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 S-227, An Act respecting National Sickle Cell Awareness Day	2015-05-28	41-2
Subject matter of those elements contained in Division 15 of Part 3 of Bill C-59, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on April 21, 2015 and other measures	2015-05-14	41-2
Show/Hide the list of witnesses Friday, May 29, 2015 at 8:30 AM Chris Gregory, Director, Identity Management and Information Sharing (Citizenship and Immigration Canada) Bruce Grundison, Executive Director, Strategic Projects Office (Citizenship and Immigration Canada) Chief Superintendent Brendan Heffernan, Director General, Canadian Criminal Real Time Identification Services (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Andrew Lawrence, Director, Traveller Transformation, Air mode Division, Programs Branch (Canada Border Services Agency) Brenna MacNeil, Senior Director, Strategic Policy and Planning Branch (Citizenship and Immigration Canada) Brenda MacPhail, Director, Privacy, Technology and Surveillance Project (Canadian Civil Liberties Association) Sukanya Pillay, General Counsel and Executive Director (Canadian Civil Liberties Association)
Bill C-608, An Act respecting a National Day of the Midwife	2015-05-12	41-2
Bill C-591, An Act to amend the Canada Pension Plan and the Old Age Security Act (pension and benefits)	2015-03-26	41-2
Show/Hide the list of witnesses Wednesday, April 22, 2015 at 4:38 PM Thursday, April 2, 2015 at 10:29 AM Marianna Giordano, Director, CPP Policy and Legislation, Seniors and Pensions Policy Secretariat, Income Security and Social Development Branch (Employment and Social Development Canada) Catherine Latimer, Executive Director (John Howard Society of Canada) Sue O'Sullivan, Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime (Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime)
Government Response to the fifteenth report of the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology entitled: Prescription Pharmaceuticals in Canada: Unintended Consequences, tabled in the Senate on October 21, 2014	2015-03-26	41-2
Bill C-247, An Act to provide that the Department of Employment and Social Development is the main point of contact with the Government of Canada in respect of the death of a Canadian citizen or resident	2015-02-18	41-2
Show/Hide the list of witnesses Wednesday, April 22, 2015 at 4:38 PM Wednesday, April 1, 2015 at 4:46 PM Jim Bishop, Chair of the Government Relations Committee (Funeral Service Association of Canada) Anik Dupont, Director General, Identity Policy and Program Directorate (Employment and Social Development Canada) Robert Frelich, Director, Identity Policy and Program Directorate (Employment and Social Development Canada) Janet Gray, Chair, CARP Ottawa (CARP) Frank Valeriote, M.P. (Guelph), sponsor of the bill
The subject matter of those elements contained in Divisions 5, 7, 17, 20, and 24 of Part 4 of Bill C-43, A second Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on February 11, 2014 and other measures	2014-10-30	41-2
Show/Hide the list of witnesses Wednesday, November 26, 2014 at 4:58 PM Thursday, November 20, 2014 at 10:28 AM Alexis Conrad, Director General, Temporary Foreign Workers Program, Skills and Employment Branch (Employment and Social Development Canada) Colin Spencer James, Director, Policy and Program Design, Temporary Foreign Workers Program, Skills and Employment Branch (Employment and Social Development Canada) Robert Judge, Director, Temporary Resident Policy and Program (Public Safety Canada) Gordon Maynard, Past Chair, National Immigration Law Section (Canadian Bar Association) Joyce Reynolds, Executive Vice President, Government Affairs (Restaurants Canada) Thursday, November 6, 2014 at 10:27 AM Marie Chen, Lawyer (Income Security Advocacy Centre) Mark Davidson, Director General, International and Intergovernmental Relations (Citizenship and Immigration Canada) Janet Dench, Executive Director (Canadian Council for Refugees) Daniel MacDonald, Chief, CHT/CST and Northern Policy, Federal-Provincial Relations Division (Department of Finance Canada) Wednesday, November 5, 2014 at 4:12 PM Carman Baggaley, Senior Strategic Policy Advisor (Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada) Trevor Bhupsingh, Director General, Law Enforcement and Border Strategies (Public Safety Canada) François Bidal, Assistant Commissioner, Forensic Science and Identification Services (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Caroline Fobes, Deputy Executive Director and General Counsel, Legal Services (Public Safety Canada) Ron Fourney, Director, Science and Strategic Partnerships, Forensic Science and Identification Services (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Dr. Perry Kendall, Provincial Health Officer (Province of British Columbia) Dr. Gregory Taylor, Chief Public Health Officer (Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada) Daniel Therrien, Privacy Commissioner of Canada (Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada)
Bill C-442, An Act respecting a Federal Framework on Lyme Disease	2014-09-30	41-2
Show/Hide the list of witnesses Wednesday, December 10, 2014 at 4:13 PM Robbin Lindsay, Head, Field Studies, Zoonotic Diseases and Special Pathogens Division, National Microbiology Laboratory (Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada) Dr. Marc Ouellette, Scientific Director, Institute of Infection and Immunity, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec (Canadian Institute for Advanced Research ) Steven Sternthal, Director General, Centre for Food-borne, Environmental and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada) Wednesday, December 3, 2014 at 4:13 PM Dr. William Bowie, Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia (Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Canada) Dr. Daniel Gregson, President (Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Canada) Elizabeth May, Member of Parliament, Saanich—Gulf Islands, sponsor of the Bill Jim Wilson, President and Founder (Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation)
Bill C-17, An Act to amend the Food and Drugs Act	2014-09-18	41-2
Show/Hide the list of witnesses Thursday, October 9, 2014 at 10:29 AM Wednesday, October 8, 2014 at 4:13 PM The Honourable Rona Ambrose, P.C., M.P., Minister of Health () Anne Lamar, Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Health Products and Food Branch (Health Canada) David K. Lee, Director, Office of Legislative and Regulatory Modernization, Health Products and Food Branch (Health Canada) Thursday, October 2, 2014 at 10:28 AM Janet Cooper, Vice President, Professional and Membership Affairs (Canadian Pharmacists Association) Perry Eisenschmid, Chief Executive Officer (Canadian Pharmacists Association) Dr. Jamie Meuser, Executive Director, Continuing Professional Development and Practice Support (The College of Family Physicians of Canada) Dr. Robert Peterson, Executive Director, Drug Safety and Effectiveness Network (Canadian Institutes of Health Research) Myrella Roy, Executive Director, Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists (As an Individual) Bill Tholl, President and Chief Executive Officer (HealthCareCAN) Wednesday, October 1, 2014 at 4:13 PM Gerry Harrington, Director of Public Affairs (Consumer Health Products Canada) Jim Keon, President (Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association) Jared Rhines, Vice President, Scientific and Strategic Affairs (Rx&D) Walter Robinson, Vice President, Government Affairs (Rx&D) Klaus Stitz, Vice President, Regulatory Affairs (MEDEC) Thursday, September 25, 2014 at 10:31 AM Dr. Joel Lexchin , Professor, School of Health Policy and Management, York University (As an individual) Amir Attaran, Canadian Research Chair, Population Health and Global Development Policy, University of Ottawa (As an individual) Elaine Gibson, Associate Professor of Law, Health Law Institute, Faculty of Law, Dalhousie University (As an individual) Matthew Herder, Assistant Professor, Health Law Institute, Faculties of Medicine and Law, Dalhousie University (As an individual) Dr. Stuart MacLeod, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia (As an individual) Wednesday, September 24, 2014 at 4:13 PM Janet Currie, Representative (Psychiatric Medication Awareness Group) Christine Janus, Board Member (Best Medicines Coalition) Alies Maybee, Patient Leader (Patients Canada) Terence Young, Member of Parliament for Oakville and founder of Drug Safety Canada (As an Individual)
Bill S-208, An Act to establish the Canadian Commission on Mental Health and Justice	2014-06-19	41-2
Show/Hide the list of witnesses Thursday, March 26, 2015 at 10:30 AM Wednesday, March 25, 2015 at 4:15 PM Terry Coleman, Chief of Police (Retired) (Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police) Honourable Mr. Justice Richard D. Schneider, Chair (Ontario Review Board) Dr. Alexander (Sandy) Simpson, Vice-president (Canadian Academy of Psychiatry and the Law) Anita Szigeti, Chair, Mental Disorder Portfolio (Criminal Lawyers Association) Thursday, March 12, 2015 at 10:29 AM Don Head, Commissioner (Correctional Service Canada) Catherine Latimer, Executive Director (John Howard Society of Canada) The Honourable Senator Kim Pate, Executive Director (Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies) Howard Sapers, Correctional Investigator (Office of the Correctional Investigator) Ivan Zinger, Executive Director and General Counsel (Office of the Correctional Investigator) Wednesday, March 11, 2015 at 4:14 PM Howard Chodos, Director, Mental Health Strategy for Canada (Mental Health Commission of Canada) Peter Coleridge, National Chief Executive Officer (Canadian Mental Health Association) The Honourable Senator James Cowan, sponsor of the bill Mark Ferdinand, National Director, Public Policy (Canadian Mental Health Association) Lori Spadorcia, Vice-president, Communications and Partnerships (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health) Jennifer Vornbrock, Vice-president, Knowledge and Innovation (Mental Health Commission of Canada)