Important Notices

This website has been produced for the purpose of providing Canadians and visitors (“you”) with direct access to information about the Senate of Canada (“Senate”, “we” or “us”).

Site management

The Senate of Canada website is managed jointly by the Communications Directorate and the Information Services Directorate of the Senate.

The Senate website content is updated on an ongoing basis but may not be complete or current at all times. Access to the Senate website and its contents is therefore provided on an as-is and as-available basis.

The content of the Senate website is optimized for a modern browser; you may have trouble viewing many of the website’s features properly if older versions of a browser is used.

Privacy statement

The Senate respects your privacy. Personal information that you provide directly to us, as well as information that may be collected due to your browsing of the Senate website, is maintained in accordance with information management practices and used only for the purpose for which it was provided or for security or other internal purposes.

Privacy and the internet

Web servers automatically collect certain information about a visit to a website, including the visitor’s Internet Protocol (IP) address. IP addresses are unique numbers assigned by internet service providers (ISP) to all devices used to access the internet. Web servers automatically log the IP addresses of visitors to their sites. The IP address, on its own, does not identify an individual. However, in certain circumstances, such as with the cooperation of an ISP, it could be used to identify an individual using the site. For this reason, the Senate considers the IP address to be personal information, particularly when combined with other data automatically collected when a visitor requests a webpage, such as the page or pages visited and date and time of the visit.

Unless otherwise noted, the Senate website does not gather any specific personal information from you, such as your name, telephone number or email address. This information is obtained only if you provide it to the Senate.

Communicating with the Senate

If you communicate with the Senate, your personal information and any information you provide will be used to respond to your inquiry. The Senate does not use the information to create individual profiles. The Senate also does not disclose the information to a third party unless the inquiry relates to the third party or a third party needs to be consulted to provide you with a response. The Senate does not disclose the information without your consent to anyone other than to those in the Senate who need to provide you with a response, unless disclosure is permitted or required by law.

It is recommended that you not send sensitive personal information, such as your social insurance number or date of birth, through non-secure electronic means, including email. Information received and generated by the Senate is managed in accordance with the Senate policies, guidelines and best practices on information management and information security.

Digital markers (e.g., “Cookies”)

A digital marker is a computer file created by a visitor’s Web browser in order to remember certain pieces of information for a Web server to reference during the same visit or subsequent visit(s) to the website. Examples of digital markers are “cookies” or HTML 5 web storage.

You may adjust your browser settings to reject digital markers, including cookies. However, it may affect your ability to interact with the website.

Web analytics

Web analytics is the collection, analysis, measurement and reporting of data about web traffic and visits for purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage. Information in digital markers may be used for the purpose of Web analytics to identify and track your online interactions with the Senate website.

The Senate uses Google Analytics to help measure traffic patterns to, from, and within the Senate website. This analytics measurement tool uses “session” and “persistent” cookies to collect standard internet log information and to track visitor behaviour information in an anonymous form. Persistent cookies are stored on your computer and expire two years after your last visit to a website. The information generated by the cookies about your visit to the Senate website (including your truncated IP address) is transmitted to Google. No personal identifying information is recorded or provided to Google. This anonymous information is then used to evaluate visitors’ use of the Senate website and to compile statistical reports on website activity. The aggregate data and statistical reports are only used to help the Senate make the Senate website more useful to visitors, and they are only made available to web managers and other designated staff who require this information to perform their duties.

For further information, consult Google Analytics and its privacy policy.

Disabling digital markers

If you wish, you may opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics by disabling or refusing the digital markers, by disabling JavaScript within your browser or by using the Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-On. Disabling Google Analytics or JavaScript will still permit you to access comparable information or services from the Senate website. However, if you change the settings on your browser so that digital markers will be denied or so that you will be warned before a digital marker is saved on your computer, navigating on the Senate website may be a much slower process. It may also have an impact on your user experience on the Senate website. To disable digital markers, please refer to your vendor’s browser instruction guide.

Official languages

The Senate of Canada respects the Official Languages Act and is committed to ensuring all information on the Senate website is available in both French and English. Information provided in a language other than English or French is only for your convenience.

The Senate may share links that direct you to sites of organizations or other entities that are not subject to the Official Languages Act and that are available only in the language(s) in which they are written.

Senate proceedings are offered with various audio, video and closed-captioning options. Only the audio in the original language (designated as “Floor”) and the official transcripts of debates and testimony in both official languages constitute the official record of debate. The Senate of Canada is not responsible for inaccuracies or errors of simultaneous interpretation.

Linking to external websites

Links to websites not under the Senate’s control are provided solely for your convenience. The Senate is not responsible for the accuracy, reliability or currency of the information provided by external sources. The Senate does not offer any guarantee in this regard and is not responsible for the information found through these links, nor does it endorse the sites and their content, unless otherwise specified.

You should also be aware that information offered by external sites to which the Senate website links is not subject to the Official Languages Act and may not be accessible to persons with disabilities. The information offered may be available only in the language(s) used by the sites in question. You should research the privacy policies of these websites before providing personal information.

Disclaimer of liability

The Senate is not responsible for any damages that may result from the use of the contents of its website or from any failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, computer virus, communication line failure, theft or destruction, or unauthorized access to, alteration of, or use of information under any cause of action.

Comments and inquiries

If you experience problems while navigating the Senate website, wish to report any typos or broken links, or have comments or inquiries about these Important Notices, please contact us.

The Senate of Canada’s Social Media Use

This notice explains how the Senate uses social media platforms.

Content and frequency

The Senate’s social media accounts are used to communicate and interact directly with you. The Senate uses social media accounts as an alternative method of sharing the content posted on the Senate of Canada website. If you choose to interact with the Senate via social media (by “following,” “liking”, “subscribing”, “sharing”, etc. ), you can expect to see information, news and announcements from the Senate, Senate committees and senators, subject to the terms of use of each social media provider.

Because the servers of social media platforms are managed by third parties, the Senate’s social media accounts are subject to downtime that is out of the Senate’s control. The Senate accepts no responsibility for third-party platforms.

Links to other websites

The Senate’s social media accounts may post or display links or ads for websites that are not under its control. These links are provided solely for your convenience. The Senate is not responsible for the information found through these links or ads, nor does it endorse the sites or their content, unless otherwise specified.

Copyright

Third-party social media

The Senate’s social media accounts are public. They are not hosted on Senate servers. If you choose to interact with the Senate via social media, it is recommended that you read the terms of service and privacy policies of the third-party service providers and those of any applications used to access them.

Personal information you provide to the Senate via its social media accounts may be collected to capture conversations (e.g., comments, “likes”, retweets) between you and the Senate, and may be used to respond to inquiries or for statistical, evaluation and reporting purposes. Comments that violate the Senate’s rules of engagement will be deleted. Comments that violate Canadian law will be deleted and disclosed to the appropriate authorities.

Official languages

The Senate’s social media accounts are not hosted on Senate servers. In certain cases, the Senate will have separate social media accounts in each official language, while at other times it will have a bilingual account. The Senate respects the Official Languages Act and is committed to ensuring that the information is available in English and French and that both are of equal quality.

Many social media platforms have multiple language options and provide instructions on how to set user preferences.

Follow, like, share and subscribe

The Senate’s decision to “follow”, “favourite”, “like”, or “subscribe” to another social media account does not imply an endorsement of that account, channel, page or site, and neither does sharing (retweeting, liking, reposting, sharing or linking to) content from another user.

Accessibility of social media platforms

Social media platforms are third-party service providers. However, if you have problems accessing content on the Senate’s social media accounts, please contact us and we will try to solve the problem or provide you with the information in a different format.

Comments and interaction

The Senate welcomes your comments on its social media content.

Please note that you participate in on the Senate’s social media accounts at your own risk, taking personal responsibility for your comments, your username and any information provided. To protect your privacy and the privacy of others, please do not include personal information (e.g., full names, home phone numbers or email addresses, photographs containing images of identifiable individuals, or any other personal information) in the body of your comment.

You are responsible for everything you submit, and all posted comments are in the public domain. Please keep your submissions relevant. The Senate expects conversations to be respectful. The Senate reserves the right to edit or remove any comments that:

contain personal information;
are contrary to the principles of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms;
express racist, hateful, sexist, homophobic, slanderous, insulting or life-threatening messages;
put forward serious, unproven or inaccurate accusations against individuals or organizations;
are aggressive, coarse, violent, obscene or pornographic;
are offensive, rude or abusive to an individual or an organization;
are not sent by the author or are put forward for advertising purposes;
encourage illegal activity;
contain announcements from labour or political organizations;
are written in a language other than English or French;
are unintelligible or irrelevant;
are repetitive or spam;
do not, in the Senate’s opinion, add to the normal flow of the discussion.

The Senate reviews comments daily but do not generally reply to them. The Senate engages in conversations only when appropriate. The Senate generally moderates and replies Monday through Friday during regular business hours (9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time). The Senate does not engage in issues of party politics, nor answer questions that break the rules of the Senate’s Important Notices.

The views of participants commenting on the Senate’s social media content does not represent the views of the Senate of Canada.

If you have any questions about these notices or their application, please contact us.

How to contact us

You can contact us by email, mail or telephone, and the Senate will address your concerns as quickly as possible.