Proceedings of the Standing Committee on
Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament

Issue No. 5 - Orders of Reference

Extract from the Journals of the Senate, of Thursday, February 9, 2017:

Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Greene, seconded by the Honourable Senator Andreychuk, for the adoption of the fourth report (interim) of the Special Senate Committee on Senate Modernization, entitled Senate Modernization: Moving Forward (Order Paper), presented in the Senate on October 4, 2016.

After debate,

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

NOTE: The fourth report of the Special Senate Committee on Senate Modernization included the following recommendations:

That the Senate direct the Committee on Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament to develop and propose to the Senate amendments to the Rules of the Senate to change the Order Paper process, particularly the process for so-called "stood'' items, in line with the six elements set out on pages 34 to 35 of the first report.

That the Senate direct the Committee on Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament to recommend amendments to the Rules of the Senate to restructure the Order Paper in a coherent and predictable manner such that:

Bills are listed in numerical order, with Senate bills listed before House of Commons bills;

Motions and inquiries are listed in numerical order; and

Other items are listed in the order in which they were added to the Order Paper.

Extract from the Journals of the Senate, of Thursday, February 16, 2017:

Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Wells, seconded by the Honourable Senator Enverga, for the adoption of the second report (interim), as amended, of the Special Senate Committee on Senate Modernization, entitled Senate Modernization: Moving Forward (Omnibus Bills), presented in the Senate on October 4, 2016.

After debate,

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

Charles Robert

Clerk of the Senate

NOTE: The second report of the Special Senate Committee on Senate Modernization, as amended, included the following recommendation:

That the Standing Committee on Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament develop and propose to the Senate a process for inclusion in the Rules of the Senate by which omnibus bills are referred to an appropriate committee to determine whether and how an omnibus bill ought to be divided into several bills, including provisions to ensure that when the Senate refers an omnibus bill to a committee for such a determination, the Government and the House of Commons be informed of such referral and of any determination by a committee to sever an omnibus bill.