The Senate should ensure that the broadcast
production of Royal Assent ceremonies include appropriate educational and
informational segments about the bills being assented to.