After some interesting constitutional manoeuvres, the law of the land now includes bill C-377, an act that forces the disclosure by labour unions of any expenses of $5,000 or more, and the details of anyone who makes more than $100,000. This information must be provided to the Canada Revenue Agency, who then posts the information online for public access.
Bill C-377 had an interesting journey. When it made it to the Senate during the last session, senators (including 16 from the governing party) essentially "gutted" the bill. It was then reintroduced and re-passed in the House of Commons during the current session; this time. This time, when it became clear that Conservative senators were being ordered by the prime minister's office to pass the bill, Liberal senators vowed to filibuster the bill for as long possible.
In the Senate, the government caucus has the power to control the order of business, and to allocate time limits to debates, but only on government business. The government's power to shut down debate, therefore, did not extend to bill C-377, since that was not a government bill. Despite this, the government attempted to close debate anyway (so as to thwart the Liberals' filibuster).
The Conservatives' own Speaker, the Honourable Senator Leo Housakos, ruled the motion to shut down debate to be out of order, following which the Honourable Senator Claude Carignan, the Leader of the Government in the Senate, appealed the Speaker's decision to the Senate as a whole. (Unlike in the House of Commons, decisions of the Speaker in the Senate are not final.)
The Conservatives used their majority to overrule their own Speaker, throwing a huge wrench in one of the key structural differences of the Senate -- until now, the Senate has not permitted the government caucus to reach outside of government business to control the way that senators decide to carry out their business.
The union disclosure bill comes into force in 2016.
In a relatively clear unveiling of the priorities of their party, the Conservatives also allowed the end of the Senate's session to kill off a bill to protect Canada's transgendered population from discrimination, and to kill a bill that would have stripped senators and MPs of their pensions, if convicted of a serious offence.
(source)
Bill C-377 had an interesting journey. When it made it to the Senate during the last session, senators (including 16 from the governing party) essentially "gutted" the bill. It was then reintroduced and re-passed in the House of Commons during the current session; this time. This time, when it became clear that Conservative senators were being ordered by the prime minister's office to pass the bill, Liberal senators vowed to filibuster the bill for as long possible.
In the Senate, the government caucus has the power to control the order of business, and to allocate time limits to debates, but only on government business. The government's power to shut down debate, therefore, did not extend to bill C-377, since that was not a government bill. Despite this, the government attempted to close debate anyway (so as to thwart the Liberals' filibuster).
The Conservatives' own Speaker, the Honourable Senator Leo Housakos, ruled the motion to shut down debate to be out of order, following which the Honourable Senator Claude Carignan, the Leader of the Government in the Senate, appealed the Speaker's decision to the Senate as a whole. (Unlike in the House of Commons, decisions of the Speaker in the Senate are not final.)
The Conservatives used their majority to overrule their own Speaker, throwing a huge wrench in one of the key structural differences of the Senate -- until now, the Senate has not permitted the government caucus to reach outside of government business to control the way that senators decide to carry out their business.
The union disclosure bill comes into force in 2016.
In a relatively clear unveiling of the priorities of their party, the Conservatives also allowed the end of the Senate's session to kill off a bill to protect Canada's transgendered population from discrimination, and to kill a bill that would have stripped senators and MPs of their pensions, if convicted of a serious offence.
(source)
