The Honourable SERGE JOYAL, P.C., O.C., FRSC, Senator

Moderator: Bonjour et bienvenue au Théâtre national de la presse.Hell and welcome to the National Press theatre.  I'm Elizabeth Thompson.  With us today, we have members of the Senate Committee on Senate Modernization, who will be releasing their report.  Senator Thomas Johnson McInnis, who's the committee Chair, Senator Serge Joyal, who's the committee Deputy Chair, and Senator Elaine McCoy, member of the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure.

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Portrait gallery would be nation's face

Former U.S. embassy is the perfect spot for the much-needed institution, three senators argue

Hon. Serge Joyal: Honourable senators, the opening remarks of the government leader would of course trigger a very animated debate if this morning we were called to define the role of the Senate because, according to his suggestion, we are here to inquire, to urge and to consider. What about voting and amending, as the Court of Appeal of Quebec in the Senate Reference and the Supreme Court of Canada have confirmed? We are a legislative house, bringing a different perspective to the study of legislation. What is the different perspective that we are bringing to the study of legislation? Read the Speech

Hon. Serge Joyal: Honourable senators, July 1 is the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of the Somme, the first great Anglo-French offensive of the First World War and a turning point in the course of the war. Read the Speech

Hon. Serge Joyal: Thank you, Your Honour.

Honourable senators, after those 12 days of debate and reflection, I have the conviction that I am a different person. I would say I'm more human in a way because of the testimony of our colleagues: Senator Verner, who very candidly avowed in front of us her cancer, and this afternoon when I heard our colleague Senator Tardif delivering the message of Senator Dawson, also fighting a cancer with all the strength and conviction that we know both of them have. Read the speech

Hon. Serge Joyal: Honourable senators, this afternoon, I intend to address you on three specific grounds. The first one is, are we justified to use our legislative power to amend this bill, or are we compelled to adopt it as is? That's the first question I want to pose to you. Second, if we are to use our legislative power, what are the parameters that we have to respect in the context of our use of that power? Finally, if we amend this legislation, on which essential aspect should we concentrate our initiative of amendments? Read the Speech

Senator Joyal: Senator Pratte, I listened closely to your arguments in favour of Bill C-10. You referred to the Official Languages Commissioner's report, which, I would remind you, is one of just two special reports ever published by the Official Languages Commissioner of Canada since the law was passed in 1969. That was quite a while ago. Read the question and Senator Pratte's Answer

Hon. Serge Joyal: Honourable senators, I think there is only one question to be asked in relation to Bill C-14: Are we ready, as a Parliament, to deprive Canadians of their rights to medical assistance in dying when they are competent adults, when they have a grievous and irremediable health condition, and when they are in intolerable suffering? Period. That's the question. Read the speech

Senator Joyal: I would like to coe back to that issue of the constitutionality of the bill. You are the advisor, of course, of the government in terms of drafting the legislation, but you are also the advisor of Parliament. We rely on you to make sure, according to the Justice Department Act — I think it is section 11 — that a bill is Charter compliant. Read the questions and the Minister's answers

Tax Havens—Tax Avoidance

Hon. Serge Joyal: Welcome, Madam Minister. I would like to talk about tax havens. A lot of your voters are very angry about tax havens, and the government should adopt a radical new approach to dealing with this problem. Read the question and the answer of the Minister