Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. I am going to present my ideas in English, however I would be glad to entertain your comments and respond to your questions in French. Thank you. I suggest that Bill C-20, entitled the Senate Appointment Consultations Act, is giving a false impression t

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  Let me try to be brief, because I know that my colleagues will probably want to add to what I say or repeat what I say. Firstly, if there's any reason basically to throw away this legislation it is the gridlock aspect. Think about what could happen if, as you say, Mr. Murphy, th

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  First of all, I would like to say that I agree completely with Professor Côté. The only legislation I can think of reduced it from lifetime to age 75, but that was with the consent of the Senate also. I want to add one more thing to the discussion so far. The idea that you

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  My advice would be both: kill this legislation, but also--

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  Yes, that is right.

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  Let me begin by saying that not only is Professor Hogg wrong, but he's not yet on the Supreme Court of Canada. You as legislators have to take into account the risks entailed in passing legislation. If one of those risks includes the potential for legislation to be struck down

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  Mr. Moore, I presume your constituency is in British Columbia.

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  My simple answer is that the bill should be scrapped. It is completely unconstitutional.

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  In New Brunswick. Would you be happy with an elected Senate that does not reflect the equality of the regions of Canada, where part of that elected Senate really acts as gridlock against the consensus of all of Canada from the House of Commons? Would you be happy with that situat

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  Your question actually gets me to reveal what I think should be the proper way to go about this. First, I agree with my colleague John Whyte that there should be proper consultations done with all the provinces. To my knowledge that hasn't been done, despite the fact that the f

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  When I appeared before the Senate on what was then Bill S-4, I basically said that the two bills have to be considered together because they're part of a plan by the present government to amend the Constitution by--and I'm going to use a word that I refrained from using--stealth.

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  But can I interrupt? I want him to keep on abusing me, because it's a sign that someone who sinks to the level of abuse has lost the argument. So please continue with your abuse, Mr. Reid.

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  As I said, I'm not going to sink to the level of Mr. Reid. I think he's demonstrated his ability to stay mature as a legislator in this hearing. What I will address, though.... I did ask the same questions in this hearing. I asked the same three questions, so I'm glad you raise

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  We passed legislation that said that in future constitutional amendments we would have the consent of the regions of Canada after the 1995 referendum, and that includes Quebec. You could basically override that by saying that we'll do it indirectly so we don't need the consent of

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  As I said, if this bill is passed and the advisory elections take place and the legislation is then struck down, what is the status of those senators who were elected? That is a risk you face by passing this legislation. None of us knows for sure what the Supreme Court of Canad