Journals of the Senate
57 Elizabeth II, A.D. 2008, Canada
Journals of the Senate
2nd Session, 39th Parliament
Issue 55
Thursday, May 1, 2008
1:30 p.m.
The Honourable Noël A. Kinsella, Speaker
The Members convened were:
The Honourable Senators
Adams, Andreychuk, Angus, Bacon, Baker, Banks, Bryden, Callbeck, Carstairs, Chaput, Cochrane, Comeau, Cook, Cools, Corbin, Dallaire, Dawson, Day, De Bané, Di Nino, Downe, Dyck, Eggleton, Eyton, Fortier, Fox, Fraser, Furey, Gill, Goldstein, Grafstein, Gustafson, Harb, Hervieux-Payette, Hubley, Johnson, Joyal, Kenny, Keon, Kinsella, LeBreton, Losier-Cool, Lovelace Nicholas, Mahovlich, Massicotte, McCoy, Meighen, Mercer, Milne, Moore, Munson, Nancy Ruth, Oliver, Pépin, Peterson, Phalen, Prud'homme, Ringuette, Rivest, Robichaud, Rompkey, Sibbeston, Smith, Stratton, Tkachuk, Trenholme Counsell, Watt, Zimmer
The Members in attendance to business were:
The Honourable Senators
Adams, Andreychuk, Angus, Bacon, Baker, Banks, Bryden, Callbeck, Carstairs, Chaput, Cochrane, Comeau, Cook, Cools, Corbin, Dallaire, Dawson, Day, De Bané, Di Nino, Downe, Dyck, Eggleton, Eyton, Fortier, Fox, Fraser, Furey, Gill, Goldstein, Grafstein, Gustafson, Harb, Hervieux-Payette, Hubley, Johnson, Joyal, Kenny, Keon, Kinsella, LeBreton, Losier-Cool, Lovelace Nicholas, Mahovlich, Massicotte, McCoy, Meighen, Mercer, Milne, Moore, Munson, Nancy Ruth, Oliver, Pépin, Peterson, Phalen, Prud'homme, Ringuette, Rivest, Robichaud, Rompkey, Sibbeston, Smith, Stratton, Tkachuk, Trenholme Counsell, Watt, Zimmer
PRAYERS
SENATORS' STATEMENTS
Some Honourable Senators made statements.
ORDERS OF THE DAY
A point of order was raised with respect to a Senator's statement.
After debate,
The Speaker reserved his decision.
GOVERNMENT BUSINESS
Bills
Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Oliver, seconded by the Honourable Senator Tkachuk:
That the Senate do not insist on its amendments 1 and 3 to Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (criminal procedure, language of the accused, sentencing and other amendments) to which the House of Commons has disagreed; and
That a Message be sent to the House of Commons to acquaint that House accordingly.
After debate,
The Honourable Senator Fraser moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Ringuette, that further debate on the motion be adjourned until the next sitting.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
Order No. 2 was called and postponed until the next sitting.
Inquiries
Order No. 1 was called and postponed until the next sitting.
OTHER BUSINESS
Senate Public Bills
Order No. 1 was called and postponed until the next sitting.
Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Ringuette, seconded by the Honourable Senator Cowan, for the third reading of Bill S-219, An Act to amend the Public Service Employment Act (elimination of bureaucratic patronage and establishment of national area of selection), as amended.
After debate,
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
The bill, as amended, was then read the third time and passed.
Ordered, That the Clerk do go down to the House of Commons and acquaint that House that the Senate has passed this bill, to which it desires its concurrence.
Orders No. 3 to 13 were called and postponed until the next sitting.
Commons Public Bills
Orders No. 1 to 5 were called and postponed until the next sitting.
Reports of Committees
Orders No. 1 to 7 were called and postponed until the next sitting.
Resuming debate on the consideration of the fifth report of the Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources (subject-matter of Bill S-208, An Act to require the Minister of the Environment to establish, in co-operation with the provinces, an agency with the power to identify and protect Canada's watersheds that will constitute sources of drinking water in the future), tabled in the Senate on February 28, 2008.
After debate,
The Honourable Senator Comeau moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Di Nino, that further debate on the consideration of the report be adjourned until the next sitting.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
Other
Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Grafstein, seconded by the Honourable Senator Callbeck:
That the Senate urge the Government to establish a National Portrait Gallery in the National Capital Region without delay.
After debate,
The Honourable Senator Di Nino moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Andreychuk, that further debate on the motion be adjourned until the next sitting.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
Orders No. 96, 79 (motions), 8 (inquiry), 78 (motion), 4, 13, 12, 9, 3, 7 (inquiries), 11 (motion), 11 (inquiry) and 6 (motion) were called and postponed until the next sitting.
Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Banks, seconded by the Honourable Senator Corbin:
That,
WHEREAS, in the 2nd Session of the 39th Parliament, a bill has been introduced in the Senate to amend the Constitution of Canada by repealing the provision that requires that a person, in order to qualify for appointment to the Senate and to maintain their place in the Senate after being appointed, own land with a net worth of at least four thousand dollars within the province for which he or she is appointed;
AND WHEREAS a related provision of the Constitution makes reference, in respect of the province of Quebec, to the real property qualification that is proposed to be repealed;
AND WHEREAS, in respect of a Senator that represents Quebec, the real property qualification must be had in the electoral division for which the Senator is appointed or the Senator must be resident in that division;
AND WHEREAS the division of Quebec into 24 electoral divisions, corresponding to the 24 seats in the former Legislative Council of Quebec, reflects the historic boundaries of Lower Canada and no longer reflects the full territorial limits of the province of Quebec;
AND WHEREAS section 43 of the Constitution Act, 1982 provides that an amendment to the Constitution of Canada may be made by proclamation issued by the Governor General under the Great Seal of Canada where so authorized by resolutions of the Senate and House of Commons and of the legislative assembly of each province to which the amendment applies;
NOW THEREFORE the Senate resolves that an amendment to the Constitution of Canada be authorized to be made by proclamation issued by Her Excellency the Governor General under the Great Seal of Canada in accordance with the schedule hereto.
SCHEDULE
AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF CANADA
1. Section 22 of the Constitution Act, 1867 is amended by striking out the second paragraph of that section, beginning with the words "In the Case of Quebec'' and ending with "the Consolidated Statutes of Canada.''.
2. (1) Paragraph (5) of section 23 of the Act is replaced by the following:
(5) He shall be resident in the Province for which he is appointed.
(2) Paragraph (6) of section 23 of the Act is repealed.
Citation
3. This Amendment may be cited as the Constitution Amendment, [year of proclamation] (Quebec: electoral divisions and real property qualifications of Senators).
After debate,
The Honourable Senator Comeau moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Di Nino, that further debate on the motion be adjourned until the next sitting.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Joyal, P.C., seconded by the Honourable Senator Pépin:
That this House urge the Government to reconsider its decision not to appeal the death sentence of Ronald Smith, a Canadian citizen, who is on death row in a prison in Montana, and seek from the American authorities a commutation to life imprisonment; and
That the Government abides by the basic principle of the sanctity of life and commit itself to supporting, at all international forums, the abolition of the death penalty in the full knowledge that this country abolished capital punishment more than 30 years ago.
After debate,
The Honourable Senator Joyal, P.C. moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Bacon, that further debate on the motion be adjourned until the next sitting.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
Orders No. 76, 85 (motions), 10 (inquiry) and 3 (motion) were called and postponed until the next sitting.
INQUIRIES
The Honourable Senator Carstairs, P.C., called the attention of the Senate to the recent report on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians at the meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Cape Town, South Africa, April 2008.
After debate,
The Honourable Senator Prud'homme, P.C., moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Munson, that further debate on the inquiry be adjourned until the next sitting.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
Ordered, That Order No. 6 under ORDERS OF THE DAY, OTHER BUSINESS, Reports of Committees, be again called.
Consideration of the fifth report of the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration (committee budgets—legislation), presented in the Senate on April 10, 2008.
The Honourable Senator Stratton moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Comeau, that the report be adopted.
After debate,
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
MOTIONS
The Honourable Senator Andreychuk moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Di Nino:
That the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights be authorized to examine and report on the issue of the sexual exploitation of persons, with particular emphasis on children, including questions of trafficking in children, prostitution, sex tourism, pornography, and the sexual exploitation of children on the internet.
That the Committee submit its final report to the Senate no later than June 30, 2009 and that the Committee retain until October 31, 2009 all powers necessary to publicize its findings.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
The Honourable Senator Dallaire moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Day:
That the Senate call on the Government of Canada to negotiate with the Government of the United States of America the immediate repatriation to Canada of Canadian citizen and former child soldier Omar Khadr from the Guantánamo Bay detention facility;
That the Senate urge the Government of Canada to undertake all necessary measures to promote his rehabilitation, in accordance with this country's international obligations on child rights in armed conflicts, namely the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict; and
That a message be sent to the House of Commons to acquaint that House with the above.
After debate,
The Honourable Senator Di Nino moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Keon, that further debate on the motion be adjourned until the next sitting.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
The Honourable Senator Joyal, P.C., moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Carstairs, P.C.:
That, for the duration of the current session, the Standing Committee on Conflict of Interest for Senators be authorized to sit even though the Senate may then be sitting and that rule 95(4) be suspended in relation thereto.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
With leave,
The Senate reverted to Government Notices of Motions.
With leave of the Senate,
The Honourable Senator Comeau moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Stratton:
That when the Senate adjourns today, it do stand adjourned until Tuesday, May 6, 2008, at 2 p.m.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
REPORTS DEPOSITED WITH THE CLERK OF THE SENATE PURSUANT TO RULE 28(2):
Federal-Provincial Implementation Agreements with the provinces of Prince Edward Island, Québec, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, pursuant to the Farm Income Protection Act, S.C. 1991, c. 22, sbs. 6(1). —Sessional Paper No. 2/39-568.
Summary of the Corporate Plan for the period 2008-2009 to 2012-2013 of Farm Credit Canada, pursuant to the Financial Administration Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. F-11, sbs. 125(4).—Sessional Paper No. 2/39-569.
Summaries of the Corporate Plan for 2008-2009 to 2012-2013 and of the Operating and Capital Budgets for 2008- 2009 of the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation, pursuant to the Financial Administration Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. F- 11, sbs. 125(4). —Sessional Paper No. 2/39-570.
Employment Insurance Monitoring and Assessment Report for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007, pursuant to the Employment Insurance Act, S.C. 1996, c. 23, sbs. 3(3).—Sessional Paper No. 2/39-571.
ADJOURNMENT
The Honourable Senator Comeau moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator LeBreton, P.C.:
That the Senate do now adjourn.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
(Accordingly, at 4:35 p.m. the Senate was continued until Tuesday, May 6, 2008, at 2 p.m.)
Changes in Membership of Committees Pursuant to Rule 85(4)
Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence
The name of the Honourable Senator Kenny substituted for that of the Honourable Senator Downe (April 30).
Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs
The name of the Honourable Senator Moore substituted for that of the Honourable Senator Merchant (April 30).
Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce
The name of the Honourable Senator Massicotte substituted for that of the Honourable Senator Banks (May 1).