Senator Tony Dean

Honourable senators, I rise today to speak at third reading to Bill C-93, An Act to provide no-cost, expedited record suspensions for simple possession of cannabis. Before I get into that, I want to thank Senators Colin Deacon and Marty Deacon, who both worked alongside me. I want to thank all the leaders in the Senate for their considerable role in agenda planning that has allowed us to get here this evening. I want to thank Senator Carignan, the critic who has applied his ext…

Honourable senators, I rise today to speak to Bill C-93, An Act to provide no-cost, expedited record suspensions for simple possession of cannabis. With this important piece of legislation, the government is proposing to provide an expedited pardon mechanism for those with simple cannabis possession records with the usual application fee being waived. The objective of Bill C-93 is to allow these individuals the option to shed the burden of stigma, as well as to eliminate barrie…

I’m happy to rise to speak on this issue this afternoon. It’s very important. I rise as an independent senator to support an initiative that was launched by a highly respected Conservative senator just shy of three years ago, Senator Nancy Greene Raine’s private members’ bill. I’m speaking to the subamendment now and I want to say this, that we know that this is a bill that has been debated and been processed extensively by committees in the House of Commons and in the Senate.…

Thank you Senator Martin and others who have spoken. Thank you, Senator Munson, for your very fine sponsorship of this legislation. I have some brief introductory remarks and then I want to speak specifically about the inclusion of communication in this bill as a category of challenge in the spectrum of disabilities. I rise to add my voice to Bill C-81, An Act to ensure a barrier-free Canada. We all know now that the stated policy objective of this important and historic piece…

Hon. Tony Dean: Honourable senators, I rise to contribute to what I think is an important discussion. Senator Ringuette’s proposed amendment, first of all, is responsive to my concerns about Senator Plett’s motion and, in particular, its narrow focus. Senator Ringuette’s proposal to broaden an inquiry to explore the relationship among all three branches of government is important, and I think it fits well with the non-partisan rubric of the original motion. It would allow us to…

Honourable colleagues, I follow Senator Omidvar and Senator Francis in rising to support Bill C-344, An Act to amend the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act (community benefit). This is a modest bill that sets out to leverage federal infrastructure investments by requiring bidders to partner with communities in order to ensure that everyone wins, including people in communities, and public and private project participants. We should refer this short and simpl…

Honourable senators, I will be brief. I rise to support Senator Harder’s amendment, for three reasons. First, the matters in relation to SNC are already being examined by the Ethics Commissioner of the House of Commons. I know questions have been raised about that, but I think it’s important to note that, in parallel, the matter is under active review by the House of Commons Justice Committee. It’s becoming more active; it’s becoming broader by the day; and we’re hearing import…