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REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE

TUESDAY, March 26, 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

TWELFTH REPORT  

       Pursuant to its Seventh Report, adopted by the Senate on February 5, 2002, your Committee has reviewed the Rules of the Senate with respect to the matter of officially recognizing a third party, and recommends the following: 

1.    That the Rules of the Senate be amended in rule 4

 

(a) by adding after subparagraph 4(d)(iii) the following:

 

“(iv) “Leader of a recognized party in the Senate” means a Senator who is the Government Leader in the Senate, the Leader of the Opposition or the leader of any recognized third party in the Senate.

 

(v) “Leader of a recognized third party in the Senate” means a Senator, other than the Government Leader in the Senate or the Leader of the Opposition, who is the leader of a recognized party in the Senate or a Senator acting for that Senator.”.

 

(b) by adding after subparagraph (k)(v) the following:

 

“(vi) Recognized Party in the Senate

 

“Recognized party in the Senate” means a political party that

 

(A) initially has five or more members in the Senate and is at the same time a registered party under the Canada Elections Act, and

 

 

(B) continues without interruption to have five or more members in the Senate, whether or not it ceases to be a registered party under the Canada Elections Act.”.

 

 

2.    That the Rules of the Senate be amended in rule 17 by replacing paragraph 17(2)(a) with the following:

 

“(a) consult the Leader of the Government in the Senate, the Leader of the Opposition, and the leaders of any recognized third parties in the Senate or in all cases, their designates;”.

 

3.    That the Rules of the Senate be amended in rule 37 by replacing subsection 37(2) with the following:

 

"(2) The Leader of the Government in the Senate and the Leader of the Opposition shall be permitted unlimited time for debate, and each leader of a recognized third party in the Senate shall be permitted no more than forty-five minutes for debate.".

 

4.    That the Rules of the Senate be amended in rule 40 by replacing subparagraph 40(2)(b), with the following:

 

“(b) the Leader of the Government in the Senate and the Leader of the Opposition may each speak for no longer than thirty minutes, and each leader of a recognized third party in the Senate may speak for no longer than fifteen minutes;”.

 

5.    That the Rules of the Senate be amended in rule 85(5)

 

(a)   by deleting the word “and” after paragraph (a);

 

(b)   by replacing the period at the end of paragraph (b) with a semi-colon followed by the word “and”; and

 

(c)    by adding after paragraph (b) the following:

 

 

“(c) with respect to members of a recognized third party in the Senate, by the leader of that party or any Senator named by that leader.”.

 

Respectfully submitted,

JACK AUSTIN
Chair

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