The Senate

Honourable senators, for greater clarity, we are debating an extension of our current hybrid practice until June 30, 2022, which is around when we will rise for the summer recess.

While businesses and institutions are reopening, and normality is slowly returning, I believe we should err on the side of caution and do everything in our power to protect the health of senators and Senate employees. We are, by all accounts, still in the sixth wave of this pandemic and do not need to take unnecessary risks when we have a proven hybrid system working pretty well for this temporary period.

Having said this, I believe this motion we are debating today should be improved in order to free up chamber time to allow for two additional committees to sit on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, in addition to the two that are currently available then. More precision is needed to ensure that we allow for more opportunities for committees to meet and carefully study legislation, while having enough time to debate in the chamber.

Colleagues, I will move an amendment that will provide us with the flexibility we need to find a better balance between our work in committees and in the chamber for this period that will go until the end of June 2022. This amendment will also provide for the Senate to adjourn no later than midnight, a precision which was omitted in the main motion.