Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): It would be my pleasure to do so.

[Translation]

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): The position of the Government of Canada has been and continues to be that the detention of the two Michaels was illegal, arbitrary, contrary to international law and unjustified, and that remains the position of the Government of Canada.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Honourable senators, as some of you may know, the Speaker in the other place made a statement yesterday with respect to the admissibility of Bill S-2, An Act to amend the Parliament of Canada Act and to make consequential and related amendments to other Acts.

As someone who enthusiastically supports Bill S-2, I was surprised and frankly very disappointed by the statement from the Speaker in the other place.

As we know, to ensure that senators pronounce themselves first on legislation affecting their own chamber, the government incorporated into Bill S-2, and its predecessor Bill S-4, a non-appropriation coming-into-force clause.

Senators, I would note that non-appropriation clauses are a common feature of the Senate’s legislative practices. Over the years, multiple pieces of legislation originating in this place have adopted a similar architecture, allowing the Senate to initiate the policy while respecting the ultimate prerogatives of the Crown and the other place.

Both the Speaker of the Senate and the Speaker of the other place have ruled that bills containing a delayed coming-into-force clause are in order and do not require a Royal Recommendation. I also note that the Speaker in the other place did not make a similar statement with respect to Bill S-4 in the previous Parliament, even though the bill was identical.

Having said this, and in light of the statement by the Speaker in the other place, the government has proactively given notice of a government bill in the other place to amend the Parliament of Canada Act for introduction in the coming days. That bill will be accompanied by a Royal Recommendation as the case requires.

As such, the government has no intention of seeking to proceed with Bill S-2 and has reiterated the priority it attaches to these measures by acting quickly and introducing a bill in the other place.

As was stated today in the House by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Government House Leader, as Bill S-2 made clear in the coming-into-force clause, the government has always had the intention of introducing a bill in the other house with the accompanying Royal Recommendation to implement the changes to the Parliament of Canada Act with respect to the evolution in and of the Senate.

With a new bill introduced in the House, this secondary step in the process will no longer be necessary to bring into force the measures passed with the unanimous support of this chamber that would bring the Parliament of Canada Act in line with the current reality of the Senate.

Finally, I wish to convey to this chamber once again that the government considers the measures contemplated in Bill S-2 a high priority in this parliamentary session, and the government looks forward to working collaboratively with all parties to advance this important initiative. Thank you, honourable senators.