Pursuant to notice of December 5, 2023, moved:

That, pursuant to section 3 of the Statutes Repeal Act, S.C. 2008, c. 20, the Senate resolve that the Act and the provisions of the other Acts listed below, which have not come into force in the period since their adoption, not be repealed:

1.Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act, R.S., c. 33 (2nd Supp.):

-Part II;

2.Contraventions Act, S.C. 1992, c. 47:

-paragraph 8(1)(d), sections 9, 10 and 12 to 16, subsections 17(1) to (3), sections 18 and 19, subsection 21(1) and sections 22, 23, 25, 26, 28 to 38, 40, 41, 44 to 47, 50 to 53, 56, 57, 60 to 62, 84 (in respect of the following sections of the schedule: 2.1, 2.2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 7.1, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 and 16) and 85;

3.Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Implementation Act, S.C. 1998, c. 32;

4.Public Sector Pension Investment Board Act, S.C. 1999, c. 34:

-sections 155, 157, 158 and 160, subsections 161(1) and (4) and section 168;

5.Modernization of Benefits and Obligations Act, S.C. 2000, c. 12:

-subsections 107(1) and (3) and section 109;

6.Yukon Act, S.C. 2002, c. 7:

-sections 70 to 75 and 77, subsection 117(2) and sections 167, 168, 210, 211, 221, 227, 233 and 283;

7.An Act to amend the Canadian Forces Superannuation Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, S.C. 2003, c. 26:

-sections 4 and 5, subsection 13(3), section 21, subsections 26(1) to (3) and sections 30, 32, 34, 36 (with respect to section 81 of the Canadian Forces Superannuation Act), 42 and 43;

8. Budget Implementation Act, 2005, S.C. 2005, c. 30:

-Part 18 other than section 125;

9.An Act to amend certain Acts in relation to financial institutions, S.C. 2005, c. 54:

-subsection 27(2), section 102, subsections 239(2), 322(2) and 392(2);

10.Budget Implementation Act, 2009, S.C. 2009, c. 2:

-sections 394, 399 and 401 to 404;

11.Payment Card Networks Act, S.C. 2010, c. 12, s. 1834:

-sections 6 and 7;

12.An Act to promote the efficiency and adaptability of the Canadian economy by regulating certain activities that discourage reliance on electronic means of carrying out commercial activities, and to amend the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Act, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and the Telecommunications Act, S.C. 2010, c. 23:

-sections 47 to 51, 55 and 68, subsection 89(2) and section 90;

13.Financial System Review Act, S.C. 2012, c. 5:

-sections 54 and 56 to 59;

14.An Act to amend the Railway Safety Act and to make consequential amendments to the Canada Transportation Act, S.C. 2012, c. 7:

-subsections 7(2) and 14(2) to (5);

15.Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Act, S.C. 2012, c. 17:

-sections 70 to 77;

16.Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act, S.C. 2012, c. 19:

-sections 459, 460, 462 and 463;

17.Jobs and Growth Act, 2012, S.C. 2012, c. 31:

-sections 361 to 364;

18.Strengthening Military Justice in the Defence of Canada Act, S.C. 2013, c. 24:

-sections 12, 13 and 46;

19.Yale First Nation Final Agreement Act, S.C. 2013, c. 25:

-sections 1 to 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24;

20.Economic Action Plan 2013 Act, No. 1, S.C. 2013, c. 33:

-subsection 228(2); and

21.Economic Action Plan 2013 Act, No. 2, S.C. 2013, c. 40:

-sections 263, 266 and 267.

She said: This motion, Motion No. 144, proposes, before December 31 of this year, to defer the repeal of one act and the provisions of 20 other acts that are listed in this motion.

As Legislative Deputy to the Government Representative in the Senate, this is my first time initiating debate on a Statutes Repeal Act motion, which has become an annual Christmas tradition in the Senate. Like my predecessors Senator Gagné, Senator Bellemare, Senator Martin, I hope I’ll be able to do this process justice and do it quickly.

Before going into the specifics of this motion, I’d like to provide some general information about the Statutes Repeal Act as a refresher and to provide some useful context for colleagues who have recently joined this chamber.

The Statutes Repeal Act was enacted in 2008 and came into force two years later. The act is a housekeeping measure for the federal statutes and seeks to ensure the effective maintenance of federal legislation through the regular repeal of provisions that are not in force and no longer needed.

Section 2 of the Statues Repeal Act requires that the Minister of Justice table an annual report before both houses of Parliament on any of the first five sitting days in each calendar year. This report lists the acts of Parliament or provisions of acts of Parliament not yet in force that were enacted nine years or more before December 31 of the previous calendar year.

Under the Statutes Repeal Act, every act or provision listed in the report is automatically repealed on December 31 of the year in which the report is tabled, unless it comes into force on or before that date or unless during that year either house of Parliament adopts a resolution exempting them from repeal.

The thirteenth annual report under the Statutes Repeal Act was tabled on January 31, 2023, in the House of Commons and on February 1, 2023, in the Senate.

Following the tabling of the report, the Department of Justice contacted the departments responsible for the act and provisions listed in the report to verify whether their repeal should be deferred. Thanks to valuable input from senators over the past few years, the Government Representative Office, or GRO, has made efforts to improve the process of the Statutes Repeal Act in the Senate to ensure all honourable senators can receive as much information as possible.

Last year, the GRO began providing a detailed backgrounder to all senators on the Statutes Repeal Act. This yearly summary includes a detailed list that explains this act and the provisions of 20 other acts for which ministers have recommended deferral of repeals, including the reason for the recommended deferrals. That information was circulated from my office yesterday to all honourable senators and their staff.

In addition, some senators in the past, including our colleague Senator Dennis Patterson, have suggested that there should be greater parliamentary oversight built into the process for the Statutes Repeal Act resolution process so that senators could hear directly from departmental officials as to the rationale behind the deferral of repeals. As a result, the Senate adopted a motion on November 9 put forward by the GRO to allow the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs to examine the 2023 annual report under the Statutes Repeal Act so that a Senate committee would have an opportunity to study the issue before the resolution was put forward. With the benefit of hearing from officials representing over 11 departments, the Legal Committee examined and reported on the annual report, and this study was reported back to the chamber last Thursday by Senator Cotter.

I want to thank our colleagues in the Canadian Senators Group for this constructive proposal, and thank the committee for their diligent and thorough work. I hope that a similar process can be replicated for the Statutes Repeal Act process for years to come.

Of note, the committee made several thoughtful suggestions as to how the process could be improved, particularly through annual reporting. The committee observed that:

Your committee encourages the government to, in future, provide a statement of reasons explaining why the Acts and provisions listed in the annual report have not yet come into force, as well as a timeline for their implementation, when tabling the required annual report under the Statutes Repeal Act.

I believe this type of information should be integrated as part of the annual report, and I can indicate that the GRO has raised this matter proactively with the government, including the Minister of Justice.

Honourable senators, this year, certain provisions of four acts will be repealed on December 31 by operation of the Statutes Repeal Act because the responsible ministers have not recommended that their repeal be deferred. Thirteen ministers have recommended that repeal be deferred for one complete act and the provisions of 20 other acts for which they are responsible. These are listed in the annex of the background document my office has shared with all senators, along with the reasons for the recommended deferrals.

Since my speaking time is probably limited, I refer senators to that document for more comprehensive information, but I’ll provide a few general overview points now about this year’s recommended deferrals.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs is recommending that the repeal be deferred of the complete act named the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Implementation Act.

The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, the Minister of Labour and Seniors, the Minister of Northern Affairs and the Minister of Public Services and Procurement have each recommended the deferral of repeal for certain provisions of one act, for which they’re responsible for.

The Minister of Justice, the Minister of National Defence, the President of the Treasury Board and the Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs are each recommending deferral of repeal for certain provisions of two acts within their area of responsibility.

The Minister of Transport is recommending deferral of repeal for certain provisions of three acts.

Finally, the Minister of Finance is recommending deferral of repeal for certain provisions of four acts.

There are a variety of reasons for deferring repeal. In some cases, the external event must occur before legislation can come into force, such as the promulgation of an international treaty or the enactment of provincial or territorial legislation. In other cases, work is under way on other legislation that could affect the same provisions. Sometimes deferred provisions are wrapped up in matters being adjudicated before the courts. Other times there is work being done to develop regulations or to consult affected stakeholders, and provisions can’t be enacted until that work is done. There are also considerations involving international relations, relations with provinces and territories and relations with First Nations, Inuit and Métis people.

In all cases, the Statutes Repeal Act provides that repeal deferrals are valid for only one year. That means any act or provision whose repeal is deferred this year will appear again in next year’s annual report, and next year those provisions will either have been enacted, repealed or have their repeal deferred once again through this same process.

Honourable senators, it is important that this resolution be adopted before December 31, 2023. Otherwise, the provisions listed in the motion will automatically be repealed by operations of the Statutes Repeal Act. This could lead to inconsistencies in federal legislation, it could damage relationships with governments within Canada and abroad and it could create a new need for new legislation to address the resulting legislative gaps. For these reasons, I encourage all honourable senators to support this motion.

As I said, I invite anyone who would like more information about this process or about the particular provisions involved in this motion to consult the documents we have circulated, speak to our colleagues on the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee or get in touch with my office. Thank you, hiy hiy.