Honourable senators, with leave of the Senate, I move, seconded by the Honourable Senators Plett, Saint-Germain and Cordy:

That the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance be authorized to examine and report on the practice of including non-financial matters in bills implementing provisions of budgets and economic statements, including, but not limited to:

(a)examining how the Senate generally reviews and considers non-financial provisions in budget implementation acts;

(b)examining how other legislatures review financial legislation; and

(c)providing recommendations and guidelines to the Senate and its committees on methods to provide proper scrutiny of non-financial provisions found within budget implementation acts while permitting financial provisions to proceed in a timely manner; and

That the committee report to the Senate no later than April 30, 2024.

The Hon. the Speaker: Is leave granted, honourable senators?

Hon. Senators: Agreed.

Honourable senators, I’ll be brief. I’m all that stands between us and adjournment.

I’d like to start by thanking all senators who spoke to my amendment during the Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1 — Bill C-47 — debates last June. That debate and the exchange between senators was a clear example of what the Senate does best. Together, we examine, comment and scrutinize legislation.

This motion is borne out of those and subsequent conversations and discussions that were had amongst senators; it was led, I would say, by the urging of the late Senator Shugart, who contacted a number of us over the summer — myself included — and urged us to do something to make it better, rather than just complain about how it always is.

I’d like to thank the leaders — my colleagues — who seconded this motion, and who also contributed in the drafting of the motion.

The purpose of this motion is for the National Finance Committee to conduct a review of how the Senate deals with non-financial items that are placed inside of budget bills, specifically budget implementation acts. We had a number of difficult examples of this last June.

Governments in the past have used budget implementation acts to include minor, non-financial items instead of stand-alone legislation or omnibus bills with housekeeping items. However, I think the experience last June highlighted that this practice of adding housekeeping items has progressed — over many years — into something far more consequential, where there are policy items that are not financial, and should not be afforded the shield of time-sensitive budget review pressure, coupled with the tradition of a hands-off approach by the Senate on amendments to budget bills.

The race against time — that we always seem to be in when we’re dealing with a budget bill — is a necessary part of time‑sensitive budgeting, but a lot of the non-financial items do not qualify for that kind of intense treatment, and deserve better consideration.

The motion proposes that our National Finance Committee — which is our main investigator of government financial matters — see if they can find better ways for us to deal with non-financial items.

Let me also address what this motion does not do.

The intention is not to do away with omnibus bills. We cannot wave a magic wand and make them go away. This motion is to examine how we, as senators, can possibly improve how we deal with budget implementation acts that contain non-financial elements. It is about looking for ways to balance the government’s need for speed while ensuring proper scrutiny by the Senate can occur.

This study also does not look to change the supply process. It will just examine how the Senate deals with these types of bills. This is not a challenge to the executive branch and its ability to propose legislative measures. This study will examine ways for the Senate to do its job.

It’s not a review to change our Rules. It is a way to find better practices for now. This could lead to rule changes down the road if we — the Senate — feel that’s warranted.

In conclusion, I’d like to thank all senators for their attention tonight on this topic, and I hope that we can potentially call the question this evening so that this study can be sent to the National Financial Committee for their consideration prior to us receiving the 2024-25 budget implementation act. Thanks, colleagues.