Committee Work
In Committee
The Standing Senate Committee on National Security, Defence and Veterans Affairs- This session, the committee tabled its report Arctic Security Under Threat: Urgent needs in a changing geopolitical and environmental landscape in the Senate on June 23rd, 2023. This study was the culmination of over a year of study into the future of Canada’s Arctic from the defence perspective where we heard from ministers, officials, indigenous representatives and academics among others. To read the government reply, please click here.* On the legislative end, one of the major pieces of legislation the committee received was Bill C-21, An Act to amend certain Acts and to make certain consequential amendments (firearms); included in the committee’s report were several observations, one of which expressed my concerns around getting regulations right when it comes to sport shooting.
* In 2003, a process was established by which the Senate may request a comprehensive government response to reports of select committees that have been adopted by the Senate. It can be found in Rule 12-24 in the Rules of the Senate.
Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs – This past year the sub-committee completed its report on the potential of psychedelic assisted therapies for our Canadian veterans: The Time is Now: Granting equitable access to psychedelic-assisted therapies. Unconventionally, the sub committee presented only one recommendation in its report -“That Veterans Affairs Canada and the Department of National Defence, in collaboration with Health Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, as well as the applicable provincial and territorial authorities, immediately launch and fund a large-scale research program on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy for treating those mental disorders and other conditions that have been identified as potentially being therapeutic targets for these types of interventions.” Our veterans are suffering, and we owe it to them to explore all avenues if it can help them as they heal. The sub-committee is now undertaking a study on veteran homelessness.
The Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade – In December of 2023, the committee tabled it’s reports on Canada’s foreign service. Entitled “More than a Vocation: Canada’s Need for a 21st Century Foreign Service,” this study was the first substantive examination of the Canadian foreign service in more than 40 years, over the course of which we heard from over 60 witnesses. To read the government response, please click here. We have also met periodically to discuss the conflict in Ukraine and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The committee is presently undertaking a study on Canada’s engagement with Africa.
* In 2003, a process was established by which the Senate may request a comprehensive government response to reports of select committees that have been adopted by the Senate.
You can learn more about the work of these committees by clicking on the Committee Photos below.
