CANADA
Proceedings of the Special Senate Committee on Senate Modernization
Consideration of methods to make the Senate more effective within the current constitutional framework
Publicly televised sessions, witnesses called, and relevant briefs, etc. 0
Organization of the Committee 1A
February 24, 2016:
1st Meeting 1A1
Witnesses from a symposium organized by Senator Joyal 1B
March 9, 2016:
2nd Meeting. Witness: Prof. David Smith,
Ryerson College.
Brief: Coming to terms 1B1
April 13, 2016:
5th Meeting. Witnesses: Professors Errol Mendes, University of Ottawa; Donald Desserud, University of Prince Edward Island; Stéphane Beaulac, Universsity of Montreal; Paul Thomas, University of Manitoba.
Briefs: Working together, Moving from a House of Political Parties to a House of Review?, and Electing the Speaker of the Senate: Some Preliminary Thoughts 1B2
From the questionnaire by Senators Massicotte and Greene 1B
March 23, 2016:
3rd Meeting. Witnesses: Hon. Senators Paul J. Massicotte and Stephen Greene.
Appendix G: Questions put to senators and their responses
in an effort to modernize the Canadian Senate 1C1
Witnesses from the UK 1D
April 12, 2016:
4th Meeting. Witness: Prof. Meg Russell,
University College London. 1D1
April 18, 2016:
6th Meeting. Witness: Rt. Hon. Lord Hope of Craighead, KT, Convenor of the Crossbench Peers, House of Lords of the United Kingdom. 1D2
April 5, 2017:
32nd Meeting. Witnesses: The Right Honourable The Lord Wakeham DL, House of Lords; Meg Russell, Director, Constitution Unit, Department of Political Science, University College London; and The Lord Norton of Louth, House of Lords. 1D3
May 17, 2017:
35th Meeting. Witnesses: Rt. Hon. Ken Macintosh M.S.P., Presiding Officer, The Scottish Parliament; and Sir Paul Grice, Clerk and Chief Executive, The Scottish Parliament.
Brief: Submission to the Senate Modernization Committee of the Parliament of Canada by the Rt Hon Ken Macintosh MSP, Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament 1D4
Senate organization: Changes in te Order Paper 1E
May 4, 2016:
9th Meeting. Witnesses: Dr. Heather Lank and Charles Walker, Chamber Operations and Procedure Office. 1E1
Senate organization: Reflections on "Four questions" 1F
September 28, 2016:
17th Meeting. Witness: Hon. Senator Peter Harder, Government Representative in the Senate. 1F1
October 19, 2016:
19th Meeting. Witness: Hon. Senator Claude Carignan, P.C., Leader of the Opposition. 1F2
November 16, 2016:
21st Meeting. Witness: Hon. Senator Elaine McCoy, Facilitator, Independent Senators Group. 1F3
November 23, 2016:
22nd Meeting. Witnesses: David Docherty, President, Mount Royal University, and Bruce Hicks, Adjunct Professor, Glendon School of Public and International Affairs, York University. 1F4
November 30, 2016:
23rd Meeting. Witness: Hon. Senator Joseph A. Day, Leader of the Senate Liberals. 1F5
December 14, 2016:
25th Meeting. Witnesses: Professors Philippe Lagassé, School of International Affairs, Carleton University, and
Andrew Heard, Political Science Department, Simon Fraser University.
Brief: The Senate's Role in Reviewing Bills from the House of Commons 1F6
March 1, 2017:
29th Meeting. Witnesses: B. Thomas Hall
and Gary Levy, Research Fellow, Carleton University. 1F7
Senate organization: Report by Segal and Kirby 1G
October 26, 2016:
20th Meeting. Witness: Hon. Hugh Segal,
Master, Massey College, University of Toronto. 1G1
Senate organization: Speakership of the Senate (Bill S211) 1H
December 7, 2016
24th Meeting. Witness: Senator Terry Mercer, sponsor of the act (Bill S-213). 1H1
February 8, 2017
27th Meeting. Witness: Hon. Dan Hays, P.C., former Speaker of the Senate.
Brief: The need for a more open and comprehensive senate renewal process 1H2
February 15, 2017:
28th Meeting. Witnesses: Kate Glover, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Western Ontario; and Benoît Pelletier, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa
Brief by Prof. Pelletier: On Bill S-213 1H3
March 8, 2017:
30th Meeting. A clause-by-clause consideration of Bill S213 by the entire MDRN committee. 1H4
Senate organization: Concern about Senate "overpowering" the Commons 1I
March 29, 2017:
31st Meeting. Witness: Gary W. O'Brien, Former Clerk of the Senate 1I1
April 5, 2017:
The afore-mentioned meeting with Lord Wakeham. Meg Russell, and The Lord Norton of Louth. 1I2
May 3, 2017:
33rd Meeting. Witnesses: Prof. Adam Dodek, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa; and John Whyte, Senior Policy Fellow, Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy.
Briefs: Outline of testimony and The Senate's Role in Reviewing Bills from the House of Commons 1I3
May 10, 2017:
34th Meeting. Winesses: Prof. James B. Kelly, Political Science, Concordia University; and Robert de Luca, Staff Lawyer, Freedoms Program, Canadian Civil Liberties Asssociation. 1I4
Discussion of a draft report about the Westminster System 1J
December 6, 2017
February 14, 2018
February 28, 2018
March 21, 2018
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Reports 2
The MDRN Committee's first report, Senate modernization: Moving forward, was published on October 4, 2016. A version with numbered paragraphs is available here. -2A
References to related reports: 2B
Second Report: Senate Modernization: Moving Forward (Omnibus Bills) as amended on February 15, 2017. 2B1
Third Report: Senate Modernization: Moving Forward (Committees) as amended on April 4, 2017. 2B2
Fourth Report: Senate Modernization: Moving Forward (Order Paper). 2B3
Fifth Report: Senate Modernization: Moving Forward (Caucus) as amended on May 11, 2017. 2B4
Sixth Report: Senate Modernization: Moving Forward (Speakership). 2B5
Seventh Report: Senate Modernization: Moving Forward (Regional interest) as amended on February 15, 2017. 2B6
Eighth Report: Senate Modernization: Moving Forward (Broadcasting). 2B7
Ninth Report: Senate Modernization: Moving Forward (Question Period). 2B8
Tenth Report: Senate Modernization: Moving Forward (Nature) as amended on March 28, 2017. 2B9
Eleventh Report: Bill S-213. 2C
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