Where Are You Bill C-2?
Like many Slaw readers, I monitor legislation in Canada, especially federal legislation. Our 1st session of the 40th parliament officially began on November 18, 2008 with the Throne Speech on November 19, 2009. We are now on day 8 of this parliament and Bill C-2, the first government sponsored bill, has yet to appear on the Projected Order Of Business or the Order and Notice Paper.
As I clicked my shortcut to LegisINFO and saw no Bill C-2 again today, I found myself wondering if this long delay was out of the ordinary. To do a fast grab of stats on Parliament opening date vs. Bill C-2 introduction I used – you guessed it – LegisINFO.
Here is what I found:
Parliament | Start date | Bill C-2 introduction | Number of sitting days |
40th parliament, 1st session | November 18, 2009 | Not yet | ? |
39th parliament, 2nd session | October 16, 2007 | October 18, 2007 | 3 |
39th parliament, 1st session | April 3, 2006 | April 11, 2006 | 7 |
38th parliament, 1st session | October 4, 2004 | October 8, 2004 | 5 |
37th parliament, 3rd session | February 2, 2004 | February 5, 2004 | 4 |
37th parliament, 2nd session | September 30, 2002 | October 3, 2002 | 4 |
37th parliament, 1st session | January 29, 2001 | February 2, 2001 | 5 |
36th parliament, 2ndt session | October 12, 1999 | October 14, 1999 | 3 |
I ‘cheated’ just a little and used the earliest paper copy in my collection of the Canada Legislative Index from the newly re-branded Courthouse Libraries BC.
This is the longest wait for Bill C-2 in a decade.
I think the economy has taken precedence. There is supposed to be a bill coming out next week from today’s economic update that was delivered in the House of Commons, so it will be soon.
Connie