Bill C-349 (Historical)

An Act to amend the Supreme Court Act

This bill was last introduced in the 37th Parliament, 3rd Session, which ended in May 2004.

This bill was previously introduced in the 37th Parliament, 2nd Session.

Sponsor

John Bryden  Conservative

Introduced as a private member’s bill. (These don’t often become law.)

Status

Not active, as of Feb. 3, 2003
(This bill did not become law.)

Elsewhere

All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from the Library of Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.

Supreme Court ActRoutine Proceedings

February 3rd, 2003 / 3:15 p.m.
See context

Liberal

John Bryden Liberal Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Aldershot, ON

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-349, an act to amend the Supreme Court Act.

Mr. Speaker, this is a bill that would attempt to bring back to Parliament the role of law-making. Since the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was introduced, the courts, particularly the Supreme Court, have taken on the role of Parliament in establishing law.

This act would amend the Supreme Court Act to the effect that whenever there is a question before the court that deals with constitutionality, the court would be required to take the debates in Parliament into account, which it does do not right now, and when a decision is rendered, if the decision is not unanimous, then the constitutional decision would only be binding on the case before the courts and would not be taken as a precedent.

This would get us around the problem that has so often happened in the past when there has been a split decision on a constitutional or charter matter and it has led to a new law being made without Parliament's approval.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)