Bill C-7 · 41th Parliament · Stephen Harper
Canadian Museum of History Act
An Act to amend the Museums Act in order to establish the Canadian Museum of History and to make consequential amendments to other Acts
Government bill. Became law.
- IntroducedOct. 25, 2013
- Debated in principleOct. 25, 2013
- Studied by a committeeDone
- Passed its first chamberNov. 6, 2013
- Passed the second chamberDec. 10, 2013
- Became lawDec. 11, 2013
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
- Nicole EatonSenate · Sponsor in the Senate
- Rick DykstraBacks the creation of the Canadian museum of history and praises expert support for it.
- Terence YoungDefends the bill and calls opposition to Canadian history absurd.
- Patrick BrownStates he is pleased to speak in support of the bill creating the museum.
- Mr. Gordon BrownStates he is very happy to speak in support of Bill C-7 to create the Canadian museum of history.
- Blake RichardsExpresses pleasure in contributing to discussion on establishing the new museum and values its network benefits.
- James MooreThanks supporters and notes final passage of the legislation after broad backing.
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 25 october 2013, the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages introduced Bill C-7, An Act to amend the Museums Act in order to establish the Canadian Museum of History and to make consequential amendments to other Acts (Canadian Museum of History Act), in the House of Commons and it was given first reading. Bill C-7 amends the Museums Act to establish a corporation called the Canadian Museum of History that replaces the Canadian Museum of Civilization. It also sets out the purpose, capacity and powers of the Canadian Museum of History and makes consequential amendments to other Acts.
Summary by the Library of Parliament.
Where members stand
That · 2013-11-06 · Passed
How it changed on the way
42% of the text as introduced was changed or removed by the time it became law (1,831 words introduced, 1,750 passed).
minor changeintent kept
The bill passed with only front-matter updates that added assent and chapter details while dropping the first-reading note and prorogation reference. All substantive provisions on the new museum's purpose, powers, and consequential amendments stayed identical.
- Front matter replaced first-reading note with final assent and chapter information.
Before: “FIRST READING, OCTOBER 25, 2013 NOTE Printed, pursuant to Order made October 21, 2013, in the same form as Bill C-49 of the First Session of the Forty-first Parliament, at date of prorogation.”
After: “STATUTES OF CANADA 2013 CHAPTER 38 An Act to amend the Museums Act in order to establish the Canadian Museum of History and to make consequential amendments to other Acts ASSENTED TO 12th DECEMBER, 2013”
How precisely it is written
mostly preciseChallenging the law: HardDisputing a charge: Hard
The Act uses defined terms for the old and new museums and lists fourteen specific powers in subsections that can be checked against facts. A few phrases still leave room for argument about what counts as appropriate or qualified.
Clear-cut
“There is established a corporation to be called the Canadian Museum of History.”
The sentence creates the entity with a fixed name and no further conditions.“The Canadian Museum of History shall include the Canadian War Museum and any other affiliated museums that the Board of the Canadian Museum of History may, by by-law, establish with the Governor in Council's approval.”
The inclusion rule and the exact approval step are stated in objective terms.“Any amount appropriated, for the fiscal year in which section 2 comes into force, by an appropriation Act based on the Estimates for that year for defraying the charges and expenses of the former museum and that, on the day on which section 2 comes into force, is unexpended is deemed, on that day, to be an amount appropriated for defraying the charges and expenses of the new museum.”
The transfer rule is tied to a specific fiscal year and the exact unexpended balance.
Discretion. The Governor in Council must approve any new affiliated museums created by by-law, but no other ongoing regulatory power is granted to ministers or officials.
Challenging the law itself. The statute merely renames and re-lists powers of a Crown corporation and engages no obvious Charter right that could ground a facial challenge.
Disputing a charge under it. The provisions are enabling rather than prohibitive, so disputes would centre on whether a listed power was exceeded, which the enumerated list makes straightforward to test.
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.