Extended Parliamentary Power over Regulations in Canada

Abstract

With the passage of Bill C-205 in June 2003, Members of Parliament in Canada won a major victory in the form of greater control over regulations. 1 The Bill, which amended the Statutory Instruments Act, 2 establishes a statutory disallo`wance procedure that applies to all regulations, subject to review and scrutiny by a standing joint committee of the Senate and the House of Commons. Unlike the previous disallowance procedures for statutory instruments, the new provisions ensure that both the Senate and the House of Commons have equal power to disallow any regulations made, subject to authority delegated by Parliament. Furthermore, the disallowance procedure is no longer limited to instruments made by the Governor-in-Council or a cabinet minister. Parliament cannot possibly deal with every single legislative matter. Consequently, it is common practice for Acts to include provisions for delegating the power to make regulations and other...