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FederalDid Not Pass45th Parliament, 1st Session

Bill S-222 explained in plain English

An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act and the Regulation Adapting the Canada Elections Act for the Purposes of a Referendum

Federal Parliament bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.

At a glance

Jurisdiction
Federal Parliament
Legislature / Parliament
Parliament of Canada
Session
45th Parliament, 1st Session
Bill number
Bill S-222
Full title
An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act and the Regulation Adapting the Canada Elections Act for the Purposes of a Referendum
Current status
Did Not Pass
Latest event
Bill defeated
Last updated
Apr 21, 2026

Official Parliament of Canada snapshot for 45th 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.

Chamber
Parliament of Canada
Current Stage
Bill defeated
Latest Activity
Apr 21, 2026
Plain-language explanation
In plain English (our explanation)

Our plain-language take, written for civic education.

Source: By PoliticalData.ca

AI-assisted, reviewed before publishing
Short Version

This document is a record of Senate parliamentary proceedings and debates from April 14, 2026, not a specific bill.

What It Means

This document is not a bill—it is a published record of the Canadian Senate's debates and proceedings for April 14, 2026. The document includes statements made by Senators on various topics, responses to questions posed during Question Period, and administrative information about the Senate such as a complete roster of the 105 Senators and their political party affiliations. The document also mentions several bills that were under discussion in the Senate at that time, including Bill C-9 (Criminal Code amendments), Bill C-18 (Canada-Indonesia trade agreement), Bill S-209 (youth protection from pornography exposure), and Bill S-222 (voting rights amendments). However, this document itself is not a legislative bill proposing specific changes to law—it is simply a record of what was debated and discussed on that date.

Who Is Affected
  • Canadian Senators (105 total as of April 1, 2026)
  • Religious and cultural organizations and their members (in relation to Bill C-9 debate on intimidation offences)
  • Hate crime victims and groups targeted by hate crimes (statistics show 4,777 incidents in 2023, a 32% rise from 2022)
  • Canadian importers and businesses trading with Indonesia (in relation to Bill C-18 debate)
  • Young people (in relation to Bill S-209 debate on pornography exposure)
  • Federal government employees and public servants (in relation to bilingualism and AI ministry discussions)
  • Correctional Service Canada and inmates (discussion of incarceration costs and segregation practices)
  • Indigenous peoples (mention of consultation and accommodation obligations)
  • Youth and climate action stakeholders (discussion of Canadian Youth Climate Assembly)
Important Dates
  • April 14, 2026 (date of Senate proceedings recorded in this document)
  • April 1, 2026 (as-of date for Senate roster listing 105 Senators)
Uncertainties Or Limits
  • This document is a record of parliamentary proceedings, not a bill itself. It contains references to several bills under Senate consideration (Bills C-9, C-18, S-6, S-209, and S-222) but does not present the full text or final content of any of these bills.
  • The document does not specify the current legislative stage or status of the bills referenced.
  • The document contains Hansard records of debates and discussion but does not provide the complete legislative details, specific section numbers, or final legislative language of the bills referenced.
  • Some statements are attributed to specific Senators but the full legislative proposals may contain additional details not included in the debate excerpts summarized here.
  • The document is dated April 14, 2026, which is a future date relative to actual current time; this may be a historical record, a simulation, or a template for legislative processes.
  • This draft was normalized from a partial local-model response and must be reviewed before publication.
Laws Or Regulations Affected
Criminal Code (referenced in Bill C-9 discussion)
amendments proposed in debates

Senators debated proposed amendments to create new criminal offences for intimidation of religious/cultural places, hate propaganda with hate symbols, standalone hate crimes, and modified definitions of 'hatred'; Attorney General consent requirement was maintained for hate propaganda offences; 'good faith religious opinion defence' was removed

Source: Chunk 1, Bill C-9 Second Reading debate

Canada-Indonesia trade agreement (referenced in Bill C-18 discussion)
implementation debated

Senators discussed proposed tariff elimination or reduction on 85% of Indonesian tariff lines (from 45% currently), representing 97% of Canadian exports to Indonesia; includes financial services, labour, and environmental commitments

Source: Chunk 1, Bill C-18 Second Reading debate

Protecting Young Persons from Exposure to Pornography Act (referenced as Bill S-209)
consideration debated

Senate discussed this bill; the source text mentions 'It is crucial to ensure that the goals of Bill S-209 are achieved if this bill comes into force'

Source: Chunk 2, orders of the day

Federal Law–Civil Law Harmonization Act, No. 4 (referenced as Bill S-6)
amendments debated

Senators discussed amendments to harmonize laws between federal and civil law systems; amendments proposed to Canadian Human Rights Act, Interpretation Act, and Access to Information Act; affects 51 federal statutes on financial institutions

Source: Chunk 1, Bill S-6 discussion

Official Languages Act
referenced in debates

Mentioned in context of federal AI implementation and bilingualism of senior public servants

Source: Chunk 1, Senators' Statements section

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 text

Parliamentary Process

Step 1
First reading
May 29, 2025
Completed

Bill S-222 underwent its first reading in the Senate on May 29, 2025, marking its formal introduction to the legislative process, but was ultimately defeated at second reading in April 2026.

Introduction and first reading, May 29, 2025
End of stage activity, May 29, 2025
Chamber sittings
Introduction and first reading - May 29, 2025

The Senate debated procedural motions regarding committee appointments and technology impact assessments, with discussions on modernizing procedures and transparency, but no legislative action was taken.

Step 2
Second reading
Apr 21, 2026
Not completed

Bill S-222 was defeated at the Senate's second reading stage on April 21, 2026, ending its progression through the legislative process.

Bill defeated at second reading, Apr 21, 2026
Chamber sittings
Debate at second reading - Oct 2, 2025

The Senate debate transcript includes discussions on environmental protection bills, Indigenous cultural heritage, Arab Heritage Month, soil health strategies, and committee authorizations for various studies.

The Senate debated multiple bills and motions, including proposals for heritage recognition, soil health, shipping regulations, and Indigenous child welfare, with procedural votes on committee authorizations.

Debate at second reading - Nov 4, 2025

The JSON includes Senate debate records from November 4, 2025, with 11 distinct topics, each featuring a speaker's remarks on bills, motions, and procedural issues.

Debate at second reading - Nov 6, 2025

The Senate debated procedural motions, proposed legislation on basic income and voting age reforms, and environmental oversight, with significant disagreement over the Senate's authority to amend electoral laws.

Debate at second reading - Feb 5, 2026

The local model returned a partial structured draft. This summary requires human review before publication.

Debate at second reading - Feb 12, 2026

The local model returned a partial structured draft. This summary requires human review before publication.

Debate at second reading - Feb 24, 2026

The local model returned a partial structured draft. This summary requires human review before publication.

Debate at second reading - Mar 24, 2026

The Senate on March 24, 2026, advanced Bill C-15, debated financial inclusion initiatives, and addressed procedural concerns about bill accessibility during its session.

Debate at second reading - Apr 14, 2026

The Senate debated bills on child online safety, electoral reform, and physical activity promotion, while inquiring about youth climate policy recommendations, with no formal votes recorded.

Debate at second reading - Apr 21, 2026

The Senate debate records cover discussions on climate policy, tourism, voting age reform, and legislative procedures, with references to specific bills and parliamentary processes.

This Senate debate transcript from May 25, 2023, discusses Bill C-21's provisions on digital services taxation, with procedural motions and speaker interventions but no recorded vote outcome.

This JSON metadata references a Senate debate discussion transcript in HTML format, accessible via the provided URL.

Step 3
Third reading
Not reached yet
Not reached

We don't have a plain-language summary for Third reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Step 1
First reading
Not reached yet
Not reached

We don't have a plain-language summary for First reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Step 2
Second reading
Not reached yet
Not reached

We don't have a plain-language summary for Second reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Step 3
Consideration in committee
Not reached yet
Not reached

We don't have a plain-language summary for Consideration in committee yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Step 4
Report stage
Not reached yet
Not reached

We don't have a plain-language summary for Report stage yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Step 5
Third reading
Not reached yet
Not reached

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

No published recorded division

This bill does not have a published recorded division in the current official sources, so representative-by-representative vote counts are not shown.

Sponsor
Marilou McPhedran
Senator | Non-affiliated | Manitoba
Jurisdiction
Federal Parliament

No published representative vote breakdown

The current official sources do not publish a recorded division breakdown for this bill, so there is no representative-by-representative table to show.

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