PARLIAMENTARY REPORT
the extent to which he or she can communicate with voters. The Bill also changes the
status of the Commissioner of Canada Elections, who enforces the Canada Elections Act and who is appointed by the Chief Electoral Officer. In the future, he or she will be appointed by the Director of Public Prosecutions and work out of that office, albeit independently. Among some other noteworthy changes, the Fair Elections Act will change the rules regarding the identification of voters and eliminate the practice by which an elector may vouch for the identity of another elector. The amendments will also
address problems related to the unsolicited telephone calls political parties make to prospective voters and increase the limits for financial contributions to political parties. In addition, the Bill will end the
CANADA
prohibition on communicating election results from the eastern regions of the country before polls close in the western regions; social media has made this prohibition unworkable. After debate at second
reading, which, pursuant to a government motion, was limited to four days, the Fair Elections Act was referred to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.
Membership changes in the Senate and the House of Commons Before Parliament adjourned for the holiday recess in December, Conservative Senators Hon. Gerald J. Comeau and Hon. David Braley retired before reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75 years. Conservative Senator Hon. Hugh Segal also announced that he would retire early in June 2014. Mr Bruce Hyer, MP, who
THIRD READING: QUÉBEC
Mining The Assembly’s fall sessional period ended on 6 December 2013. However, the Premier called an emergency sitting of the Assembly on 9 December and passed Bill 70, An Act to amend the Mining Act, introduced in the Assembly on 5 December. In the last few years, three attempts to reform mining legislation had stalled. The last of those attempts, Bill 43, was withdrawn from the Order Paper after the opposition MNAs, who have a majority in the Assembly, voted against its principle on 30 October 2013. Under the new Act, a mining lease cannot be
granted until a scoping and market study as regards to mineral processing in Québec is submitted. In addition, the government may, on reasonable grounds, require that the economic spinoffs within Québec of mining activities such as mineral processing be maximized. A new chapter of the Mining Act is devoted to the consultation of native communities. Regional county municipalities are allowed to delimit any mining- incompatible territory in their land use and development plan. In addition, the involvement of local communities is encouraged through the establishment of a monitoring committee for each project.
56 | The Parliamentarian | 2014: Issue One Mining development must be carried out in a
manner respectful of the environment and of local communities. To that end, public consultations are to be conducted by the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement regarding all projects involving mines or mineral processing plants having a capacity of 2,000 metric tons or more per day and regarding rare earth projects. For the other projects, a consultation must be conducted by the mining company in accordance with government guidelines. Lastly, the quantity and value of the ore extracted from each mine and the royalties and other contributions paid to the State by the companies are to be made public.
Staffing in the public service Bill 41, An Act to amend the Public Service Act mainly with respect to staffing, was passed on 19 November 2013. It modernizes the selection process for public servants by eliminating competitions and lists of qualified candidates. These are replaced by other qualification mechanisms and banks of qualified persons. As well, government departments and bodies will now be required to table a five-year human resources strategy.
had left the New Democratic Party caucus in April 2012 to sit as an independent, became the second member of the Green Party caucus, joining leader Hon. Elizabeth May, MP. In January 2014, Conservative
Hon. Brian Jean, MP, resigned. When the House resumed sitting on 27 January, four MPs (two Conservatives and two Liberals) who had been elected in by-elections in November 2013 took their seats.
Change in the size of House of Commons committees In December, the House of Commons concurred in a report from the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs amending the Standing Orders to reduce the size of standing committees from 12 members to 10—six members from the governing Conservative party, three from the Official Opposition
New Democratic Party and one from the Liberal Party. As a result, before committees
could resume work when the House resumed sitting in January, they had to wait for the Committee on Procedure and House Affairs to establish a new list of members and then elect a chair.
Parliamentary reform In November 2013, the Supreme Court heard arguments on the government’s reference on proposed Senate reforms. While the Supreme Court
prepared its opinion, Senate reform was kept in the spotlight when in late January, Liberal Party Leader Mr Justin Trudeau, MP, suddenly announced that the 32 Liberal Party Senators would no longer be part of the national Liberal caucus—which was made up of Senators and MPs—and would sit as independents. Caught off-guard, the former Liberal Senators decided nonetheless to continue sitting as a group known as the “Liberal Senate caucus.” In a statement on 29 January,
the Speaker of the Senate, Hon. Noël A. Kinsella, ruled that, under the Rules of the Senate, the group met the definition of a recognized party and he recognized Sen. the Hon. James S. Cowan as the leader of the group. Meanwhile, the House of Commons agreed to a motion instructing the Committee on Procedure and House Affairs to look into establishing an electronic petitioning system. The Committee was given a
year to report its findings to the House. As it stands, petitions must be submitted on paper. In a separate motion, the House of Commons also gave the Committee six months to study the election of committee chairs by the House of Commons through the use of a preferential ballot system. Currently, committees elect their own chairs.
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