Recent Library of Parliament Publications

This is an update to the Library Boy post of July 18, 2006 entitled Updates to Library of Parliament Summaries.

Here are some recent studies and legislative summaries prepared by the Library of Parliament's Research Service. I may have missed some back in July.

• Civilian Oversight of the RCMP's National Security Functions (11 January 2006) : "Following (the September 11, 2001 attacks), Parliament passed the Anti-terrorism Act. This statute enacted the Charities Registration (Security Information) Act and amended 20 other laws. By defining terrorist support as a criminal offence, it changed the RCMP’s role and provided an opportunity for the organization to be more involved in matters of national security. Further, the RCMP is to receive $576 million in funding over six years under the Public Security and Anti-terrorism funding package. Although Parliament expanded the role of the RCMP, it did not subject its national security functions to comprehensive civilian oversight. This has created a disparity between the review mechanisms for CSIS and the RCMP, whereby the RCMP is subject to less rigorous scrutiny"
• Substance Abuse Issues and Public Policy in Canada: I. Canada's Federal Drug Strategy (13 April 2006): "Canada’s Drug Strategy (CDS) is a key initiative coordinated by the federal government which addresses the harmful effects (including health, social, safety and economic consequences) of substance use and abuse on individuals, families, and communities. Numerous partners including federal departments, provincial and territorial governments, non-governmental organizations, professional associations and international agencies are collaborating on the CDS. This paper will briefly outline the history of the CDS, provide information on its four key pillars and present the highlights of recent federal activities in support of the strategy".
• Substance Abuse Issues and Public Policy in Canada: II. Parliamentary Action (1987-2005) (13 April 2006): "This brief paper will outline key parliamentary actions undertaken since the creation of Canada’s first drug strategy in 1987. The focus is on committee activities and government legislation rather than on numerous private Members’ bills and initiatives".
• Substance Abuse Issues and Public Policy in Canada: III. What, When, Who and Why? (20 April 2006): "Given the range of perspectives and the multidisciplinary group of people involved, there are as many definitions of substance abuse as there are theories on the origins of this phenomenon and how best to address it. The very choice of words used to define or describe a particular behaviour or human condition is often influenced by sociocultural considerations and may be based on ethical and moral judgments. In order to discuss policies and issues related to the use and abuse of psychoactive substances, it is first necessary to understand the concepts. As part of a series of short papers on substance abuse issues and public policy in Canada, this paper aims to provide a better understanding by defining what psychoactive substances are and what substance abuse is, as well as clarifying the terms dependence and misuse. In addition, the paper identifies particular population groups at risk of using and abusing psychoactive substances and briefly discusses the question of why some people become dependent on psychoactive substances".
• The Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) Regulations (4 May 2006): "This document deals with Parliament’s attempt to strike a balance between effective protection of pharmaceutical inventions, in order to stimulate research and development (R&D), and keeping the cost of medicines down. Specifically, it examines the Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) Regulations (the Regulations), which, along with the Patent Act, attempt to achieve that balance by allowing the generic version of a medicine to be marketed once the patent for the original medicine expires. However, the Regulations have been interpreted literally, and such stalling tactics as evergreening – which lead to delays in the marketing of certain generic medicines – have jeopardized the effectiveness of this system".
• Bill C-7: An Act to amend the National Defence Act (13 June 2006): "In general, the bill is a response to the recommendations made by the Right Honourable Antonio Lamer, the former Chief Justice of Canada, in his 2003 report (Lamer Report). Essentially, the amendments set out in the bill clarify the amendments introduced in 1998 by Bill C-25 and make substantial improvements to the military justice system. While that system is made more consistent with the system established in the Criminal Code, the bill, overall, also recognizes the unique nature of the military system, in order to provide the degree of flexibility that is needed for maintaining discipline. As well, the bill enhances the effectiveness of the military justice system and provides for the major players in that system, in particular military judges and the Director of Defence Counsel Services, to be more independent and impartial".
• Bill C-16: An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act (29 June 2006): "The bill amends the Canada Elections Act to bring in fixed election dates at the federal level in Canada. It provides that, subject to an earlier dissolution of Parliament, a general election must be held on the third Monday in October in the fourth calendar year following polling day for the last general election, with the first general election after the bill comes into force to be held on Monday, 19 October 2009".
• Official Languages in the Public Service: From 1973 to the Present (10 August 2006): "In 1969, following through on recommendations made in the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, Canada’s Parliament passed the first Official Languages Act. The Act recognized French and English as the official languages of all federal institutions in Canada, but it did not explicitly grant public servants the right, under certain conditions, to work in the official language of their choice. A number of measures have been adopted since 1973 to foster respect for the official languages within the public service. This report summarizes the evolving status of official languages in the public service over the past 30 years, with an emphasis on the change in culture that is required for true bilingualism within the Government of Canada".
• Bill C-2: The Federal Accountability Act (28 August 2006): "Bill C-2, An Act providing for conflict of interest rules, restrictions on election financing and measures respecting administrative transparency, oversight and accountability (the Federal Accountability Act) was given first reading in the House of Commons on 11 April 2006. The bill makes a series of amendments to existing legislation and proposes two new Acts, in diverse areas that are generally linked to political accountability. The bill’s short title, the Federal Accountability Act, is the name under which it became known as part of the Conservative Party of Canada’s platform in the January 2006 election campaign" - this is a revised edition of a research paper produced in April 2006