Document Information

Date: 1980-12-03
By: Canada (Parliament)
Citation: Canada, Senate Debates, 32nd Parl, 1st Sess, 1980 at 1348-1349.
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SENATE DEBATES — December 3, 1980

[Page 1348]

STATUTE LAW AMENDMENT PROPOSALS

REPORT OF LEGAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE PRESENTED

Hon. Richard A. Donahoe, Deputy Chairman of the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, presented the following report:

Wednesday, December 3, 1980

The Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, to which was referred the document, entitled: “Proposals to correct certain anomalies, inconsistencies, archaisms or errors and to deal with other matters of a non-controversial and uncomplicated nature in the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1970, and other Acts subsequent to 1970”, tabled in the Senate on Wednesday, July 9, 1980, has in obedience to the Order of Reference of that date, examined the said document and now reports the same with the following amendments:

1. Page 1: Delete proposed clause 2
2. Page 19: Delete proposed clause 29
3. Page 23: Delete proposed clause 35
4. Page 26: Delete proposed clause 42
5. Add the following additional proposed headings and clauses:

(1) ADJUSTMENT OF ACCOUNTS ACT

(l) Subsection 21(1) of the Adjustment Of Accounts Act is repealed and thc following substituted therefor:

“21. (1) Subsections 136(1) and (2) of the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1971 are repealed and the following substituted therefor:

“136. (1) In respect of cacti fiscal year of the Government of Canada commencing with the fiscal year 1980-81, there shall be credited to the Unemployment Insurance Account an amount equal to the government cost of paying benefit for the fiscal year.

(2) For the purposes of this section, “government cost of paying benefit” in respect of any fiscal year means the amounts payable out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund in respect of the portions of the two calendar years that fall within the fiscal year for extended benefits under section 35 and subsection 38(8) and 39(3).” ”

(2) Schedule III to the said Act is amended in the column entitled “Order in Council Date” by substituting, in respect of Order in Council P.C. 1959-24/1146, the year “1959” for the year “1969”.

(2) CANADA ELECTIONS ACT

Paragraphs 57(1)(c) and (d) of the Canada Elections Act are repealed and the following substituted therefor:

“(c) in the Province of Manitoba or Saskatchewan, to a judge of the Court of Queen’s Bench for the Province; or

[Page 1349]

(d) in the Province of Quebec, Alberta or New Brunswick, the Yukon Territory or the Northwest Territories, to a judge of the Court of Appeal thereof.”

(3) COPYRIGHT ACT

Section 19 of the Copyright Act is amended by adding thereto the following subsection:

“(11) For the purposes of this section, a record, perforated roll or other contrivance by means of which sounds may be reproduced and by means of which a literary or dramatic work may be mechaniCally performed made within Canada with the consent or acquiescence of the owner of the copyright in the work and intended for and primarily distributed to persons unable to read print because of a physical handicap is deemed not to be a eontrivance made with the consent or acquiescence of the owner of the copyright in the work.”

(4)LORD’S DAY ACT

The Lord’s Day Act is amended by adding thereto, immediately after section 7 thereof, the following section:

“7.l Where an activity referred to in section 4, 6 or 7 is permitted within a province on the Lord’s Day by a provincial Act or law, it shall be lawful for any person to engage in that activity on the Lord’s Day on any Indian reserve in that province.”

Respectfully submitted,

Hon. Royce Frith (Deputy Leader of the Government): Honourable senators, I expect that Senator Donahoe will be moving that the report be taken into consideration at the next sitting of the Senate. Perhaps that would be a more appropriate time for us to hear about the amendments.

Senator Donahoe: Very well.

The, report which I move be taken into consideration at the next sitting of the Senate, as l said a moment ago, contains live amendments, Perhaps I should say briefly that this is not a hill that is before us. It is a report on material gathered together with respect to miscellaneous amendments to a wide variety of statutes. The amendments are said to be of relatively light consequence, in some cases correcting anomalies or archaisms. The practice is to submit the material for a proposed hill to a committee of the other house, and then to a committee of the Senate.

If an objection is raised to a proposed amendment—and it need only be raised by one member of either committee—the amendment is dropped if the objection is considered to be substantial. As a result, in this case four clauses have been dropped, those being clauses 2, 29, 35 and 42. I do not think I need take the time ofthe house to go over those in detail. Four new sections were added by the committee and do form part of the report, and I shall read those. The first is an amendment to—

Senator Macdonald: I think Senator Donahoe should move that the report be taken into consideration at the next sitting.

Senator Donahue: I understood that I had made that motion. I am now merely giving an explanation of what it is that will he taken into consideration.

Senator Frith:If it is done briefly, I cannot see any objectinn to that. However, I think we had agreed that the report would be just presented at this point and we will look forward to hearing the distinguished deputy chairman of the committee provide the Senate with an explanation of the report tomorrow. In the meantime, honourable senators can read the report and be better able to follow the explanation given tomorrow.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, when shall this report be taken into consideration?

Senator Donahoe: I move that the report be taken into consideration at the next sitting of the Senate.

Motion agreed to.