Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on
Privileges, Standing Rules and Orders
Issue 11 - Appendix
FOR USE IN COMMITTEE
MOTION
Bill S-7 Clauses 2 to 7
(36th -- 2nd) Pages 1 and 2
Moved by____________
THAT Bill S-7 be amended by replacing clauses 2 to 7 with the following:
"2. The purpose of this Act is:
(a) to acknowledge that when Parliament makes laws for the peace, order and good government of Canada, it exercises the principal sovereign power of a free and democratic people
(b) to enhance the dignity of the laws of Canada by requiring that they ordinarily be enacted by royal assent declared by the Governor General in person;
(c) to insist on the responsibility of both Houses of Parliament for the giving of advice and consent to the making of laws;
(d) to recognize the role of individual Senators and members of the House of Commons as representatives of Canadians in the legislative process;
(e) to allow the royal assent ceremony to contribute to the better dissemination of information about the process by which the laws of Canada are made;
(f) to assist in the promulgation of individual Acts as they are enacted from time to time;
(g) to protect and promote Canada's traditional royal assent ceremony while providing for the flexibility of alternative procedures;
(h) to maintain the respect of all Canadians for their laws; and
(i) by the above means, to promote the rule of law.
3. (1) Where the Queen is in Canada, a bill passed by both Houses of Parliament may be presented for assent to the Queen in person, in Parliament assembled, anywhere in Canada.
(2) For greater certainty, nothing in subsection (1) prevents the Governor General or a deputy of the Governor General from declaring royal assent while the Queen is in Canada.
4. (1) Where a bill has been passed by both Houses of Parliament and is presented to the Governor General for the Queen's assent, royal assent shall ordinarily be declared by the Governor General in person, in Parliament assembled, in the Senate Chamber.
(2) Either the Prime Minister or the Deputy Prime Minister must be present at a royal assent ceremony described in subsection (1).
(3) For the purposes of subsection (1) and sections 9 and 10, "Senate Chamber" means the place where the Senate ordinarily meets at the time.
5. (1) A deputy of the Governor General may declare royal assent when the Governor General is unable to be present to declare royal assent or otherwise deems it necessary or expedient.
(2) Royal assent is only to be declared under subsection (1) on an exceptional basis.
6. (1) The presence of at least fifteen Senators, including the Speaker, shall be necessary to constitute the presence of the Senate in Parliament assembled for the purposes of royal assent.
(2) The presence of at least twenty members, including the Speaker, shall be necessary to constitute the presence of the House of Commons in Parliament assembled for the purposes of royal assent.
7. (1) When Parliament is in session, a royal assent ceremony shall be scheduled for the Wednesday of the third full week of every month if both Houses are expected to sit that day.
(2) When it becomes apparent that no bill will be presented for royal assent at a ceremony scheduled under subsection (1), the Speakers of the Senate and House of Commons shall send a joint message to the Governor General cancelling the ceremony.
(3) The Speakers shall table a message sent under subsection (2) in their respective Houses at the first possible opportunity.
8. (1) A royal assent ceremony in addition to those scheduled under subsection 7(1) may be scheduled at any time.
(2) The Governor General may send a message proposing a royal assent ceremony under subsection (1), to the Speakers of both Houses, who shall read and table the message in their respective Houses at the first possible opportunity.
9. (1) A royal assent ceremony may be held outside the Senate Chamber for educational or other public purposes at any place in Canada, but only on an exceptional basis.
(2) No later than 30 days before the proposed date, the Governor General shall send a message proposing a royal assent ceremony under subsection (1) to the Speakers of both Houses, who shall read and table a message under subsection (2) in their respective Houses at the first possible opportunity.
(3) A message sent under subsection (2) shall propose the date and a place for the royal assent ceremony and may propose that one or more specific bills already passed by both Houses of Parliament be presented for assent at the ceremony.
(4) A royal assent ceremony under this section shall take place as proposed in the message unless either House resolves that the ceremony should not take place.
(5) The Speaker of the House that adopts a resolution under subsection (4) shall send a message advising the Governor General and the Speaker of the other House of the resolution at the first possible opportunity, and that Speaker shall read and table the message in the Speaker's House at the first possible opportunity.
(7) A royal assent ceremony held outside the Senate Chamber must comply with all other requirements for royal assent, including the quorum requirements, and shall be, with such modifications as the circumstances require, in the form and manner that js customary in the Senate Chamber.
(8) A bill proposed for assent under subsection (3) may be withheld from presentation for assent at any intervening royal assent ceremony.
10. (1) The televising and other media coverage of a royal assent ceremony in the Senate Chamber shall be subject to the rules, direction and control of the Senate.
(2) The televising and other media coverage of a royal assent ceremony outside the Senate Chamber shall be subject to such guidelines as are agreed to by the Governor General and the Speakers of both Houses.
(3) For greater certainty, subsection (1) and (2) do not confer any rights on any person to televise or otherwise cover a royal assent ceremony.
11. (1) Royal assent may be by a written declaration, but only on an exceptional basis and, subject to subsection (2), not more often that twice in a calendar year.
(2) If the Houses of Parliament are not ordinarily meeting in the same building or in buildings connected by an indoor passage, every royal assent but one in each half of the calendar year may be by a written declaration.
(3) A written declaration of royal assent shall be reported in each House of Parliament by the Speaker of that House, or by the person acting as the Speaker, within the first fifteen sitting days of the House after the declaration is signed.
(4) Where royal assent is by a written declaration, the date of assent is the day on which the declaration is reported in both Houses of Parliament or, if it is reported in each House on different days, the later of those days.
(5) A written declaration of royal assent is not a statutory instrument within the meaning of the Statutory Instruments Act.
12. Royal assent is a proceeding in Parliament and its regularity, whether under this Act or otherwise, shall not be questioned in any court or place outside of Parliament."