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The one substantial clause that was left in the bill prohibits employers from discriminating against an employee on the basis of genetic makeup.

Senate Liberal leader James Cowan, who spearheaded the bill, said no province directly or indirectly raised concerns with him that the original bill interfered with their jurisdiction.

“A federal bill to regulate the insurance industry would be … unconstitutional because it’s provincial,” he said. “But this is not a bill to regulate the insurance industry. This is a bill to prevent genetic discrimination.”

Conservative senators on the committee are “being selective in their views,” he said.

The Conservatives promised in the throne speech more than one year ago to bring in legislation to “prevent employers and insurance companies from discriminating against Canadians on the basis of genetic testing,” but the government has not yet done so. Given the amendments now made at the Senate committee, the government will have to find a way to craft a bill of its own that doesn’t tread on the same ground as Cowan’s rejected proposal.

It’s unlikely Cowan’s bill – even if its amended version were quickly approved by the Senate as a whole – would make it through the House of Commons before June when Parliament is expected to rise. It will not return until after the October federal election.

Sen. Linda Frum, the Conservative critic on the bill, said Tory senators would support a detailed study on the topic of genetic discrimination. She said the issue isn’t a partisan one, and that she and other Conservatives agree with Cowan that something needs to be done.