The passing of several bills in the Senate chamber, a report on court delays, a speech on palliative care and a committee’s look at a bill to name Charlottetown as birthplace of Confederation were some of last week’s highlights. 

Government:

Senators passed three important pieces of Government legislation in the past week.

There was emotion and celebration in the Senate after the vote on Bill C-16, An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code. This law will provide real, concrete protections in law for transgender and gender-diverse people, a group that is too often targeted with discrimination and hate crimes. 

C-4, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code, the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act, the Public Service Labour Relations Act and the Income Tax Act, delivers on an election promise to repeal legislation that weakened the collective bargaining process for Canadian workers. C-4 will restore the delicate balance of power between employees and employers, leading toward greater stability in labour relations — an essential element to Canada’s economic prosperity.

Bill C-6, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act and to make consequential amendments to another Act, demonstrates how amendments by the Senate can help make good legislation even better. As Senator Ratna Omidvar, the dedicated sponsor of this bill, said so eloquently, “Equality sees all citizens — by birth or naturalization, mono citizens or dual citizens, whether citizens for 50 years or 10 years — treated equally under the law.”

Opposition

Delaying Justice is Denying Justice, the Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs’ final report on court delays, received wide support following its tabling. Across the country, hundreds of stays have been ordered in criminal cases. The median time for cases to conclude across the country is now 493 days for homicide and 310 days for sexual assault.

Several recommendations are aimed at the federal justice minister. At the press conference, Senators Runciman and Boisvenu pressed the minister to fill the dozens of seats that are still empty.

“How can a justice minister ignore such a major crisis, which clearly jeopardizes the safety of our communities?” wrote Senators Boisvenu and Dagenais in an open letter to the Minister of Justice a few weeks ago.

Senator Denise Batters stated: “The time to act on court delays is now. We can't afford to wait because justice will suffer, and it does really undermine the public's confidence in the Canadian justice system."

Friday, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the principles of the Jordan ruling. A case should be wrapped up within an 18-month timeline in lower court, and within 30 months for a superior court case. This decision underlines the importance and the urgency of finding solutions to fix court delays.

I invite the government, and especially the Minister of Justice, to study the report Delaying Justice is Denying Justice , and to restore confidence in the justice system. This is a time of crisis, and crises require action.

Senate Liberals

This week, I had the honour to speak in the Senate Chamber to my inquiry about the importance of palliative care. I believe we must develop a national strategy for uniform standards and delivery of palliative care and make it an insured health service covered under the Canada Health Act.

The World Health Organization defines palliative care as an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illnesses, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems.

In essence, palliative care is about living well until the end of life.

Palliative care is about providing the right care, in the right place, at the right time. This requires an interdisciplinary team of both formal and informal care providers who provide care in all settings — hospitals, hospices, long-term care and home — to individuals and their families, regardless of age or where they live in Canada.

Canadians are living longer, yet many Canadians are living longer with multiple chronic illnesses. This chamber has, in the past, shown great leadership in bringing palliative care to the forefront of Canadian thinking.

The Canadian Medical Association has adopted a policy statement that all Canadians should have access to comparable comprehensive, quality palliative care services. Palliative care is now a recognized medical necessity, but access to these services still depends on where you live in our great country. This is simply unacceptable.

Independent Senators Group

This week we catch a glimpse of the Senate through the eyes of Independent Senator Diane Griffin (Prince Edward Island).

I introduced Bill S-236, An Act to recognize Charlottetown as the birthplace of Confederation, at the request of a unanimous resolution of the PEI Legislative Assembly.

We are proud Canadians who will soon celebrate 150 years since the British North America Act came into effect on July 1, 1867. Confederation is a significant part of Canadian history and has served us well in the last one and a half centuries.

Last week I had the pleasure to appear before the Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee to discuss S-236. My witness, Dr. Ed MacDonald, Chair of History at the University of Prince Edward Island, informed the committee of the historical importance of the 1864 Charlottetown Conference which led to Confederation. Although the Charlottetown is considered the birthplace because it was first, in committee, senators amended the bill to acknowledge the role that the Quebec and London conferences had in the creation of the Dominion of Canada.

This bill is an educational opportunity to inform Canadians about their history, in this case about the Confederation story. As we say on the Island, to know where we are going, we must know where we are from.

The bill is now at third reading where I am hopeful it will be passed and sent to the House of Commons before Canada Day.