Bill C-60 (Historical)

Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2017

An Act to correct certain anomalies, inconsistencies and errors and to deal with other matters of a non-controversial and uncomplicated nature in the Statutes of Canada and to repeal certain Acts and provisions that have expired, lapsed or otherwise ceased to have effect

This enactment is the 12th in a series of bills introduced under the Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment (MSLA) Program. It amends 41 Acts to correct grammatical, spelling, terminological, typographical and cross-referencing errors, update archaic wording and correct discrepancies between the two language versions. It also updates the names of certain organizations, for example, “Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants” is replaced with “Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada”. Finally, it contains amendments repealing eight Acts that no longer have any application, for example, the Maintenance of Ports Operations Act, 1986.
This enactment has been drafted based on the Thirteenth Report of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights tabled in the House of Commons on May 31, 2017 and the Twenty-first Report of the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs tabled in the Senate on June 21, 2017.
BACKGROUND AND PROCESS
The MSLA Program was established in 1975 to allow for minor non-controversial amendments to be made to a number of federal statutes at once, in one bill, instead of making such amendments incrementally when a particular statute is being opened for amendments of a more substantial nature.
The legislative process for introducing an MSLA bill in Parliament is different from the usual legislative process and involves four main steps: the preparation of a document containing the proposed amendments; the tabling of that document in Parliament and its review by a committee of each House; the preparation of an MSLA bill, based on the committees’ reports, that contains the proposed amendments that were approved by both committees; and finally, the introduction of the bill in Parliament.
The proposed amendments must meet all of the following criteria:
(a) not be controversial;
(b) not involve the spending of public funds;
(c) not prejudicially affect the rights of persons;
(d) not create a new offence or subject a new class of persons to an existing offence.
The document containing the proposed amendments is tabled in the Senate and referred to its Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs and in the House of Commons and referred to its Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. Each committee reviews the proposed amendments in the document, prepares a report of its findings and presents it to the appropriate House.
Perhaps the most important feature of committee review is that, since a proposed amendment must not be controversial, its approval requires the consensus of the committee. Therefore, if a single member of a committee objects for any reason to a proposed amendment, that proposed amendment will not be included in the MSLA bill.
After committee review, an MSLA bill is drafted based on the reports of the two committees and contains the proposed amendments that were approved by both committees. Once the bill is introduced in Parliament, it is subject to the ordinary enactment procedures; however, the bill usually receives three readings in each House without debate since the amendments contained in the bill have already been considered and approved by committees of both Houses.

(Bill C-60. On the Order: Government Orders:)

October 3, 2017—The Minister of Justice—Second reading and reference to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights of Bill C-60, An Act to correct certain anomalies, inconsistencies and errors and to deal with other matters of a non-controversial and uncomplicated nature in the Statutes of Canada and to repeal certain Acts and provisions that have expired, lapsed or otherwise ceased to have effect.

Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2017

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, we have had discussions among the parties, and if you seek it, I think you will find unanimous consent for the following motion. I move:

That, nothwithstanding and Standing Order or usual practice of the House, Bill C-60, An Act to correct certain anomalies, inconsistencies and errors and to deal with other matters of a non-controversial and uncomplicated nature in the Statutes of Canada and to repeal certain Acts and provisions that have expired, lapsed or otherwise ceased to have effect, be deemed read a second time and referred to a Committee of the Whole, deemed considered in Committee of the Whole, deemed reported without amendment, deemed concurred in at the report stage, and deemed read a third time and passed.

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Does the hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the government House leader have the unanimous consent of the House to propose this motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

(Motion agreed to, bill read the second time, considered in committee of the whole, reported, concurred in, read the third time and passed)