Recent Legislative Summaries from Library of Parliament

The Library of Parliament has recently published a number of legislative summaries describing federal bills:

• Bill C-17: An Act to amend the Food and Drugs Act: "Bill C - 17, an Act to amend the Food and Drugs Act ( alternative title: Protecting Canadians from Unsafe Drugs Act [ Vanessa’s Law ]), was introduced in the House of Commons by the Minister of Health on 6 December 2013. According to its summary, the bill amends the Food and Drugs Act in order to strengthen oversight of pharmaceuticals and medical devices as well as improve repor ting of adverse reactions associated with these products. The bill addresses patient safety issues that were referred to in the Speech from the Throne at the opening of the 2nd Session of the 41 st Parliament in October 2013 , including the need to ensure that (1) drug side effects are clearly indicated and (2) unsafe drugs are recalled quickly."
• Bill C-27: an Act to amend the Public Service Employment Act (enhancing hiring opportunities for certain serving and former members of the Canadian Forces): "It amends the Public Service Employment Act (PSEA) : by mirroring the provisions in Bill C - 11, 2 introduced on 7 November 2013, to grant priority for appointment in the federal public service to mem bers of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) who are released from military service for medical reasons attributable to service; by adding new provisions to allow : active members of the CAF who accumulate at least three years of service to apply for positions reserved for members of the public service ( 'advertised internal appointment process'); veterans who have been honourably released from the CAF after having accumulated at least three years of service to have this same right during a period of five years af ter their release; and by amending the definition of 'veteran' to allow all members who have been honourably released from the CAF and who have accumulated at least three years of service to benefit from a 'preference' in any external appointment to a posi tion in the public service if they meet the essential qualifications and once priority rights have been exercised (the definition of a 'survivor of a veteran' nevertheless continues to be restricted to the surviving spouse or common - law partner of a vetera n who served in the Second World War)."
• Bill S-4: an Act to amend the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act : "Bill S - 4 ... (short title : Digital Privacy Act) was introduced in the Senate and received first reading on 8 April 2014. Bill S - 4 amends the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act , the federal private sector privacy law . It does this in several notable ways, including by : permitting the disclosure of an individual’s personal information without their knowledge or consent in certain circumstances; requiring organizations to take various measures in cases of data security breaches; creating offences for failure to comply with obligations related to data security breaches; and enabling the Privacy Commissioner, in certain circumstances, to enter into compliance agreements with organizations."

It is possible to follow the progress of federal bills, find links to related parliamentary debates and other background information on the LEGISinfo website.