CANADA
In late 2014, Royal Assent was granted to 20 bills. Among these were Bill C-13, the Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act, which deals with cyberbullying, and C-36, the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act, which was introduced after the Supreme Court of Canada gave Parliament a year to come up with new prostitution laws.
Committee Reports The Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources tabled a report entitled ‘Digging Safely – One-call Notification Systems and the Prevention of Damage to Canada’s Buried Infrastructure.’ The report looked at the damage caused by excavation to buried infrastructure such as pipelines, wires and water mains. It also examined the gaps in the provincial and territorial one-call systems for contacting the various utilities involved. The Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages tabled a report entitled ‘Seizing the Opportunity: The role of communities in a constantly changing immigration system’. It looked at the impacts of recent changes to the immigration system on official language minority communities – French- speaking communities in primarily English-speaking provinces and English- speaking communities in Quebec. The Committee urged the government to enhance the vitality of official language minority communities and to support and assist their development. The House of Commons
Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food
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presented a report entitled ‘Canadian Agriculture and the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement [CETA]’. The Committee made six recommendations, including the approval of CETA and the continued defense of Canada’s supply- management system. The House of Commons
Standing Committee on Finance presented a report entitled ‘Towards Prosperity: Federal Budgetary Priorities for People, Businesses and Communities’. It reported on the Committee’s pre-budget consultations, in which it asked for submissions on the following topics: balancing the federal budget; supporting families by focusing on health, education and training; increasing business competitiveness; investing in infrastructure; improving taxation and regulatory regimes; and maximizing the number and type of jobs. The House of Commons Standing Committee on the
Status of Women presented a report entitled ‘Eating Disorders among Girls and Women in Canada’, in which it examined this serious mental illness, the factors contributing to eating disorders and the obstacles in addressing them and seeking treatment. The House of Commons
Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities presented a report entitled ‘Renewal of the Labour Market Development Agreements’, in which it looked at the funding agreements the federal government has with the provinces and territories for providing programs for the unemployed.
Court ruling on physician- assisted suicide On 6 February, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the laws prohibiting assisted suicide in cases of physicians assisting in the death of competent adults who have
an irremediable disease that causes enduring, intolerable suffering and who have given their consent. The Court gave Parliament and the provincial legislatures one year to enact new legislation, if they choose to do so. After that, the current laws will become invalid.
Court ruling on royal assent In January 2015, the Federal Court ruled that the governor general’s decision to grant royal assent cannot be reviewed by the courts. The applicants had argued the governor general should not have given royal assent to a bill that would allow the citizenship of those convicted of terrorism to be revoked. The judgement said the courts have the power to examine laws once they have been enacted, but cannot intervene in the legislative process. Therefore, because royal assent is the final stage in the legislative process, it cannot be reviewed by the courts.
Canada’s Parliament
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