Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on
Privileges, Standing
Rules and Orders
Issue 7 - Fifth and Sixth Reports of the Committee
WEDNESDAY, June 3, 1998
The Standing Committee on Privileges, Standing Rules and Orders has the honour to present its
FIFTH REPORT
On December 16, 1997, the Senate authorized your Committee "to examine and report upon any and all matters relating to attendance in the Senate."
The issue of attendance is complex and multi-faceted -- there are statutory and constitutional provisions, past decisions and policies of the Senate, as well as public policy considerations. The work of Senators comprises much more than simply attending sittings in the chamber. Your Committee believes that the question of attendance should be addressed in a comprehensive way, rather than merely looking at one or two individual components.
It is also important to appreciate from the outset that the Senate publishes far more detailed attendance records than any other legislature in Canada, except the Northwest Territories. Since Confederation, the Senate -- like its predecessor, the Legislative Council of Canada -- has listed the names of those members in attendance in each day's Journals. This can be contrasted with the House of Commons and all provincial legislative assemblies, which do not list the names of those in attendance.
The number of sitting days is not an accurate reflection of the workload of the Senate. It is, however, relevant that the Senate sits for more days than many provincial legislatures. For instance in 1997, the New Brunswick Legislative Assembly sat for 32 days, while the Alberta Legislative Assembly sat for 38 days. In the same year -- despite a federal general election and the consequent dissolution of Parliament -- the Senate had 56 sittings and the House of Commons 93. On average the Senate sits for approximately 70 days a year.
The remuneration of Members of Parliament is set out in the Parliament of Canada Act. Provision is made for a deduction from the sessional allowance and expense allowance of Parliamentarians for every sitting beyond 21 that they do not attend a sitting of the Senate or House of Commons.
In 1990, the Standing Committee on Standing Rules and Orders recommended the introduction of a Senators' Attendance Register which would be available to the public and contain information respecting Senators' attendance in the Senate and at committees, participation on parliamentary delegations, public business and illness.
Your Committee now recommends that the policy establishing the Senators' Attendance Register recommended by the Committee to the Senate in its Fourth Report dated May 10, 1990, and adopted by the Senate on May 24, 1990, be amended as shown in Schedule I to this Report. Your Committee recommends that the amended policy come into force on July 1, 1998.
Your Committee further recommends that the Senate make a regulation under the authority of section 59 of the Parliament of Canada Act increasing the amount of the deduction to be made for non-attendance to a total of $250 per sitting day, composed of a deduction of $190 to be made from the sessional allowance payable after all statutory deductions and a deduction of $60 to be made from the expense allowance.
Your Committee further recommends:
(a) that the Senate, pursuant to section 59 of the Parliament of Canada Act, make the Senate Sessional Allowance (Deductions for Non-Attendance) Regulations in the form attached as Schedule 2.
(b) that section 1 of the Senate Sessional Allowance (Deductions for Non-Attendance) Regulations be adopted as Rule 138 of the Rules of the Senate; and
(c) that the Clerk be instructed to transmit copies in both official languages of the Senate Sessional Allowance Deduction for Non-Attendance) Regulations to the Clerk of the Privy Council for registration and publication under the Statutory Instruments Act.
Your Committee intends to continue its examination of issues relating to the attendance of senators.
Respectfully submitted,
SHIRLEY MAHEU
Chair
Schedule I
Senators Attendance Policy
Purpose
1. This policy provides for the recording of attendance of Senators during parliamentary sessions:
(a) to document each Senator's compliance with the attendance requirement set out in subsection 31(1) of the Constitution Act, 1867;
(b) to satisfy the requirement in subsection 65(1) of the Parliament of Canada Act that each Senator furnish a signed monthly statement of attendance for purposes of remuneration; and
(c) to communicate a fair picture of the work done by Senators on behalf of Canadians.
PART I: SENATORS ATTENDANCE REGISTER
Register
2. (1) The Clerk of the Senate shall keep a Senators Attendance Register.
Contents
(2) For months in which the Senate is in session, the Register displays the information concerning the attendance of each Senator that must be kept for the purposes of this policy, in the form set out in Schedule "A".
"Attendance to Business"
(3) The column in the Register entitled "Attendance to Business" shall reflect attendance by Senators to the activities set out in subsection 8(2) that are to be published in the Journals of the Senate.
"Public Business"
(4) The column in the Register entitled "Public Business" shall reflect attendance by Senators to all public or official business not reflected in the Attendance to Business column.
Maintenance
3. (1) The Clerk of the Senate is charged with administering this policy and the Senate Administration is charged with maintaining the Register under the direction of the Clerk.
Primary sources of information
(2) The attendance of Senators in the Senate and in committees to be recorded in the Register will be compiled from the Journals of the Senate, the Minutes of Proceedings of committees and written notices received from Senators.
Additional information
(3) Senators are required to notify the Clerk of the Senate, in writing, of every entry to be made in the Register other than for attendance in the Senate or at committee meetings.
Information deadline
(4) Senators are encouraged to give notice of the information required under subsection (1) no later than the last day of the month, and must provide the information no later than the deadline for filing their signed statement of attendance.
Review of notices
(5) Notices given to the Clerk under subsection (1) are available to the Standing Committee on Privileges, Standing Rules and Orders and the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration.
Notices of public or official business
4. (1) A notice of a day of public business or official business must set out the fact that the Senator was on public or official business, the nature of the business and the date and location where such business was performed.
Parliamentary associations
(2) For the purposes of this policy, participation in the work of a recognized parliamentary association is official business.
Friendship groups
(3) For the purposes of this policy, participation in the work of a parliamentary friendship group is public business but not official business.
Illness
5. (1) A notice of a day of illness must set out the fact that the Senator's failure to attend in the Senate was by reason of illness and that the absence was due to that illness and was unavoidable.
Medical certificates
For each consecutive sitting day in the session beyond six to be registered as a day of illness, a medical certificate must be submitted to the Clerk.
Renewals
(3) A medical certificate may serve for one or more consecutive sitting days within a period of up to three calendar months, after which it must be renewed.
Certificate a prerequisite
(4) A day of illness for which a medical certificate is required may only be registered when the medical certificate has been received.
Confidentiality
(5) The contents of a medical certificate given to the Clerk under subsection (2) are confidential but are available to the Standing Committee on Privileges, Standing Rules and Orders and the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration.
Confirmation of receipt
(6) The Clerk may, upon request, publicly confirm the fact that a medical certificate has been received.
Leave days
6. The twenty-one leave days provided to Senators by subsection 57(1) of the Parliament of Canada Act are recognized as having been provided primarily for the following needs:
(a) bereavement leave;
(b) leave for family-related matters, including illness; and
(c) leave for religious holidays.
Public document
7. The Register is a public document available for viewing during ordinary office hours.
PART II: JOURNALS OF THE SENATE
Publication in the Journals
8. (1) The attendance to business of Senators shall be published on a daily basis in the Journals of the Senate, in the form set out in Schedule "B".
Attendance to Business
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), "attendance to business" means
(a) attendance at a sitting of the Senate;
(b) attendance at a meeting of a Senate committee, authorized by the Senate to sit within the National Capital Region during the sitting of the Senate or to sit or be on travel status outside the National Capital Region on that day;
(c) participation in a delegation of a recognized parliamentary association conducting its business outside the National Capital Region on a sitting day or on travel status for that day; or
(d) attendance to the official business set out in subsection (3) outside the National Capital Region on a sitting day, or being on travel status for that business that day.
Definition
(3) For the purposes of being included in attendance to business under paragraph 2(d), "official business" means business that a Senator conducts that could only have been conducted on a sitting day, that required the Senator to be absent from the sitting and that
(a) was authorized by the Senate or a committee of the Senate, or
(b) was conducted pursuant to a request in writing from a federal Minister of the Crown that the Senator represent the Government of Canada.
Immediate information for the Journals
(4) In order to be recorded in the first print run of the Journals of the Senate, written notice that a Senator has attended to business of a kind described in paragraphs (2) (c) or (d) on a sitting day must be received from the Senator or from an officer assigned to the delegation no later than 3:00 a.m. Ottawa time the following day.
Corrections to the Journals
(5) Where an error is made in the Journals of the Senate in recording the attendance to business of a Senator, either because the Administration was not notified on time under subsection (4) or for any other reason, the attendance to business of the Senator will be entered in the Register upon notice received and the correction to the Journals of the Senate will be made in the bound volume for the session.
PART III: MISCELLANEOUS
Draft report
9. (1) The Clerk will provide Senators with a draft copy of the monthly statement of attendance early in the next month.
Deadline for corrections
(2) Senators must advise the Administration of errors or omissions within two weeks of receiving the monthly statement.
Obligatory signed copy
(3) Senators are required to provide the Administration with a signed copy of their monthly statement no later than two weeks after receiving it or, where they have submitted corrections, the corrected copy of it.
Addition to Register
(4) The signed copy of the monthly statement is added to the Senators Attendance Register and becomes part of the public document.
Enforcement of filing requirement
The Clerk will advise the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure of the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration in the event that a Senator does not file a signed statement on time.
Parliamentary Privilege
10. Nothing in this policy constitutes a waiver of the privileges, immunities or powers of the Senate or of any Senator, and, in particular, nothing herein
(a) derogates from the right of the Senate to the attendance of Senators or the right of a Senator to attend to a sitting of the Senate, or
(b) authorizes an outside authority to oblige a Senator to attend elsewhere while the Senate is in session.
Schedule "A" / Annexe "A"
Senators Attendance Register / Registre des présences des sénateurs
Month / mois 1998
Name of Senator / Nom du Sénateur:
Sittings / Séances |
Attendance to Business / Participation aux travaux |
Public Business / Engagement public |
Unavoidable absence due
to Illness / |
Committee Meetings
Attended / |
1. | . | . | . | . |
2. | . | . | . | . |
3. | . | . | . | . |
4. | . | . | . | . |
5. | . | . | . | . |
6. | . | . | . | . |
7. | . | . | . | . |
8. | . | . | . | . |
9. | . | . | . | . |
10. | . | . | . | . |
11. | . | . | . | . |
12. | . | . | . | . |
13. | . | . | . | . |
14. | . | . | . | . |
15. | . | . | . | . |
16. | . | . | . | . |
17. | . | . | . | . |
18. | . | . | . | . |
19. | . | . | . | . |
20. | . | . | . | . |
21. | . | . | . | . |
22. | . | . | . | . |
23. | . | . | . | . |
24. | . | . | . | . |
25. | . | . | . | . |
26. | . | . | . | . |
27. | . | . | . | . |
28. | . | . | . | . |
29. | . | . | . | . |
30. | . | . | . | . |
31. | . | . | . | . |
TOTAL: | . | . | . | . |
Balance of 21 leave days/ Solde des 21 jours non comptés: __ days / jours
Attest / Attesté: _______________________________________________________________
The Honourable / L'honorable
Schedule "B" / Annexe "B"
| Page | Senate Journals / Journaux du Sénat |
Date
|
||
|
|
|
|
||
|
The Members convened were:
The Honourable Senators |
Les membres présents sont:
Les honorables sénateurs |
|||
|
Adams |
Cohen |
Grimard |
Losier-Cool |
Rivest |
|
The Members in attendance to business were: The Honourable Senators
|
Les membres participant aux travaux sont: Les honorables sénateurs
|
|||
|
Adams
|
Cohen |
Grimard |
Losier-Cool |
Rivest |
|
*Sample of Proposed Journal Entry* | *Exemple de l'entrée proposée dans les journaux* | |||
SCHEDULE II
JUS-600444 (SOR/DORS)
The Senate, pursuant to section 59 of the Parliament of Canada Act, hereby makes the annexed Senate Sessional Allowance (Deductions for Non-attendance) Regulations.
JUS-600444 (SOR/DORS)
SENATE SESSIONAL ALLOWANCE (DEDUCTIONS FOR NON-ATTENDANCE) REGULATIONS
GENERAL
1. The deduction to be made from the sessional allowance of a senator under subsection 57(1) of the Parliament of Canada Act is increased to $190 per day for every sitting day beyond twenty-one on which the senator does not attend a sitting of the Senate.
COMING INTO FORCE
2. These Regulations come into force on July 1, 1998.
THURSDAY, June 18, 1998
The Standing Committee on Privileges, Standing Rules and Orders has the honour to present its
From time to time, Senators become ill or disabled and are unable to carry out their duties and responsibilities for an extended period of time. At present, the Senate has nothing comparable to the disability plans that exist in the private sector and the public service to deal with such situations. A disability package would ensure that Senators who are unable to work could apply for a leave of absence, and be paid their sessional allowance at a reduced rate to reflect their diminished contribution. Your Committee believes that it is in the public interest to develop such a policy, and that Senators want the option of such a policy.
The following are the essential elements of a disability policy:
1) All Senators under the age of 64 years and 9 months would be required to apply for coverage under the Long Term Disability (LTD) offered by Treasury Board. If a Senator is denied such coverage, he or she would be treated the same as Senators who are between ages 65 and 75 under the policy.
2) Pursuant to the Senators Attendance Policy adopted by the Senate on June 9, 1998, medical certificates are required for casual illness for each consecutive sitting day in the session beyond six to be registered as a day of illness.
3) A Senator who is more than casually ill would be given the opportunity of choosing to apply to the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration for short-term disability leave at full salary for six months. The Senator would have to submit a medical certificate from an independent medical examiner attesting to the disability.
4) A Senator could apply to the Internal Economy Committee, normally after the six months of short-term disability leave, to go on medium-term disability leave. The normal maximum period for medium-term disability would be two years, subject to extension only if the evidence was that a return in the near future was foreseeable with reasonable certainty. Updated medical certificates would be required every six months. The gross sessional allowance of the Senator would be reduced by 30%. The Senator would continue to pay pension contributions and earn pension credits, as if he or she were paid the full sessional allowance. The expense allowance would have to be examined on an individual basis by the Internal Economy in an appropriate way as some disabled senators may require assistance to fulfil their functions.
5) After the expiry of the two-year period, your committee proposes the following:
a) For those Senators under 65 years of age and who have LTD coverage offered by Treasury Board, the sessional allowance should be reduced to an amount equal to the Senators' pension contribution; and
b) For those Senators between 65-75 years, or who have been denied LTD coverage offered by Treasury Board, the Internal Economy Committee would have the option of extending temporary disability for up to two additional years not to exceed age 75.
While on temporary disability, Senators would still have the constitutional right to participate in any Senate proceeding such as voting, debating, presenting legislation, or committee meetings. Such Senators would also have full use of their normal office resources.
The plan must meet the need of a Senator to accumulate pension credits while on the leave of absence.
Your Committee is presenting this report for the consideration of and discussion by Senators. If the general principles are acceptable, your Committee intends to table before the Senate the precise regulations and details in the autumn.
Respectfully submitted,
SHIRLEY MAHEU
Chair