Canadian Alliance Bill Given Royal Assent - Tuesday, June 24, 2003 at 04:24
Grewal becomes first Alliance MP to make law

June 20, 2003, Ottawa  - Gurmant Grewal, MP for Surrey Central and Co-chair of the Joint Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations, was pleased to see the first Canadian Alliance private members bill passed and given Royal Assent last night in the Senate. Sponsored by Mr. Grewal, Bill C-205 now gives Parliamentarians the ability to review and revoke all federal regulations.

Said Mr. Grewal, "No Canadian is untouched by regulations - whether it is the food we eat, the TV shows we watch, or the cars we drive. We are governed 20 percent by legislation and 80 percent by regulation. My bill increases accountability by giving Parliamentarians full control over all of these regulations."

According to a recent Fraser Institute study the federal and provincial governments produce on average 4,700 new regulations each year and overall regulations cost Canadians $103-billion annually. Other studies suggest that 12 to 31 percent of Canada's slowdown in productivity can be directly tied to this growth in red tape.

"The success of Bill C-205 comes against great odds. Private members bills are rarely passed; since 1997 there have been 1,664 introduced, but only 19 enacted into law. Until yesterday, the Liberals always voted against our bills and then later stole the ideas. It's happened to me three times, on bills dealing with firefighters, whistleblowers and foreign credentials," said Grewal.

"The enactment of my private members bill into law actually defies my own rule that private members bills are like pacifiers given to a baby - they keep the baby quiet baby, keeping it busy, and giving it hope, but at the end of the day the baby gets nothing for its efforts."

"While Paul Martin talks about democratic reform, the Canadian Alliance does something about it," said Mr. Grewal.  "Effective Parliamentary scrutiny must be accompanied by effective Parliamentary control.  My bill has taken the disallowance procedure found in the Standing Orders and given it a statutory footing. I did this because I believe that the time had come for the Parliament of Canada to give itself the means to ensure full democratic control of all federal regulations. Bill C-205 ensures that Parliamentarians are in a position to exercise their responsibility for the effective oversight of the exercise of legislative powers they entrust to various agencies like the CRTC or the Canadian Transportation Agency. The bill also for the first time allows for the participation of the Senate in the disallowance procedure."

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For more information contact Gurmant Grewal M.P. -