Hon. Tony Dean: Honourable colleagues, I rise today to lend my support to Bill S-1001, An Act to amalgamate The Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of Ottawa and The Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation for the Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall, in Ontario, Canada.

This Senate private member’s bill was introduced in the Senate by our colleague Senator Clement on April 19 of this year. This was preceded by the necessary first step of the tabling of a petition in the Senate, which was undertaken by Senator Clement on April 18 of this year.

As Senator Clement has pointed out, private bills were historically used to grant divorces, but they can also amend existing acts of incorporation, which is the case here. Senator Clement launched second reading on May 3, 2023, so we’ve had over a month now to examine this and think about it.

Colleagues, this culminating proposal follows years of discussion between the Archdiocese of Ottawa and the Diocese of Cornwall, which recognized shifting and declining enrolment and the benefits of the administrative and financial efficiencies which would accrue from amalgamation. This is, of course, not unlike the process of municipal amalgamations, with which we are, perhaps, more familiar.

Prior to this, in 2020, Pope Francis announced via papal bull the canonical amalgamation of the Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall and the Archdiocese of Ottawa, thereby creating the Archdiocese of Ottawa-Cornwall.

Colleagues, I know many of you will be wondering about the concept of a papal bull, so I’m going to grab this one by the horns and explain that a papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent or charter issued by a pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden seal, the bulla, that was traditionally appended to the end in order to authenticate a document. Papal bulls have been in use at least since the sixth century.

Turning back to the present, colleagues, at this stage a private bill introduced in the Senate is necessary to complete the civil amalgamation. Our colleague Senator Clement has taken this on.

This bill will give legal effect to the merger of the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of Ottawa and the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation for the Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall. The property, liabilities and any claims of the amalgamating diocese will be the responsibility of the newly amalgamated corporation.

Here are two brief examples out of several: The property of each of the amalgamating corporations becomes the property of the corporation; the corporation becomes liable for the obligations of each of the amalgamating corporations; and any cause of action or claim against or liability of either of the amalgamating corporations that exists immediately prior to the coming into force of this act becomes a cause of action or claim against or liability of the corporation; and so on.

I know you will all want to look at the text of what is a very short bill.

As you will have gathered, colleagues, this is a relatively straightforward proposition, and Senator Clement has done her homework, including prior to joining us here in the Senate, participating in community consultations at the outset of this process several years ago. The bill has been developed with advice from our senior legal advisers in the Senate, and it is ready to move forward.

Our colleague Senator Martin is the critic, and I have no doubt that she will be a friendly one.

Colleagues, thank you. This is a straightforward bill that can be dispatched without delay. Thank you for your attention.

(On motion of Senator Martin, debate adjourned.)

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the inquiry of the Honourable Senator Plett, calling the attention of the Senate to the impact on Canada’s public finances of the NDP-Liberal agreement entitled Delivering for Canadians Now, A Supply and Confidence Agreement.