Senator Tannas: Thank you for that answer. I appreciate it.

I’m not suggesting a large study, but I think if the Senate needs to agree to these things, if we have a role in the process, perhaps every once in a while for things like this, we should step back, take a look and call officials in. We ought to understand why this keeps happening.

Hon. Scott Tannas: Honourable senators, former Senator Carney was a journalist, an author, an economic consultant, a member of Parliament and a senator. She was a parliamentarian for over 25 years, here and in the House of Commons.

With the passing of the Honourable Patricia Carney, as Senator Martin said, Canada has lost a trailblazer and an agent for change. To describe her as a trailblazer is not hyperbole but a statement that speaks to her abilities and all of her firsts. She is famous for a lot of firsts. Let me list them, some of which have been listed previously.

She was the first female business columnist to write for a major daily newspaper in Canada. She was the first female Conservative politician elected to Parliament from British Columbia. She was the first woman to serve as Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources, as Minister of International Trade and later as president of the Treasury Board. She was the first woman to be appointed from B.C. to the Senate.

As an Alberta senator, I honour her as the chief architect of the dismantling of the National Energy Program. She provided leadership for the development of a new approach to energy development and production during the Mulroney government, which ended the regressive policy affecting Western Canada. The National Energy Program was replaced by the Western Accord, which was supported by the energy-producing provinces and fostered new cooperation in the industry between the federal and provincial governments and industry.

Pat Carney later used her talents and in-depth policy knowledge to find common ground in Eastern Canada with the Atlantic Accord, which put in place a market-governed system for offshore energy resources for the benefit of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Her next challenge was trade. As Minister of International Trade, she took on the challenge of free trade negotiations with the United States. She steered the good ship Canada during these difficult trade talks. Her role was described by our former colleague the late Hugh Segal as “. . . seminal, clear cut and demanding.” Her efforts, despite her herculean task, were — as we know — greatly successful.

Another of Pat Carney’s important achievements was her support for the protection of our maritime heritage, especially lighthouses. She introduced a bill in this place to protect heritage lighthouses seven times, but her tenacity finally paid off with the adoption of Bill S-215 in 2008.

To my colleagues who have introduced bills during the session, you can take heart from former Senator Carney’s example that, while it may take time, you can eventually cross the finish line.

Honourable senators, all Canadians owe a great debt of gratitude to our former colleague Senator Carney.

We offer our sincere sympathies to her family and we honour and celebrate her accomplishments.

Hon. Scott Tannas: My question is for Senator Gold.

The annual report on the Statutes Repeal Act was tabled in this chamber earlier this year. It lists sections in 21 different laws passed by Parliament that the government has not yet brought into effect.

The government typically waits until the last sitting weeks in December to move a motion to defer the repeal of these uncommenced laws for another year, and we’ve developed a bit of a bad habit in this chamber of just agreeing to it and waving it through.

Senator Gold, would you consider bringing such a motion earlier this time, to allow it to be referred to a committee where senators can get some more information from officials about why these sections — some of which have been on the books for three decades — have not yet been brought into effect?