Hon. Dennis Glen Patterson: I would like to ask Senator Woo a question.

Senator Woo, thank you for that informative speech. You have urged that the bill go to committee; however, it covers a broad area and a number of existing statutes. Do you see one committee being a main committee? How would committees of the Senate deal with such a broad piece of legislation? Thank you.

Senator Woo: Thank you, Senator Patterson. The question and the decision on which committee or committees the bill goes to are now beyond my pay grade. I know the leaders are discussing this issue. I believe they are contemplating sending the bill to multiple committees. I think we can roughly guess which committees are suited for which amendments.

I do agree with you — if, in fact, this is what you were suggesting — that there should be a master committee; again, I leave that decision to the leadership.

What I will say, though, colleagues, is that if we agree that regulatory modernization is a good thing and that we should do it on a regular basis — sort of like housecleaning, right? — if we have to do spring cleaning every year, let’s think about how best to do it in the Senate and how best to organize ourselves so that we don’t have to debate which broom to use and which mop is the most efficient.

Personally, I would like to see us play a leadership role in the broader issue of regulatory reform for this country and to provide some leadership in Parliament in terms of pushing forward this agenda on a regular basis, regardless of the government in place. This bill will give us the opportunity to think about what some best practices might be.

(On motion of Senator Martin, debate adjourned.)

The Senate proceeded to consideration of the fourth report of the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, entitled Report relating to Government motion 14 (taxation of the Canadian Pacific Railway in Saskatchewan), presented in the Senate on March 31, 2022.