Professional & Other Service	$13,211.00
Transportation & Communications	0
All other Expenditures	$      22.00
Witness Expenses	$ 1,905.00
	-------------------
Total	$15,138.00

 

During the First Session of the Thirty-Seventh Parliament, your Committee met 50 times, totaling 81.9 hours, tabled or presented a total of 15 reports, and heard 10 witnesses.

In its First Report, which was tabled in the Senate on February 22, 2001, your Committee reported on its expenses and activities in the Second Session of the Thirty-Sixth Parliament, pursuant to Rule 104.

On March 1, 2001, your Committee tabled an updated version of the Rules of the Senate dated February 2001, as its Second Report.

Your Committee’s Third Report, which was presented on May 17, 2001, requested authorization to adjourn from place to place within and outside Canada, and pursuant to section 2:07 of the Procedural Guidelines for the Financial Operations of Senate Committees, appended a copy of the report of the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration with respect to its Budget. The report was approved by the Senate on June 5, 2001.

Your Committee’s Fourth Report, which was presented on September 19, 2001, and approved by the Senate on October 31, 2001, recommended that the “Senate Committee on Defence and Security” be re-named the “Senate Committee on National Security and Defence.”

In its Fifth Report, which was presented on September 19, 2001, your Committee recommended that the “Committee on Privileges, Standing Rules and Orders” be re-named the “Committee on Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament.” The report was approved by the Senate on September 25, 2001.

Your Committee’s Sixth Report, presented on October 4, 2001, and approved on October 18, 2001, requested an extension of the deadline for reporting on its order of reference of March 15, 2001 to examine the structure of Senate committees from October 31, 2001 to February 15, 2002.

On November 6, 2001, your Committee presented its Seventh Report regarding its order of reference from the Senate of March 22, 2001 on the official recognition of third parties. The Committee recommended that the Senate accord official recognition to parties that are registered as parties under the Canada Elections Act at the time that recognition is sought in the Senate and have at least five members in the Senate; that the Government be asked to propose consequential amendments to the Parliament of Canada Act; and that the Rules of the Senate be reviewed and amendments proposed to implement the report.  The Report was approved by the Senate on February 5, 2002.

In your Committee’s Eighth Report, which was presented on December 5, 2001, it dealt with the issue of senators indicted and subject to judicial proceedings, and recommended amendments to rules 137 and 138 of the Rules of the Senate, and regulations pursuant to the Parliament of Canada dealing with suspension and deductions for non attendance. The Senate approved the Report on December 14, 2001.

On February 20, 2002, your Committee tabled an updated version of the Rules of the Senate dated February 2002, as its Ninth Report.

Your Committee’s Tenth Report, which was presented on March 5, 2002, reported Bill S-34, with amendments. The bill, An Act respecting royal assent to bills passed by the Houses of Parliament, had been referred to your Committee on October 4, 2001. Appended to the report were observations and a letter to the chair of your Committee from the Leader of the Government in the Senate and the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons. The Report was adopted by the Senate on March 6, 2002.

Your Committee’s Eleventh Report, which was presented on March 20, 2002, was entitled Modernizing the Senate from Within: Updating the Senate Committee Structure, and dealt with operational issues. The Report contained eight recommendations focused on bringing about improvements to the operational effectiveness of Senate committees.

The report was not approved by the Senate prior to the prorogation of the First Session of the Thirty-seventh Parliament on September 16, 2002.

In its Twelfth Report, which was presented on March 26, 2002, your Committee recommended amendments to the Rules of the Senate with respect to the matter of officially recognizing a third party, pursuant to the adoption of your Committee’s Seventh Report. This report had not been approved by the Senate prior to prorogation on September 16, 2002.

Your Committee’s Thirteenth Report dealt with the issue of time allocated to tributes in the Senate, and recommended amendments to the Rules of the Senate. The report was presented in the Senate on May 2, 2002, but the report had not been approved by the Senate prior to prorogation on September 16, 2002.

Your Committee’s Fourteenth Report was presented in the Senate on June 11, 2002. It was a continuation of your Committee’s study of Modernizing the Senate from Within: Updating the Senate Committee, which had started with your Committee’s Eleventh Report.

The Fourteenth Report dealt with issues raised by individual Senators relating to the operational effectiveness of Senate committees and the effectiveness of the Senate committee system. This report had not been approved by the Senate prior to prorogation.

In your Committee’s Fifteenth Report, which was presented on June 13, 2002, your Committee recommended amendments to the Rules of the Senate dealing with the names and mandates of certain standing committees. It had not been approved by the Senate prior to prorogation on September 16, 2002.

Respectfully submitted,

Lorna Milne
Chair

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