Studies & Bills

Orders of Reference

An order of reference is a decision of the Senate authorizing a committee to undertake the study of an issue, bill or other matter. Most committees require an order of reference before they can undertake such work. However, three committees are empowered by the Rules of the Senate to act on their own initiative without a prior order of reference from the Senate. These are the Committee on Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament; the Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration; and the Committee on Ethics and Conflict of Interest for Senators.

Studies & Bills	Order of Reference	Session	note	note
Bill C-51, An Act to give effect to the Nunavik Inuit Land Claims Agreement and to make a consequential amendment to another Act	2007-06-21	39-1
Bill C-22, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (age of protection) and to make consequential amendments to the Criminal Records Act	2007-06-20	39-1
Bill S-204, An Act respecting a National Philanthropy Day	2007-05-29	39-1
Bill C-18, An Act to amend certain Acts in relation to DNA identification	2007-05-09	39-1
Show/Hide the list of witnesses Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 10:53 AM David Bird, Counsel, Legal Services - RCMP (Department of Justice Canada) Greg Yost, Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section Department of Justice Canada (Department of Justice Canada) Wednesday, June 13, 2007 at 4:22 PM David Bird, Counsel, Legal Services - RCMP (Department of Justice Canada) Robert M. Thompson, Superintendent and Director, Canadian Criminal Real Time Identification Services (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Isabelle Trudel, Officer in Charge, National DNA Data Bank (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Thursday, June 7, 2007 at 10:56 AM The Honourable Robert Nicholson, P.C., M.P., Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada (As an Individual) John Bowen, Director, Biology Services (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Joe Buckle, Director General, Forensic Science and Identification Services (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Anne-Elizabeth Charland, Officer in Charge, Scientific Services (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Isabelle Trudel, Officer in Charge, National DNA Data Bank (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Lieutenant Colonel Jill Wry, Director of Law/Military Justice Policy and Research (Office of the Judge Advocate General) Greg Yost, Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section (Department of Justice Canada)
Bill C-31, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act and the Public Service Employment Act	2007-03-21	39-1
Show/Hide the list of witnesses Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 10:55 AM Natasha Kim, Senior Policy Advisor, Legislation and House Planning (Privy Council Office) François Lafontaine, General Counsel, Headquarters Legislation Section (Central Administration) (Department of Justice Canada) Raymond MacCallum, Counsel, Human Rights Law Section (Department of Justice Canada) Dan McDougall, Director of Operations, Legislation and House Planning (Privy Council Office) Doug Stoltz, Acting General Counsel, Headquarters Legislation Section (Central Administration) (Department of Justice Canada) Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 4:15 PM Maria Barrados, President (Public Service Commission of Canada) Diane R. Davidson, Deputy Chief Electoral Officer and Chief Legal Counsel (Elections Canada) Linda Gobeil, Senior Vice-President, Policy Branch (Public Service Commission of Canada) Marc Mayrand, Chief Electoral Officer (Elections Canada) Rennie Molnar, Senior Director, Operations, Register and Geography (Elections Canada) Marie-Claude Turgeon, Acting General Counsel (Public Service Commission of Canada) Thursday, May 17, 2007 at 10:47 AM Ken Anderson, Assistant Commissioner (Privacy) (Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario) Carman Baggaley, Senior Strategic Policy Analyst (Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada) Cindy Buott, Director (National Anti-Poverty Organization (NAPO)) Lisa Campbell, Senior Legal Counsel, Legal Services (Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada) Sharon Polsky, Policy Director (Canadian Association of Professional Access and Privacy Administrators) Rob Rainer, Executive Director (National Anti-Poverty Organization (NAPO)) Jennifer Stoddart, Privacy Commissioner of Canada (Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada) Wednesday, May 16, 2007 at 4:11 PM Marcel Blanchet, Chief Electoral Officer and President of the Commission de la représentation électorale (Chief Electoral Officer of Quebec) Ian Boyko, Government Relations Coordinator (Canadian Federation of Students) Gary Corbett, Vice-President (Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada) Diane R. Davidson, Deputy Chief Electoral Officer and Chief Legal Counsel (Elections Canada) Marc Mayrand, Chief Electoral Officer (Elections Canada) Rennie Molnar, Senior Director, Operations, Register and Geography (Elections Canada) Francine Pressault, Media and Government Relations Officer (Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada) Jim Quail, Director (BC Public Interest Advocacy Centre) Thursday, May 10, 2007 at 10:58 AM Honorable Peter Van Loan, P.C., M.P., Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform () Natasha Kim, Senior Policy Advisor, Legislation and House Planning (Privy Council Office) Matthew King, Assistant Secretary, Legislation and House Planning (Privy Council Office) Raymond MacCallum, Counsel, Human Rights Law Section (Department of Justice Canada)
Bill C-9, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (conditional sentence of imprisonment)	2007-02-27	39-1
Show/Hide the list of witnesses Thursday, May 3, 2007 at 10:50 AM Wednesday, May 2, 2007 at 4:07 PM Patrick Altimas, Managing Director (Association des services de réhabilitation du Québec) Francis Brabant, Legal Advisor, Office of the Deputy Director-General, Criminal Investigations (Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police) Jean-François Cusson, Coordinator, programs and communications (Association des services de réhabilitation du Québec) Lucie Joncas, President (Association québécoise des avocats et avocates de la défense) Pierre-Paul Pichette, Assistant Director, Chief of Service, Corporate Operations Service (Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police) André Rady, Board Member (Canadian Council of Criminal Defence Lawyers) Russell Silverstein, Director (Criminal Lawyers Association) Gilles Trudeau, Member (Association québécoise des avocats et avocates de la défense) Thursday, April 26, 2007 at 10:48 AM Lynn Barr-Telford, Director, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (Statistics Canada) David Griffin, Executive Officer (Canadian Police Association) Craig Grimes, Project Manager, Courts Program, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (Statistics Canada) Sara Johnson, Senior Analyst, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (Statistics Canada) Wednesday, April 25, 2007 at 4:17 PM Anthony Doob, Professor, Centre of Criminology, University of Toronto (As an individual) David E. Smith, Senior Policy Fellow, Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy, University of Regina (As an individual) Thursday, April 19, 2007 at 10:50 AM The Honourable Robert Nicholson, P.C., M.P., Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada (As an Individual) Catherine Kane, Acting Senior General Counsel, Criminal Law Policy (Department of Justice Canada) Matthias Villetorte, Counsel, Criminal Law Policy (Department of Justice Canada)
Bill S-4, An Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867 (Senate tenure)	2007-02-20	39-1
Show/Hide the list of witnesses Wednesday, June 6, 2007 at 4:14 PM Warren J. Newman, General Counsel, Constitutional and Administrative Law Section (Department of Justice Canada) Wednesday, May 9, 2007 at 4:14 PM Wednesday, April 25, 2007 at 4:17 PM Anthony Doob, Professor, Centre of Criminology, University of Toronto (As an individual) David E. Smith, Senior Policy Fellow, Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy, University of Regina (As an individual) Thursday, March 29, 2007 at 10:50 AM Henry S. Brown, Q.C., Partner (Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP) Errol P. Mendes, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa (As an individual) Wednesday, March 28, 2007 at 4:14 PM Alan Cairns, Professor Emeritus, University of British Columbia (As an individual) Alexandra Dobrowolsky, Chair, Department of Political Science, Saint Mary's University (As an individual) Richard Simeon, Visiting Professor of Canadian Studies, Harvard University (As an individual) Jennifer Smith, Chair, Department of Political Science, Dalhousie University (As an individual) Wednesday, March 28, 2007 at 11:59 AM Baroness Deech, Cross-bencher (British House of Lords) Lord Howe of Aberavon, Member of the Conservative Party (British House of Lords) Lord Tyler, Member of the Liberal Democrat Party (British House of Lords) Thursday, March 22, 2007 at 10:45 AM Don Desserud, Professor, University of New Brunswick at Saint John (As an individual) Gerard Horgan, Professor, International Study Centre, Herstmonceux Castle (As an individual) John McEvoy, Professor, University of New Brunswick (As an individual) Meg Russell, Senior Research Fellow, University College London (As an individual) Wednesday, March 21, 2007 at 4:15 PM David Anderson, Senior Policy Advisor, Legislation and House Planning (Privy Council Office) Roger Gibbins, President and CEO President and CEO (Canada West Foundation) Andrew Heard, Professor, Simon Fraser University (As an individual) Matthew King, Assistant Secretary, Legislation and House Planning (Privy Council Office) Joseph Magnet, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa (As an individual) Dan McDougall, Director of Operations, Legislation and House Planning (Privy Council Office) Warren J. Newman, General Counsel, Constitutional and Administrative Law Section (Department of Justice Canada)
Study on the benefits and results that have been achieved through the Court Challenges Program	2006-12-07	39-1
Bill C-16, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act	2006-11-23	39-1
Show/Hide the list of witnesses Thursday, February 15, 2007 at 10:55 AM Wednesday, February 14, 2007 at 4:15 PM Jean-Serge Brisson, Leader (Libertarian Party of Canada) Anna Di Carlo, Secretary of Democratic Renewal (Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada) John Hollins, Ontario Chief Electoral Officer (Elections Ontario) Patrick Monahan, Dean, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University (As an individual) David Smith, Senior Policy Fellow, Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy, University of Regina (As an individual) Thursday, February 8, 2007 at 10:50 AM David Chernushenko, Senior Deputy (Green Party of Canada) Peter Hogg, Scholar in Residence, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP (As an individual) Thursday, February 1, 2007 at 10:45 AM Henry Milner, Research Fellow, Canada Research Chair in Electoral Studies, Department of Political Science, University of Montreal. (As an individual) Harry Neufeld, Chief Electoral Officer (Elections BC) Wednesday, January 31, 2007 at 4:00 PM Diane R. Davidson, Deputy Chief Electoral Officer and Chief Legal Counsel (Elections Canada) Jean-Pierre Kingsley, Chief Electoral Officer of Canada (Elections Canada) Rennie Molnar, Senior Director, Operations, Register and Geography (Elections Canada) Wednesday, December 6, 2006 at 5:00 PM The Honourable Robert Nicholson, P.C., M.P., Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform (As an Individual) Dan McDougall, Director of Operations, Legislation and House Planning (Privy Council Office) Warren J. Newman, General Counsel, Constitutional and Administrative Law Section (Department of Justice Canada) Douglas Wolfe, Senior Policy Advisor, Legislation and House Planning (Privy Council Office)
The motion, together with the message from the House of Commons dated November 21, 2006, concerning Bill C-2, An Act providing for conflict of interest rules, restrictions on election financing and measures respecting administrative transparency, oversight and accountability	2006-11-23	39-1
Show/Hide the list of witnesses Thursday, December 7, 2006 at 9:25 AM Joe Wild, Senior Counsel, Legal Services, Treasury Board Portfolio (Treasury Board of Canada) Tuesday, December 5, 2006 at 1:45 PM Daniel Brunet, Director, Legal Services (Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada) J.G.D. (Dan) Dupuis, Director General, Investigation and Reviews (Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada) Nadine Gendron, Legal Counsel (Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada) Alan Leadbeater, Deputy Information Commissioner (Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada) Jim McLandress, General Counsel (Canadian Wheat Board) Ken Ritter, Chair of the Board of Directors (Canadian Wheat Board) Tuesday, November 28, 2006 at 5:05 PM Mark Audcent, Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel (Senate of Canada) Michel Patrice, Parliamentary Counsel (Senate of Canada)