Journals of the Senate
45 Elizabeth II, A.D. 1996, Canada
Journals of the Senate
Issue 63
Monday, December 16, 1996
2:00 p.m.
The Honourable Gildas L. Molgat, Speaker
The Members convened were:
The Honourable Senators
Adams Anderson Andreychuk Atkins Bacon Beaudoin Berntson Bonnell Bosa Bryden
Carstairs Cogger Comeau Cools Corbin De Bané Doody Doyle Fairbairn Forest
Forrestall Gigantès Grafstein Graham Haidasz Hays Hébert
Hervieux-Payette Johnson Kelly Kenny Keon Kinsella Landry LeBreton Losier-Cool
Lynch-Staunton MacDonald (Halifax) Maheu Mercier Milne Molgat Moore
Murray Nolin Pearson Petten Phillips Poulin Prud'homme Robichaud Rossiter St.
Germain Simard Spivak Stanbury Stewart Stratton Taylor Tkachuk Whelan
PRAYERS
SENATORS' STATEMENTS
Some Honourable Senators made statements.
ORDERS OF THE DAY
GOVERNMENT BUSINESS
Bills
Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Bryden, seconded by the Honourable Senator Pearson, for the third reading of Bill C-63, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act, the Parliament of Canada Act and the Referendum Act.
Debate.
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At 3:07 p.m. the sitting was suspended.
At 3:30 p.m. the sitting resumed.
The Senate resumed the debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Bryden, seconded by the Honourable Senator Pearson, for the third reading of Bill C-63, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act, the Parliament of Canada Act and the Referendum Act.
After debate,
In amendment, the Honourable Senator Murray, P.C., moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Beaudoin, that the Bill be not now read a third time but that it be amended:
(a) in clause 12, on page 5, by replacing line 8 with the following:
"referred to in subparagraphs 71.011(a)(ii) or (iii). The"; and
(b) in clause 22, on page 11, by replacing lines 3 to 6 with the following:
"(a) information that is
(i) collected by means of the enumeration conducted for the general election for the thirty-sixth Parliament, if the Chief Electoral Officer considers the information adequate for the establishment of the Register of Electors;
(ii) collected by means of an enumeration contemplated by section 63; or
(iii) contained in a list of electors to which".
After debate,
The Honourable Senator Berntson moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Doyle, that further debate on the motion in amendment be adjourned until the next sitting.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
Order No. 2 was called and postponed until the next sitting.
The Order was called to resume the debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Kenny, seconded by the Honourable Senator Landry, that Bill C-29, An Act to regulate interprovincial trade in and the importation for commercial purposes of certain manganese-based substances, be referred to the Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources;
And on the motion in amendment of the Honourable Senator Kinsella, seconded by the Honourable Senator Oliver, that the motion be amended by adding the following thereto:
", and
That notwithstanding Rule 98, the Committee present an interim report, before submitting its final report on the Bill, relating to its findings on the following questions:
(1) Is MMT based petroleum the cause of OBD malfunctioning?
(2) Does MMT in gas cause a health hazard to Canadians?
(3) Does MMT in gas cause direct damage to the environment?
SPEAKER'S RULING
On Friday, December 13, Senator Kenny moved the motion to refer Bill C-29, an Act to regulate interprovincial trade in and the importation for commercial purposes of certain manganese substances, to the Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources. Senator Kinsella then attempted to move an amendment. His amendment sought to have the committee produce an interim report to answer certain questions about MMT before submitting its final report on the bill.
Following an intervention by Senator Kenny objecting to the amendment as a proposition, Senator Corbin rose on a point of order. Referring to rule 58, he maintained that the amendment was not really an amendment, but an instruction, and as such it was out of order because it lacked the required notice.
Senator Kinsella replied that the amendment was indeed in order, and he cited the example of the amendment that had been moved June 11, 1996 to the order of reference to the Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs respecting Term 17. At the conclusion of his remarks, I stated that I would review the matter and come back with a ruling at the earliest opportunity.
Before considering the amendment of Senator Kinsella, it is necessary for me to point out that the motion of Senator Kenny seeks only to refer Bill C-29 to the committee. According to our practices, the motion referring a bill to a committee is now treated as a consequential motion that is routinely moved after a bill has received second reading. The motion of reference regarding Term 17, on the other hand, was a substantive motion independent of any other consideration. The two cases are not really comparable to each other.
According to my understanding of rule 62(1)(i) and 62(2), a motion referring a bill is not debatable or amendable while a motion referring any other kind of question, such as the substantive motion on Term 17, is both debatable and amendable. Rule 62(1)(i) states that "the reference of a question other than a bill to a standing or special committee" is a debatable motion. Rule 62(2) explains that "all other motions, unless elsewhere provided in these rules or otherwise ordered, shall be decided immediately upon being put to the Senate, without any debate or amendment."
Consequently, the proposition of Senator Kinsella must be made as a separate substantive motion requiring notice, which is the basic point that Senator Corbin raised. It cannot be moved as an amendment to the motion to refer the bill to committee and is out of order.
The question was put on the motion of the Honourable Senator Kenny, seconded by the Honourable Senator Landry, thatBill C-29, An Act to regulate interprovincial trade in and the importation for commercial purposes of certain manganese-based substances, be referred to the Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources.
Pursuant to Rule 67(1) a recorded division was deferred until 5:30 p.m. tomorrow.
OTHER BUSINESS
Senate Public Bills
Orders No. 1 to 3 were called and postponed until the next sitting.
Commons Public Bills
Order No. 1 was called and postponed until the next sitting.
Reports of Committees
Orders No. 1 to 5 were called and postponed until the next sitting.
Other
Orders No. 22 (motion) and 21 (inquiry) were called and postponed until the next sitting.
Resuming debate on the inquiry of the Honourable Senator Johnson, calling the attention of the Senate to the state of the arts in Canada.
After debate,
The Honourable Senator Pearson moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Anderson, that further debate on the inquiry be adjourned until the next sitting.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
Order No. 13 (inquiry) was called and postponed until the next sitting.
INQUIRIES
The Honourable Senator Bosa called the attention of the Senate to an IPU conference, that took place on the22nd of October at the United Nations in New York, on the impact of land mines, support of the United Nations and United Nations reforms; and to a Parliamentarians Day at the World Food Summit conference in Rome, which took place on November 15, 1996.
After debate,
The Honourable Senator Berntson moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Kinsella, that further debate on the inquiry be adjourned until the next sitting.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
MOTIONS
The Honourable Senator Bacon moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Stanbury:
That the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications be empowered to adjourn from place to place within and outside Canada for the purpose of pursuing its study of Canada's international competitive position in communications generally, including a review of the economic, social and cultural importance of communications for Canada.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
REPORTS DEPOSITED WITH THE CLERK OF THE SENATE PURSUANT TO RULE 28(2):
Report of the Nunavut Implementation Commission for the fiscal year ended March 31, 1996, together with a compilation of 1995 Supplementary Reports of the Nunavut Implementation Commission, pursuant to the Nunavut Act, S.C. 1993, c. 28,s. 67.-Sessional Paper No. 2/35-550.
Report of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency for the fiscal year ended March 31, 1996, pursuant to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, S.C. 1992, c. 37, sbs. 71(1). Sessional Paper No. 2/35-551.
ADJOURNMENT
The Honourable Senator Graham moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Robichaud, P.C.:
That the Senate do now adjourn.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.