Bill C-7 · 38th Parliament · Paul Martin
An Act to amend the Department of Canadian Heritage Act and the Parks Canada Agency Act and to make related amendments to other Acts
Government bill. Became law.
- IntroducedOct. 8, 2004
- Debated in principleOct. 26, 2004
- Studied by a committeeDone
- Passed its first chamberNov. 26, 2004
- Passed the second chamberFeb. 15, 2005
- Became lawFeb. 24, 2005
Leading supporters
Ranked by the part each played: who is responsible for the bill, who carried it, and who spoke for it most.
- Paul MartinPrime Minister
Who carries this bill
Arrows run from the person responsible to those who answer to them on this bill. The critic leads the Senate’s scrutiny and answers to no one on it.
Where members stand
Votes and debate for this bill have not been read yet.
How it changed on the way
71% of the text as introduced was changed or removed by the time it became law (3,825 words introduced, 2,098 passed).
substantial changeintent narrowed
The bill shifted from allowing the Governor in Council to designate any minister for Parks Canada to directly assigning the role to the Minister of the Environment. A transitional clause naming the Environment Minister temporarily was dropped in favour of a permanent definition.
- Transitional provision naming the Environment Minister until further designation was removed.
Before: “The Minister of the Environment is the Minister for the purposes of the Parks Canada Agency Act until another member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada is designated under section 2.1 of that Act, as enacted by section 4 of this Act.”
- Purpose summary updated to name the Environment Minister instead of a designated minister.
Before: “The purpose of these amendments is to transfer responsibility for the Parks Canada Agency, and certain associated functions, from the Minister of Canadian Heritage to a minister designated by the Governor in Council.”
After: “The purpose of these amendments is to transfer responsibility for the Parks Canada Agency, and certain associated functions, from the Minister of Canadian Heritage to the Minister of the Environment.”
How precisely it is written
preciseChallenging the law: HardDisputing a charge: Hard
The bill uses repeated, exact replacements of the defined term 'Minister' across multiple statutes to transfer Parks Canada responsibility from one portfolio to another. All changes are mechanical listings of specific powers, areas, and consultation requirements with no subjective standards.
Clear-cut
“(1) The Minister is responsible for the Agency and the powers, duties and functions of the Minister, in that capacity, extend to and include all matters over which Parliament has jurisdiction, not by law assigned to any other department, board or agency of the Government of Canada, relating to”
Enumerates concrete subject matters (national parks, historic sites, etc.) rather than open-ended criteria.“The Governor in Council may, on the joint recommendation of the Minister and the Minister responsible for the Parks Canada Agency, make regulations”
Specifies exact procedural requirement of joint recommendation, creating an objective test.
Discretion. Ministers retain standard authority to issue directions to the Agency and to recommend regulations, but the bill adds no new discretionary standards or undefined terms.
Challenging the law itself. The statute performs only definitional transfers and cross-references with no substantive prohibitions or standards that could engage Charter vagueness or overbreadth doctrines.
Disputing a charge under it. No new conduct rules are created; disputes would be limited to whether a particular statutory reference was correctly updated, which the text resolves by explicit replacement.
Read by a language model from the royal assent text; every quoted phrase appears in the bill. A reading of the drafting, not legal advice.
Did it work?
no evaluation found
Who lobbied on it
No lobbying registration naming this bill is loaded.
Stages and dates from LEGISinfo.