Senate Modernization: Will Senator Tannas Table a Motion to Address the Problem of the Senate Being Rushed?

On December 17, 2021 during the debate on Bill C-3, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Canada Labour Code, Senator Omidvar asked Senator Tannas if they can expect to see a motion from him on the issue of Senators being rushed to pass legislation.

Hon. Ratna Omidvar: Senator Tannas, will you take another question?

Senator Tannas: I will.

Senator Omidvar: Thank you, senator. I agree with most of what you have said. Even though I will likely vote for the bill today and I don’t believe this is the moment for brinkmanship of any kind, I think this is an appropriate time to have this discussion. No doubt — as Senator Mercer pointed out — we will see the same situation again and we will beat ourselves on the chest and say, “Here we go again.”

We have a systemic problem and the Senate needs a systemic fix to this problem. During the six years I have been in the Senate, we have discussed all kinds of problems and solutions, we tabled the Senate Modernization report, and yet we’ve made no progress.

Senator Tannas, as a result of your intervention, when we return, can we expect to see a motion from you or others — but since you’ve raised this question, a motion from you — on dealing with the systems problem, possibly in the way Senator Lankin has identified? We absolutely need a solution so that we do not again find ourselves in the situation where we are hurried, rushed and not able to do the work we are supposed to do, even though we are the unelected people. I will put that as a proviso.

Senator Tannas: First, let me say that I will take on that responsibility, and I thank you for your comments. Over the break, I will try to assemble something of a consultative process amongst those who are interested, which could result in a motion that I can put forward on behalf of whatever group that is.

I also want to thank everyone for participating in this discussion. It is painfully obvious to me that I’m sitting in the comfort of my home right now, having left Ottawa yesterday morning, while a number of senators and all the staff are working an extra day so that we can have this conversation. It requires us to do the necessary work, given what we have done at CSG to bring this to light. Thank you to all. I appreciate all the comments.