C-228 – An Act to amend the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act (prior review of treaties by Parliament) – creates new requirements for the government before they can ratify any international agreements.
First a quick note, it looks like most of what’s here already exists in the government’s policy around tabling treaties. The main thing this legislation does is change a department policy into actual legislation, which would make it a lot easier to hold the government accountable for failing to follow the procedures. It also makes it much harder for the government to change those procedures if they decided they didn’t like them. For the most part, assume that everything below is already in the policy or adds more specifics to what’s already in the policy.
So first up we’ve got a full definition for what counts as a “major treaty”. A major treaty is any treaty that:
- Requires an Act of Parliament, new powers for the government, or a new tax
- Imposes significant direct or conditional financial obligations
- Transfers Canadian territory or borders
- Requires military or economic sanctions on a state, either immediate or conditional
- Concerns our territorial jurisdiction, including Canadian waters or airspace
- Concerns international trade, investment, or Canada’s position in the global economy
- Concerns participation in international institutions, including a transfer of jurisdiction to those institutions
Before the Minister of Foreign Affairs can ratify a new treaty, an amendment to a treaty, or a modification of a treaty they have to present the treaty to the House. This must be done at least 21 days before ratifying and needs to include an explanatory memorandum on the treaty. Modifying a treaty also needs an explanatory letter about the modifications.
The explanatory memorandum must include:
- The title of the treaty
- A summary of the treaty
- The name of any ministers responsible for drawing up the treaty and any ministers responsible for implementing it
- A statement of the treaty’s implications for Canada
- A statement of our obligations under the treaty
- An estimate of the costs associated with the treaty
- The text of any reservation we’ve made to the treaty or plans to make to the treaty in ratifying it
- A statement indicating if a country is allowed to withdraw, denounce, or suspend the effects of the treaty
- A record of the consultations on the treaty that was held with any party other than a foreign government
- A summary of any legislation that must be passed to implement the treaty
- The title of any legislation that must be passed to implement the treaty
The letter for modifications will also need to include:
- A summary of the changes
- The name of any minister responsible for modifying the treaty and the name of any minister responsible for implementing these changes
- A statement of the modification’s implications for Canada
- A statement of any changes to our obligations caused by the modifications
If the treaty falls under the category of “major treaty” the Minister will need to consult the House before ratifying it. This will include creating a committee to review the treaty and report back on it. The committee will be expected to submit their report as soon as possible.
Under exceptional circumstances (no definition of “exceptional” here) the Minister will be allowed to ignore the 21 day waiting period. This will be decided by the ruling party, and in these situations the Minister will need to release all the above documents as soon as possible instead.
Finally C-228 has some specific timeframes for the documents to be published for the public. After a treaty has been ratified the Minister will have 21 days to publish the documents in the Canada Gazette, 7 days to publish it on the Department website, and three months to publish it in the Canada Treaty Series.
As I said, most of this stuff already exists in the government policy on tabling treaties. Being legislated just makes it harder to ignore when the government wants to.
Progress of C-228
C-228 is currently waiting for its Second Reading vote.
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