I was reading the Debates of the Honourable the Senate of Canada for Wednesday, and noticed that our honourable senators were discussing whether it is appropriate for Her Majesty’s Government for Canada to attempt to pass measures using omnibus bills. Our honourable senators are currently debating an inquiry into the Leading the Way on Jobs and Growth budget introduced by the Government over a month ago, which is being described as omnibus legislation. We can expect the Senate to return the budget to the House of Commons to be split into more than one bill.
For those who are not politically active, an omnibus bill is a bill which seeks to include multiple issues (sometimes not related to one another) in the same piece of legislation. For example, the current budget implementation bill contains environmental sections, budgetary sections, tax breaks, the reorganisation of Atomic Energy Canada, amongst other things. The bill is nearly nine hundred pages long, and amends over thirty existing statutes.
Omnibus bills are rare in Canadian politics, our neighbours to the South have more experience with this type of legislation. I side with the Senate on this issue; the bill should be split into separate pieces of legislation, so that the Senate and Commons can debate each issue properly and with due care and attention. In fact, it was due to an omnibus bill introduced and passed in 2007 by the Government that revoked the Government’s need to seek the authorisation of the Parliament of Canada to borrow money to cover a deficit.
Thoughts?
Should omnibus bills be allowed to be introduced in the Canadian Parliament?
For those who are not politically active, an omnibus bill is a bill which seeks to include multiple issues (sometimes not related to one another) in the same piece of legislation. For example, the current budget implementation bill contains environmental sections, budgetary sections, tax breaks, the reorganisation of Atomic Energy Canada, amongst other things. The bill is nearly nine hundred pages long, and amends over thirty existing statutes.
Omnibus bills are rare in Canadian politics, our neighbours to the South have more experience with this type of legislation. I side with the Senate on this issue; the bill should be split into separate pieces of legislation, so that the Senate and Commons can debate each issue properly and with due care and attention. In fact, it was due to an omnibus bill introduced and passed in 2007 by the Government that revoked the Government’s need to seek the authorisation of the Parliament of Canada to borrow money to cover a deficit.
Thoughts?
Should omnibus bills be allowed to be introduced in the Canadian Parliament?
