The Legislative Process

The Legislative Process Assignment Value: 20% of final grade Due Date: August 5 th , 2015 One important piece of recent legislation is Bill C-51: An Act to enact the Security of Canada Information Sharing Act and the Secure Air Travel Act , to amend the Criminal Code, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other acts (short title is “Anti-terrorism Act, 2015”). There are several stages to the legislative process by which a bill becomes a law. These stages usually follow this pattern: • First Reading • Second Reading • Committee Stage • Third Reading • First Reading in the Senate • Second Reading in the Senate • Senate Committee Stage • Third Reading in the Senate • Royal Assent In this assignment, you will be looking at the Committee Stage for Bill C-51. You will be reading the witness testimony to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security . Here is a CBC summary of the whole process. If your last name ends in: • A or B read Meeting 53 • C or D read Meetng 54 • E or F read Meeting 55 • G or H read Meeting 56 • I - L read Meeting 57 • M or N read Meeting 58 • O - R read Meeting 59 • S read Meeting 60 • T or U read Meeting 61 • V – Z read Meeting 62 Part A: 1. List the Committee members and the political parties they belong to. (2 marks) 2. Read the testimony and provide me with one, two, or three sentence summaries of what each person said. (10 marks) Part B: Answer the following questions: 1. What did you know about Bill C-51: Anti-terrorism Act, 2015 before this assignment? (2 marks) 2. What did you think of the process of the witness testimony to the Committee on Public Safety and National Security? Did it seem worthwhile or a waste of time? Did the witnesses and politicians impress you or disappoint you? (4 marks) 3. What is your opinion on Bill C-51 after having read this evidence? (2 marks) Up to 4/20 marks will be deducted for terrible spelling and grammar.