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-32, An Act to amend the Civil Marriage Act	2013-06-19	41-1
Show/Hide the list of witnesses Thursday, June 20, 2013 at 10:39 AM Brenda Cossman, Professor of Law, Director, Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies, University of Toronto (As an individual) Lisa Hitch, Senior Counsel, Family, Children and Youth Section (Justice Canada)
Bill C-51, An Act to amend the Witness Protection Program Act and to make a consequential amendment to another Act	2013-06-11	41-1
Show/Hide the list of witnesses Tuesday, June 18, 2013 at 8:32 AM Thursday, June 13, 2013 at 10:30 AM Yvon Dandurand, Criminologist, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of the Fraser Valley (As an individual) Richard Dupuis (As an individual) Joanne Gibb, Senior Policy Advisor, Operations (Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP) Lisa-Marie Inman, Director, Reviews and Investigations (Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP) Ian McPhail, interim chair (Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP) Tom Stamatakis, President (Canadian Police Association) Deputy Commissioner Scott Tod, Investigations and Organized Crime (Ontario Provincial Police) Wednesday, June 12, 2013 at 3:18 PM The Honourable Vic Toews, P.C., M.P., Minister of Public Safety (Public Safety Canada) Trevor Bhupsingh, Director General, Law Enforcement and Border Strategies Directorate (Public Safety Canada) Ian Bradley, Counsel, Legal Services (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Superintendent Stephen Foster, Director, Witness Protection Program (Royal Canadian Mounted Police)
Bill C-15, An Act to amend the National Defence Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts	2013-05-21	41-1
Show/Hide the list of witnesses Wednesday, June 5, 2013 at 4:19 PM Stephen Fineberg, Vice-President (The Canadian Prison Law Association) Don Head, Commissioner (Correctional Service of Canada) Michel Laprade, General Counsel, Legal Services (Correctional Service of Canada) Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 10:31 AM Pierre Daigle, Ombudsman (National Defence and Canadian Forces) Julianne Dunbar, General Counsel and Director of Operations (Military Police Complaints Commission) Bruno Hamel, Chair (Canadian Forces Grievance Board) Guy Lauzon, M.P., Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry (Sponsor of the bill) Captain (N) (Ret) Holly MacDougall, Former Director, Military Prosecutions, National Defence (As an individual) Glenn Stannard, Chair (Military Police Complaints Commission) Wednesday, May 29, 2013 at 3:06 PM Michel W. Drapeau, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa (As an individual) Ian Holloway, Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Calgary (As an individual) Joshua Juneau, Lawyer (As an individual) The Honourable Gilles Létourneau, former justice of the Court Martial Appeals Court (As an individual) Peter Tinsley, former chair, Military Police Complaints Commission (As an individual) Chief Superintendent Chuck Walker, Director General, Canadian Criminal Real Time Identifications Services (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Tuesday, May 28, 2013 at 3:06 PM Chief Superintendent Paula Dionne, Director General, Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) The Honourable Patrick J. LeSage, former Chief Justice of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (As an individual) Chief Superintendent Chuck Walker, Director General, Canadian Criminal Real Time Identifications Services (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 10:32 AM The Honourable Peter MacKay, P.C., M.P., Minister of National Defence () Major-General Blaise Cathcart, Judge Advocate General of the Canadian Forces (Office of the Judge Advocate General) Vice-Admiral Bruce Donaldson, Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff (National Defence) Colonel Tim Grubb, CD1, Canadian Forces Provost Marshal (National Defence)
Bill S-214, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (protection of children)	2013-04-23	41-1
Bill S-16, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (trafficking in contraband tobacco)	2013-04-16	41-1
Show/Hide the list of witnesses Thursday, May 9, 2013 at 10:32 AM Pina Arcamone, Director General (The Missing Children’s Network) Christian Bergeron (As an individual) Rodney B. Freeman, Chief (Woodstock Police Service) Michel Surprenant, President (Association of Families of Persons Assassinated or Disappeared) Wednesday, May 8, 2013 at 4:19 PM Rob Cunningham, Senior Policy Analyst (Canadian Cancer Society) Jean Daudelin, Associate Professor, Carleton University (As an individual) Flory Doucas, co-director and spokesperson (Coalition québécoise pour le contrôle du tabac) Nachum Gabler, Economist (As an individual) Michael Perley, Director (Ontario Campaign for Action on Tobacco) Lloyd Phillips, Chief (Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke) Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 10:30 AM Trevor Bhupsingh, Director General, Law Enforcement and Border Strategies Directorate (Public Safety Canada) Geoff Leckey, Director General, Enforcement and Intelligence Operations (Canada Border Services Agency) Superintendent Carson Pardy, Director of Operations, OPP East Region (Ontario Provincial Police) Superintendant Guy Poudrier, Director, RCMP Federal Policing Criminal Operations (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Michel Rouillard, National Spokesperson (National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco) Alex Scholten, President (Canadian Convenience Stores Association) Wednesday, May 1, 2013 at 4:16 PM The Honourable Robert Nicholson, P.C., M.P., Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada (As an Individual) Brian W. David, Chief (Mohawk Council of Akwesasne) Joyce King, Director of Akwesasne Mohawk Justice Department (Mohawk Council of Akwesasne) Carole Morency, Acting Director General and Senior General Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section (Justice Canada) Paul Saint-Denis, Senior Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section (Justice Canada)
Bill C-217, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (mischief relating to war memorials)	2013-03-21	41-1
Bill C-350, An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (accountability of offenders)	2013-03-21	41-1
Show/Hide the list of witnesses Wednesday, June 12, 2013 at 3:18 PM The Honourable Vic Toews, P.C., M.P., Minister of Public Safety (Public Safety Canada) Trevor Bhupsingh, Director General, Law Enforcement and Border Strategies Directorate (Public Safety Canada) Ian Bradley, Counsel, Legal Services (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Superintendent Stephen Foster, Director, Witness Protection Program (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Thursday, June 6, 2013 at 10:32 AM Joanne Jong (As an individual) Nicole Latour (As an individual) 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, June 5, 2013 at 4:19 PM Stephen Fineberg, Vice-President (The Canadian Prison Law Association) Don Head, Commissioner (Correctional Service of Canada) Michel Laprade, General Counsel, Legal Services (Correctional Service of Canada) Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 10:31 AM Pierre Daigle, Ombudsman (National Defence and Canadian Forces) Julianne Dunbar, General Counsel and Director of Operations (Military Police Complaints Commission) Bruno Hamel, Chair (Canadian Forces Grievance Board) Guy Lauzon, M.P., Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry (Sponsor of the bill) Captain (N) (Ret) Holly MacDougall, Former Director, Military Prosecutions, National Defence (As an individual) Glenn Stannard, Chair (Military Police Complaints Commission)
Bill C-55, An Act to amend the Criminal Code	2013-03-21	41-1
Show/Hide the list of witnesses Tuesday, March 26, 2013 at 9:03 AM Karen Audcent, Senior Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section (Justice Canada) Carole Morency, Acting Director General and Senior General Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section (Justice Canada) Monday, March 25, 2013 at 2:01 PM Karen Audcent, Senior Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section (Justice Canada) Chantal Bernier, Assistant Privacy Commissioner (Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada) Patricia Kosseim, Senior General Counsel, Director General (Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada) Warren Lemcke, Deputy Chief Constable, Vancouver Police Department (Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police) Donald Piragoff, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister (Justice Canada) Michael Rosenberg, Legal counsel (Canadian Civil Liberties Association) Russell Silverstein, Representative (Canadian Council of Criminal Defence Lawyers)
Bill C-53, An Act to assent to alterations in the law touching the Succession to the Throne	2013-03-07	41-1
Show/Hide the list of witnesses Thursday, March 21, 2013 at 10:28 AM The Honourable Robert Nicholson, P.C., M.P., Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada (As an Individual) Karen Audcent, Senior Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section (Justice Canada) Warren J. Newman, Senior General Counsel, Constitutional and Administrative Law Section (Justice Canada) Donald Piragoff, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister (Justice Canada) Joe Wild, Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Machinery of Government (Privy Council Office) Wednesday, March 20, 2013 at 4:17 PM Paul Benoit, Vice-Chairman (Canadian Royal Heritage Trust) Andrew Heard, Associate Professor, Simon Fraser University (As an individual) Benoît Pelletier, Professor, Faculty of Law, Civil Law Section, University of Ottawa (As an individual) Garry Toffoli, Executive Director (Canadian Royal Heritage Trust)
Subject matter of Bill C-55, An Act to amend the Criminal Code, introduced in the House of Commons on February 11, 2013	2013-03-07	41-1
Show/Hide the list of witnesses Thursday, March 21, 2013 at 10:28 AM The Honourable Robert Nicholson, P.C., M.P., Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada (As an Individual) Karen Audcent, Senior Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section (Justice Canada) Warren J. Newman, Senior General Counsel, Constitutional and Administrative Law Section (Justice Canada) Donald Piragoff, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister (Justice Canada) Joe Wild, Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Machinery of Government (Privy Council Office)