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Despite an agreement to get government bills through the final stages before the House of Commons raised its voice last Thursday, two priority budget and borders bills, C-4 and C-12, are unable to become law until at least February.
The Senate this year sat no more than a week after the Commons, so a late bill cannot pass through the upper house and receive royal assent until parliament returns from a two-month recess.
Chloe Fedio, communications director for Pierre Moreau, the government's representative in the Senate, said in an email to CBC News that the upper chamber doesn't want to rush things.
“Bill C-4 and Bill C-12 are complex bills that the Senate intends to study in the new year,” Fedio wrote. “There was no consensus to rush these two bills through the Senate within one week.
“Senate leadership will discuss a plan to ensure effective consideration of these pieces of legislation when the Senate reconvenes on February 3.”
Fedio also noted that on Nov. 26, the Senate agreed to begin studying the government's fall budget implementation bill, C-15, in 11 different committees. She said such collaboration with the Carney government's latest priorities limits senators' ability to pre-study other bills such as C-4 and C-12 ahead of the winter recess.
Government House Leader Stephen MacKinnon's office told CBC News they respect the will of the Senate but are still pleased to see both bills moving forward to at least final House approval.
House picks up the pace
After months of legislating in the 44th Parliament, senators bristled last June when the newly elected government of Prime Minister Mark Carney pressured the Senate to speed up implementation of the Liberals' new agenda in the 45th Parliament.
“It is clear that governments will always strive to push their agenda through Parliament as quickly as possible, but expediency should not bypass our normal legislative process,” Alberta Senator Scott Tannas. wrote earlier this fall.
Tannas expressed concerns shared by many of his colleagues about the growing use of large omnibus bills that are difficult for senators to review quickly and in detail.
“Our bicameral system was intentionally designed to ensure that regional representation and minority interests are an integral part of the legislative process,” Tannas wrote.
“Too often, in rushing to pass bills before the adjournment period, senators face pressure not to introduce amendments because MPs have left Ottawa.”
The published Senate calendar lists Dec. 11 as its last meeting in 2025. The House of Commons was due to meet on 12 December.
However, in some years the Senate sits later than the House of Commons before rising for the long winter and summer recess.
Legislation typically makes it through its final stages in the House at the last minute as legislatures clear before recess. When appointed senators stay on the job a little longer than elected legislators, it is possible to act quickly to ensure that priority bills become law, especially if the measures are urgent and their final passage is imminent.
Last minute Commons deal
Last Thursday, after the final question period in the House of Commons for 2025, MacKinnon sought and received unanimous support from MPs to pass Bills C-4 and C-12 on third reading without a standing vote, sending both bills to the Senate.
The C-4 has been widely discussed since its introduction in June. He formally endorses the personal income tax cut, changes to the consumer carbon tax and GST rebates for first-time home buyers, which the Liberals already introduced last summer. It also changes the requirements for how political parties protect personal information under the Canada Elections Act.
The Senate took steps to expedite consideration of C-4 last June, including summoning Treasury Secretary Francois-Philippe Champagne to testify before the select committee on June 17. This rush to pre-study his measures proved somewhat controversial when C-4 failed to clear the House of Commons before the summer recess.
The measures in C-12 were originally introduced in late May as part of C-2, the Carney government's first attempt to craft a comprehensive border security law. When some parts of C-2 sparked controversy amid heated debate over its “surveillance” provisions, among other measures.the government allocated units that, in its opinion, could find sufficient opposition support to quickly and reintroduced only these measures as C-12 in October.
The committee's amendments to C-12 were voted on during the report stage following question period Thursday afternoon. Within minutes, the House agreed to forego further debate and allow C-12 to also clear the House of Commons as part of MacKinnon's cross-party agreement.
The same deal also allowed C-13, legislation bringing the United Kingdom into the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, to pass second reading without a standing vote and move to a House committee for further study.
The House of Commons rose at 16:18. The Senate rose five minutes later at 4:23 p.m. All parliamentarians are currently on a two-month vacation.
The Chamber is scheduled to resume work on January 26. The Senate will not resume work until next week, on February 3.
