Bill S-3 · 40th Parliament · Stephen Harper
An Act to amend the Energy Efficiency Act
Government bill. Became law.
- IntroducedJan. 28, 2009
- Debated in principleFeb. 23, 2009
- Studied by a committeeDone
- Passed its first chamberMarch 11, 2009
- Passed the second chamberMay 7, 2009
- Became lawMay 14, 2009
Leading supporters
Ranked by the part each played: who is responsible for the bill, who carried it, and who spoke for it most.
- Stephen HarperPrime Minister
- Ethel CochraneSenate · Sponsor in the Senate
- David AndersonPraises the bill as helping families reduce energy use and emissions.
- Geoff Reganexpresses pleasure at participating and states the premise needs to be broadened
- Paule BrunelleCalls the bill's essence laudable and amendments going in the right direction.
- Keith MartinStates that the party will support the bill to move it forward despite criticizing other government actions.
- Megan Leslieexplicitly states she rises to support this bill
- Grant MitchellSenate · SenatorDescribes the bill as pretty good overall and expresses happiness with its contents while noting gaps.
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.
What it set out to do
. On 29 January 2009, the Leader of the Government in the Senate introduced Bill S-3, An Act to amend the Energy Efficiency Act, in the Senate and it was given first reading. The Energy Efficiency Act was proclaimed in 1992 and regulates the energy use standards of many imported and interprovincially traded energy-using products. The Act also provides for the labelling of energy-using products and the collection of data on energy use. Under the Act, energy-use labels must be attached to certain energy-using products, such as clothes dryers, clothes washers, integrated over/under washer-dryers, dishwashers, electric ranges, freezers, refrigerators and combination refrigerator-freezers, and room air conditioners before they can be sold. This bill seeks to amend the Energy Efficiency Act to establish the power to regulate energy efficiency standards for classes of products that affect energy consumption and to enhance labelling requirements for consumer and commercial products. Under the current Act, the government must regulate product by product; the amendments in Bill S 3 provide the ability to regulate “classes of products,” which would allow the government to address in one regul…
Summary by the Library of Parliament.
Where members stand
How it changed on the way
53% of the text as introduced was changed or removed by the time it became law (1,429 words introduced, 967 passed).
moderate changeintent mostly kept
The bill passed with only minor formatting, titling and date updates, receiving royal assent on 14 May 2009. Core amendments allowing regulation by classes of products and standby power standards remained intact, though the detailed explanatory notes comparing to the original Act were dropped.
- Bill header changed from introduction details to assent and chapter number.
Before: “FIRST READING, JANUARY 29, 2009 LEADER OF THE GOVERNMENT IN THE SENATE”
After: “ASSENTED TO 14th MAY, 2009 BILL S-3”
How precisely it is written
mixedChallenging the law: HardDisputing a charge: Moderate
The bill sets clear numerical rules and defined classes for energy-using products but leaves most standards, labels and information duties to future regulations. Subjective phrases such as ministerial satisfaction and vague impact tests create room for argument.
Open to argument
“if the Minister is satisfied that”
Subjective test turns on the Minister's opinion rather than an objective checklist.“whose use has a significant impact on energy consumption in Canada”
Uses an undefined qualitative threshold open to prolonged debate.“as stringent as comparable standards”
Requires judgment on what counts as comparable and how stringency is measured.
Clear-cut
“retain each one of those documents or records until the expiry of six years after the day on which the Minister is provided with the prescribed information”
Fixes an exact retention period that can be verified without discretion.
Discretion. Extensive power is delegated to the Governor in Council and the Minister to prescribe products, standards, forms, times and places, and to decide when information need not be supplied.
Challenging the law itself. The amendments are economic-regulation provisions with no obvious engagement of Charter rights such as expression or liberty, making a vagueness or overbreadth challenge difficult.
Disputing a charge under it. A dealer could dispute whether a product falls inside a prescribed class or whether the Minister's satisfaction exception applies, but the six-year retention rule and shipment ban are straightforward to apply.
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.