Thursday, December 5, 2024

The Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs has the honour to table its

THIRTY-SECOND REPORT

Your committee, which was authorized by the Senate to examine and report on the 2024 Annual Report prepared in accordance with the Statutes Repeal Act, tabled in the Senate on February 4, 2024, has, in obedience to the order of reference of November 7, 2024, examined the said report and now reports as follows:

The Statutes Repeal Act causes the automatic repeal of legislation that has not been brought into force within 10 years of receiving Royal Assent, absent a resolution adopted by either House of Parliament to defer the repeal of Acts listed in the annual report. The intent of the Act is to prevent legislation that has received Royal Assent but not been brought into force from “sitting on the books” indefinitely. This Act does not apply to legislation that comes into force upon Royal Assent, or legislation that comes into force on a day or days specified within the legislation itself. However, in many cases Acts, or provisions within Acts, come into force on a day to be fixed by the Governor in Council.

Section 2 of the Statutes Repeal Act requires that the Minister of Justice prepare an annual report listing the Acts of Parliament, or provisions of Acts of Parliament, that received Royal Assent nine or more years before 31 December of the previous calendar year but that have not yet come into force. The report is laid before both houses of Parliament. Until 2023, the usual practice had been for the Senate to adopt a corresponding motion to defer the repeal of the Acts or provisions of Acts as specified in the annual report.

On November 7, 2024, the 2024 Annual Report was referred to your committee for further study, the second time this annual report has been referred to any parliamentary committee. The goal of this process is to provide senators with the opportunity to invite department officials to appear before the committee to provide further information regarding the Acts and provisions listed in the 2024 Annual Report, and for officials to answer questions from committee members.

On November 28, 2024, your committee met with government officials from various departments responsible for the 25 Acts or provisions included in the 2024 Annual Report, including from:

• Employment and Social Development Canada

• Global Affairs Canada

• Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

• Department of Justice Canada

• Department of National Defence

• Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

• Department of Finance Canada

• Public Services and Procurement Canada

• Privy Council Office

• Transport Canada

• Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

• Environment and Climate Change Canada

• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

• Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada

Prior to this meeting, the relevant departments provided written explanations of the Acts or provisions listed in the 2024 Annual Report, justifications for why they had not yet come into force, and timelines for their implementation where applicable, to the committee. This significantly assisted the committee in its review of the annual report.

Your committee encourages the government to, in future, provide a statement of reasons explaining why the Acts and provisions listed in the annual report have not yet come into force, as well as a timeline for their implementation, when tabling the required annual report under the Statutes Repeal Act.

Alternatively, if future annual reports under the that Statutes Repeal Act are to be referred to the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, or any other committee, for further study, the committee recommends that written explanations of the Acts or provisions contained in the report, the reasons why they have not come into force, and the justifications for their deferral, should continue to be provided to the committee in writing prior to the committee beginning their study or hearing witness testimony.

The committee notes that the coming into force of every statute or provision included in the 2024 annual report has been delayed at least a decade, and some for a significantly longer period of time. The committee acknowledges the repeal of items contained in the 2024 annual report could lead to negative consequences, and that deferral of repeal under the circumstances may be the best course of action.

The committee also acknowledges that a number of the items included in the 2024 annual report have not come into force due to reasons beyond the government’s control, including the necessity of waiting for preconditions such as treaty-ratification, other legislative changes, or decision-making by third parties such as other states, provinces and territories, or First Nations.

However, the committee expresses frustration regarding the significant delays in bringing certain other items into force, specifically with respect to matters that appear to be within the government’s control, but the work to bring them into force appears to be lacking either resources, a sense of urgency, or both. This situation is a concern, where in some instances institutional, bureaucratic, or administrative delays in bringing legislation into force may appear to obstruct Parliament’s will as expressed by the enactment of these statutes and provisions in the first place. In these cases, the committee would consider inviting deputy ministers of relevant departments for particularly troubling items challenged by significant delays to provide more thorough explanations, should these items continue to appear in future annual reports.

Respectfully submitted,