Senator Bellemare: I agree with much of what you’re saying. Your comments are very wise. They also give us an opening to question our processes and talk about the modernization of the Senate.

I have a question about your comments on the need for speeches to be given by the Government Representative in the Senate. Don’t you think it’s time we asked the minister responsible for a bill to come and present it to us in the Senate? We could set aside time for that presentation, which would be open and different from a Committee of the Whole. The senator presenting the bill would come answer our questions before we study it, perhaps at second reading. The fact that there are sponsors for bills in the Senate doesn’t mean there couldn’t be a spokesperson. What’s more, the minister responsible could appear before us to present his or her bill so that we could ask him or her questions. We can debate whether this exercise should be done at second reading or third reading, but I’d like to hear your thoughts on this.

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