Journals of the Senate
57 Elizabeth II, A.D. 2008, Canada
Journals of the Senate
2nd Session, 39th Parliament
Issue 69
Thursday, June 12, 2008
1:30 p.m.
The Honourable Noël A. Kinsella, Speaker
The Members convened were:
The Honourable Senators
Adams, Andreychuk, Angus, Bacon, Baker, Banks, Brown, Bryden, Callbeck, Carstairs, Chaput, Cochrane, Comeau, Cook, Corbin, Cordy, Cowan, Dallaire, Day, Di Nino, Dyck, Eggleton, Eyton, Fairbairn, Fox, Fraser, Goldstein, Grafstein, Gustafson, Harb, Jaffer, Johnson, Joyal, Keon, Kinsella, LeBreton, Losier-Cool, Lovelace Nicholas, Mahovlich, Massicotte, Meighen, Mercer, Milne, Mitchell, Moore, Munson, Murray, Nancy Ruth, Nolin, Oliver, Pépin, Peterson, Phalen, Prud'homme, Ringuette, Rivest, Robichaud, Rompkey, St. Germain, Segal, Smith, Spivak, Stollery, Stratton, Tardif, Tkachuk, Trenholme Counsell, Watt, Zimmer
The Members in attendance to business were:
The Honourable Senators
Adams, Andreychuk, Angus, Bacon, Baker, Banks, Brown, Bryden, Callbeck, Carstairs, Chaput, Cochrane, Comeau, Cook, Corbin, Cordy, Cowan, Dallaire, Day, Di Nino, *Downe, Dyck, Eggleton, Eyton, Fairbairn, *Fortier, Fox, Fraser, Goldstein, Grafstein, Gustafson, Harb, Jaffer, Johnson, Joyal, Keon, Kinsella, LeBreton, Losier-Cool, Lovelace Nicholas, Mahovlich, Massicotte, Meighen, Mercer, Milne, Mitchell, Moore, Munson, Murray, Nancy Ruth, Nolin, Oliver, Pépin, Peterson, Phalen, Prud'homme, Ringuette, Rivest, Robichaud, Rompkey, St. Germain, Segal, Smith, Spivak, Stollery, Stratton, Tardif, Tkachuk, Trenholme Counsell, Watt, Zimmer
PRAYERS
SENATORS' STATEMENTS
Some Honourable Senators made statements.
DAILY ROUTINE OF BUSINESS
Presentation of Reports from Standing or Special Committees
The Honourable Senator Fairbairn, P.C., Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, tabled its eighth report (interim) entitled: "Growing'' Costs for Canadian Farmers.—Sessional Paper No. 2/39-646S.
The Honourable Senator Fairbairn, P.C., moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Carstairs, P.C., that the report be placed on the Orders of the Day for consideration at the next sitting.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
The Honourable Senator Fraser, Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, presented its thirteenth report (Bill C-31, An Act to amend the Judges Act, without amendment).
The Honourable Senator Comeau moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Stratton, that the bill be placed on the Orders of the Day for a third reading at the next sitting.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
The Honourable Senator Fraser presented the following:
Thursday, June 12, 2008
The Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs has the honour to present its
FOURTEENTH REPORT
Your committee, to which was referred Bill S-209, An Act to amend the Criminal Code, has, in obedience to the order of reference of Thursday, March 13, 2008, examined the said Bill and now reports the same with the following amendment:
Clause 1, page 1: Replace line 5 with the following:
"pealed and replaced by the following:
43. (1) Every schoolteacher, parent or person standing in the place of a parent is justified in using reasonable force other than corporal punishment toward a child who is under their care if the force is used only for the purpose of
(a) preventing or minimizing harm to the child or another person;
(b) preventing the child from engaging or continuing to engage in conduct that is of a criminal nature; or
(c) preventing the child from engaging or continuing to engage in excessively offensive or disruptive behaviour.
(2) In subsection (1), "reasonable force'' means an application of force that is transitory and minimal in the circumstances.''.
Respectfully submitted,
JOAN FRASER
Chair
The Honourable Senator Fraser moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Rompkey, P.C., that the report be placed on the Orders of the Day for consideration at the next sitting.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
The Honourable Senator Day presented the following:
Thursday, June 12, 2008
The Standing Senate Committee on National Finance has the honour to present its
SEVENTEENTH REPORT
Your Committee, to which was referred Bill C-50, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on February 26, 2008 and to enact provisions to preserve the fiscal plan set out in that budget, has, in obedience to the Order of Reference of Tuesday, June 10, 2008, examined the said Bill and now reports the same without amendment. Your Committee appends to this report certain observations relating to the Bill.
Respectfully submitted,
JOSEPH A. DAY
Chair
Observations Appended to the Seventeenth Report of the
Standing Senate Committee on National Finance
Non-budget items in budget bills
The majority of the Committee strongly objects to the practice of including legislative measures that have no direct relationship to budgetary matters in budget implementation bills. This practice has the effect of discouraging serious parliamentary scrutiny, and creates a situation in which parliamentarians are loath to conduct a proper examination of non budgetary measures for fear of delaying budgetary items that are more pressing. In the present bill, the government has included a large number of amendments to Acts of Parliament that are not related to fiscal management or economic policy. In particular, the majority of the Committee notes that major amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act properly belong in a stand-alone bill, which should also address the backlog of applications that is now approaching 1 million.
Scholarships
The majority of the Committee shares the concern expressed by some witnesses that only the financial assistance function of the sunsetting Millennium Scholarship Foundation was addressed by the measures announced in the budget. The government should take steps to ensure merit scholarship and the important research supported by the Millennium Scholarship Foundation will not be lost, but education will be continued either by a government department or by some other means.
EI Fund
The majority of the Committee agrees with several witnesses, including the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, who expressed concern that the $2 billion Employment Insurance EI fund reserve is woefully inadequate. A larger reserve in the range of $12 billion to $15 billion is needed, both to permit the Financing Board to avoid dramatic fluctuations in premium rates, and to ensure that the fund will be adequate to cover a sharp rise in benefit payments during any future economic downturn.
Immigration
The majority of the Committee agrees with the many witnesses who regard the proposed changes to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act as an unnecessary and excessive expansion of the discretion of the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration with regards to applications filed after February 27, 2008. The broad discretion provided for in the bill would authorize the Minister to engage in discriminatory and abusive selection practices. The majority of the Committee disagrees with the government's view that it needs authority to issue "instructions'' under the Act without notice and without consultation, subject only to the requirement to publish instructions after the fact. Moreover, the excessive discretion provided by the bill could actually backfire if prospective immigrants fail to apply because they expect to be treated unfairly. Some witnesses noted that the Minister already has the authority to achieve the government's stated objectives, and that the legislative changes either implement a policy objective that the government has not revealed, or else they are redundant. Finally, the majority of the Committee is concerned that the Minister's power to prioritize certain applications could be exercised to the detriment of non-economic categories, such as family class immigrants and applications made on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.
The Honourable Senator Day moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Phalen, that the bill be placed on the Orders of the Day for a third reading at the next sitting.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
The Honourable Senator Chaput, Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages, tabled its fifth report entitled: Bilingual Staff At Air Canada: Embracing the Challenge and Moving Forward.—Sessional Paper No. 2/ 39-647S.
The Honourable Senator Chaput moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Trenholme Counsell, that the report be placed on the Orders of the Day for consideration at the next sitting.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
The Honourable Senator Chaput, Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages, tabled its sixth report entitled: Progress Report: Study on the Implementation of Part VII of the Official Languages Act.—Sessional Paper No. 2/39-648S.
The Honourable Senator Chaput moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Trenholme Counsell, that the report be placed on the Orders of the Day for consideration at the next sitting.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
Government Notices of Motions
With leave of the Senate,
The Honourable Senator Comeau moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Nolin:
That, when the Senate resolves itself into a Committee of the Whole this afternoon, pursuant to the order adopted yesterday, to hear from First Nations witnesses respecting the statement of apology to former students of Indian Residential Schools, it also hear from Patrick Brazeau, National Chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, in addition to the witnesses approved yesterday;
That television cameras be authorized in the Senate Chamber to broadcast the proceedings of the Committee of the Whole scheduled for today, with the least possible disruption of the proceedings; and that photographers be authorized in the Senate Chamber to photograph the witnesses, with the least possible disruption of the proceedings; and
That the Committee of the Whole report to the Senate no later than 5:00 p.m.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
With leave of the Senate,
The Honourable Senator Comeau moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Gustafson:
That the Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence and the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights be authorized to sit Monday, June 16, 2008, even though the Senate may then be sitting, and that the application of rule 95(4) be suspended in relation thereto.
After debate,
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
Introduction and First Reading of Senate Public Bills
The Honourable Senator Carstairs, P.C., presented a Bill S-239, An Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act (foreign postings).
The bill was read the first time.
The Honourable Senator Carstairs, P.C., moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Pépin, that the bill be placed on the Orders of the Day for a second reading two days hence.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
The Honourable Senator Banks presented a Bill S-240, An Act to amend the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999.
The bill was read the first time.
The Honourable Senator Banks moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Callbeck, that the bill be placed on the Orders of the Day for a second reading two days hence.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
MESSAGES FROM THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
A message was brought from the House of Commons with a Bill C-207, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (tax credit for new graduates working in designated regions), to which it desires the concurrence of the Senate.
The bill was read the first time.
The Honourable Senator Comeau moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Stratton, that the bill be placed on the Orders of the Day for a second reading two days hence.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
ORDERS OF THE DAY
GOVERNMENT BUSINESS
Bills
Third reading of Bill C-30, An Act to establish the Specific Claims Tribunal and to make consequential amendments to other Acts.
The Honourable Senator St. Germain, P.C., moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Cochrane, that the bill be read the third time.
After debate,
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
The bill was then read the third time and passed.
Ordered, That a message be sent to the House of Commons to acquaint that House that the Senate has passed this bill, without amendment.
Ordered, That Order No. 2, under OTHER BUSINESS, Commons Public Bills, be brought forward.
Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Tardif, seconded by the Honourable Senator Cowan, for the third reading of Bill C-292, An Act to implement the Kelowna Accord.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted, on division.
The bill was then read the third time and passed, on division.
Ordered, That a message be sent to the House of Commons to acquaint that House that the Senate has passed this bill, without amendment.
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
At 3 p.m., pursuant to the orders adopted on June 11 and 12, 2008, the Senate was adjourned during pleasure and put into a Committee of the Whole in order to hear from Phil Fontaine, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Patrick Brazeau, National Chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, Mary Simon, President of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and Clem Chartier, President of the Metis National Council, respecting the government's statement of apology to former students of Indian Residential Schools, the Honourable Senator Losier-Cool in the Chair.
—In the Committee—
Pursuant to the orders adopted on June 11 and 12, 2008, Mr. Phil Fontaine, Mr. Patrick Brazeau, Ms. Mary Simon and Mr. Clem Chartier were escorted to their seats in the Senate Chamber.
Debate.
Ordered, That the Committee rise, and that the Chair report that the Committee has heard the witnesses.
The sitting of the Senate resumed.
The Chair of the Committee informed the Senate that the Committee has heard the witnesses.
GOVERNMENT BUSINESS
Bills
Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Di Nino, seconded by the Honourable Senator Stratton, for the second reading of Bill C-21, An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act.
After debate,
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
The bill was then read the second time.
The Honourable Senator Di Nino moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Nolin, that the bill be referred to the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Brown, seconded by the Honourable Senator Nancy Ruth, for the second reading of Bill C-33, An Act to amend the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999.
After debate,
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted, on division.
The bill was then read the second time, on division.
The Honourable Senator Comeau moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Nolin, that the bill be referred to the Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources.
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 Monday, June 16, 2008, at 6 p.m. and that rule 13(1) be suspended in relation thereto.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
REPORTS DEPOSITED WITH THE CLERK OF THE SENATE PURSUANT TO RULE 28(2):
Reports of The Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008, pursuant to the Access to Information Act and to the Privacy Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. A-1 and P-21, sbs. 72(2). —Sessional Paper No. 2/39-644.
Reports of the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008, pursuant to the Access to Information Act and to the Privacy Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. A-1 and P-21, sbs. 72(2).—Sessional Paper No. 2/39-645.
ADJOURNMENT
The Honourable Senator Comeau moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Di Nino:
That the Senate do now adjourn.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
(Accordingly, at 6:05 p.m. the Senate was continued until Monday, June 16, 2008, at 6 p.m.)
Changes in Membership of Committees Pursuant to Rule 85(4)
Standing Senate Committee on National Finance
The name of the Honourable Senator Biron substituted for that of the Honourable Senator Massicotte (June 11).
Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs
The name of the Honourable Senator Di Nino substituted for that of the Honourable Senator Cochrane (June 11).
The names of the Honourable Senators Watt, Campbell and Peterson substituted for those of the Honourable Senators Carstairs, Cowan and Merchant (June 12).