Senator Colin Deacon

Senator Deacon rises in the Chamber to speak on Bill S-233 (An Act to develop a national framework for a Guaranteed Livable Basic Income). He argues the importance of the Bill being studied in Committee, so that we can understand the principles more clearly and uncover the evidence needed to discern if a GLBI in Canada is a good policy.

In this Ministerial Question Period, Senator Deacon asks Minister Bibeau (Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food) what it will take to see advance soil carbon sequestration in Canada, given its widespread support. Click to see the full question and response from the Minister.

Senator Deacon pays tribute to Senator Howard Wetston, who retired in the Senate on June 3rd, 2022. Click here to see the entire speech.

In this Statement, Senator Deacon rises in the Chamber to honour fellow Nova Scotia Senator, Dan Christmas, for being awarded with an Honorary Doctors of Letters from Cape Breton University this week.

The COVID Alert app was a great tool which could have increased contact tracing practices, but unfortunately was a failure. Senator Deacon rises in the Chamber to ask the Government Representative of the Senate why adoption rates of the app was low, what plans the government has for assessing the app and how they will manage the public perception in the future for similar apps.

Senator Deacon rises in the Senate Chamber to speak to Bill S-6 (An Act respecting regulatory modernization), which is an Annual Regulatory Modernization exercise led by the Treasury Board of Canada to identify and remove legislative 'irritants'. Senator Deacon argues that we need to go beyond just identifying irritants in regulation and strategize on how to increase the flexibility and agility of Canada's regulations in an inclusive and principles-based manner. Doing so would be key to advancing innovation, competition and productivity growth in our country.

Old privacy laws. Decreasing late-stage investments for Canadian firms. Burdensome regulatory frameworks. Lack of competition. Government procurement. These persistent challenges continue to stifle Canada's innovation economy. In this interview with The Future Economy, Senator Deacon offers insights on the key strategies needed to overcome these significant barriers to growth, in order to catalyze Canada's global competitiveness and prosperity.

In this edition of the 'Ottawa Playbook' newsletter, Senator Deacon speaks to Zi-Ann of Politico after the Senate's unanimous adoption of Motion 48. As the next steps are decided by CIBA to move forward with sustainability initiatives and setting benchmarks for measuring the Senate's footprint, Senator Deacon reiterates the importance of the Senate displaying leadership on this issue, and opportunities such as revised hybrid sittings schedules to push the Senate towards its 2030 net zero goal.

A recent poll from Pollara highlighted that majority of Canadian small business owners and consumers believe that bank fees are too high, while more than half felt stressed with their interactions with banks. Senator Deacon rises in the Chamber to talk about this pervasive problem in the financial sector, and how regulatory reforms like Open Banking can be part of the solution. Click to see more of his speech.

Canada's traditional financial sector continues to ignore underrepresented and underserved communities. With progress advancing in earnest in Canada, how can Open Banking address this problem? In this diverse panel featuring Tabatha Bull (CEO of Canadian Council of Aboriginal Businesses), Isaac Olowolafe (Founder and General Partner of Dream Maker Ventures), Keren Moynihan (CEO of Boss Insights) and moderated by Ben Mulroney (Chief Communications Officer of Orchard Technologies), Senator Deacon discusses the opportunities Open Banking can provide for companies who want to serve underserved communities, and consumers who want better financial services. Click here to watch this important discussion.