Bill S-216 explained in plain English
An Act to amend the Federal Sustainable Development Act and the Auditor General Act (Involvement of Parliament)
Federal Parliament bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Parliament of Canada snapshot for 40th Parliament, 1st Session. MP vote breakdowns appear when the House of Commons publishes a recorded division export for that bill. Senate and House stage details include official debate/sitting links when LEGISinfo publishes them.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
Bill S-216 aims to enhance parliamentary involvement in federal sustainable development strategies and reporting.
This bill proposes changes to the Federal Sustainable Development Act and the Auditor General Act. The main goal is to increase the involvement of both the Senate and the House of Commons in sustainable development matters. It aims to ensure that Parliament is more actively engaged in reviewing and approving strategies related to the environment and sustainable development.
- It amends the Federal Sustainable Development Act to require reports on sustainable development progress to be laid before both the Senate and the House of Commons.
- It mandates that draft sustainable development strategies be submitted for review by parliamentary committees and the public.
- It states that departmental and agency sustainable development strategies must be tabled in both Houses of Parliament.
- It amends the Auditor General Act to ensure that the Commissioner's reports on sustainable development monitoring include assessments of departments' contributions to federal targets and their own strategies.
- It modifies reporting requirements for the Commissioner to include tabulation before both the Senate and the House of Commons.
- The Senate of Canada
- The House of Commons
- Federal government departments
- Federal agencies
- The Minister responsible for sustainable development
- The Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development (within the Office of the Auditor General of Canada)
- The public (in relation to review and comment on draft strategies)
- Ministers must cause reports on sustainable development progress to be laid before both Houses of Parliament.
- Ministers must submit draft sustainable development strategies for review by parliamentary committees and the public, allowing at least 120 days for comment.
- Ministers must cause departmental and agency sustainable development strategies to be laid before both Houses of Parliament within one year of the federal strategy being tabled.
- Ministers must update departmental strategies at least every three years and table them before both Houses.
- The Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development must monitor and report to Parliament on departmental progress towards sustainable development, including contributions to federal targets and their own strategies.
- Reports from the Commissioner must be submitted to the Speakers of the Senate and the House of Commons and laid before their respective Houses.
- Reports on sustainable development progress must be provided at least once every three years after the Act comes into force.
- Departmental strategies must be laid before Parliament within one year after the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy is first tabled.
- Updated departmental strategies must be laid before Parliament at least every three years.
- Public and committee review of draft strategies must be allowed a period of not less than 120 days.
- Reports from the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development must be laid before Parliament within 15 sitting days after receipt by the Speaker.
- The bill does not specify what happens if a Minister fails to table a report or strategy as required.
- The specific "appropriate committee" of each House of Parliament to review draft strategies is not explicitly defined, beyond general reference to committees that "normally consider matters relating to the environment."
- The bill refers to "category I departments" in the context of the Auditor General Act, but the definition or scope of these departments is not detailed within this specific bill text.
Changes how reports on sustainable development progress are presented to Parliament, requiring them to be tabled in both the Senate and the House of Commons. It also modifies the process for consulting on draft strategies and requires departmental strategies to be tabled in both Houses.
Source: Sections 1, 2, 3, 4
Alters the reporting duties of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development to ensure Parliament is informed about how departments are meeting sustainable development targets and implementing their strategies. It also changes the tabling of these reports to both the Senate and the House of Commons.
Source: Sections 5, 6
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
Official textParliamentary Process
We don't have a plain-language summary for First reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
We don't have a plain-language summary for Introduction and first reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
We don't have a plain-language summary for Second reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
We don't have a plain-language summary for Third reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
We don't have a plain-language summary for First reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
We don't have a plain-language summary for Second reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
We don't have a plain-language summary for Consideration in committee yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
We don't have a plain-language summary for Report stage yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
We don't have a plain-language summary for Third reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
Debate and sitting links point to official parliamentary sources when LEGISinfo publishes them. Any plain-language discussion summaries should be generated from those official texts and reviewed before public display.
Vote Summary
This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
No published representative vote breakdown
This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced