Question to Minister Gould: Amending the Parliament of Canada Act

Hon. Ratna Omidvar: Thank you, minister, for being with us today. I’m delighted to find common ground with my colleague Senator Smith across the aisle and his interest in Senate reform. I want to focus on the Parliament of Canada Act.

As we all know, the Parliament of Canada Act is out of step with the increasing independence of the Senate. The independent senators are now the largest group in the Senate. The act doesn’t reflect this. Let me give you a few examples of what that means.

Parliamentary groups other than the government and the opposition are not recognized. The leadership of the independents and the independent Liberals is not compensated. Further, under the status quo, decisions on allocation of time to a particular stage of a study on a bill, length of bells to summon senators, compositions of committees, et cetera, are based on agreements by the Government Representative and the opposition leader.

I want to tell you we’re all good people here and we’ve been able to get accommodation for the ISG and the Senate Liberals through sessional orders and with the help of my colleagues in the Conservative caucus and the G3. These are just agreements between various groups and caucuses and are not formal amendments to the rules and legislation that govern how we work.

In order to anchor the independence and modernization of the Senate, the Parliament of Canada Act must be amended. In my view, there is some urgency on this matter.

Do you agree the Parliament of Canada Act should be amended to reflect the new modern Senate? Can you tell us if this is a priority for you and your government?

Hon. Karina Gould, P.C., M.P., Minister of Democratic Institutions: Thank you, senator, for your question. I’d like to thank all those senators involved in the project of modernization in the Senate.

I would like to be able to converse more on this. I think it’s important for me not to prejudge how the Senate does its modernization, as I believe that’s up to the chamber.

However, I would entertain amendments to the Parliament of Canada Act and think this is something that should be done. However, I would leave that up to honourable senators to decide. I hope we can carry on this conversation in greater detail to ensure the governing rules reflect the actuality of this place.