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S-227 — An Act respecting Arab Heritage Month
Every bill summarized in plain language. Not clear enough? Ask for an explanation.
S-227
An Act respecting Arab Heritage Month
Assented to
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BILL S-227
An Act respecting Arab Heritage Month
Last activity : Royal assent received
Assented to
Senate · 1st2025-06-04Senate · 2nd2025-10-02Senate · 3rd2025-10-08Commons · 1st2025-10-10Commons · 2nd2026-02-10Commons · 3rd2026-06-18Royal assent2026-06-18
Sign-in required — one request per person, no anonymous requests
What it does, in plain language
- Designates April as "Arab Heritage Month" across Canada, every year.
- Sets out a very short law, to be known by the short title Arab Heritage Month Act.
- Notes that the first people of Arab origin arrived in Canada in 1882, in the early years after Confederation.
- States that the Arab Canadian population has since grown to more than one million people.
- Recognizes the contributions of Arab Canadians to the country's social, economic and political life.
- Highlights their cultural contributions, including in literature, music, food and fashion.
- Is purely symbolic: it creates no funding, no holiday and no new obligations.
- Introduced in the Senate by Senator Al Zaibak, with first reading on June 5, 2025.
🤖 AI-generated from the bill’s official text as introduced — may not reflect amendments adopted since.
✋ What does “challenging” mean?
Clicking “Ask for an explanation” is a citizen request for the bill's sponsor to explain it in plain language — and for us to keep an eye on it together.
An account (email) is required — one request per person, no anonymous requests. 🔥 At 1,000 requests on the same bill, a public post is made, in the hope an MP agrees to sponsor a petition to the House.
It works on any bill, including one that has already received royal assent — that is often the one people want to understand.
Votes in the Commons
Every recorded vote — who voted what, and by what margin.
On the “who voted what” detail — the House of Commons publishes each member's name for every recorded (nominal) vote (Yea / Nay / paired). The by-member breakdown above (the "+" button on each row) comes directly from that official source (ourcommons.ca), not an estimate. The party shown next to each name is taken from the current House roster; people who have since left the House appear separately under "Former members".
How to read a vote
Recorded vote
Members vote one by one and each choice is entered in the public record. That is what lets us say exactly who voted what — no interpretation.
Passed is not law
A passed vote clears ONE stage. A bill must pass both chambers and then receive royal assent before it becomes law.
Paired is not absent
In the Commons, two members from opposing sides can agree not to vote: their voices cancel out. It is neither an absence nor an abstention.
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Hi! My name is
Martin Archambault
I'm 45, and dossiercanada.ca is your first step into democracy!
If we want people to understand politics, it has to be brought down to their level.
When I first tried to take an interest in it, on top of not knowing the jargon, bills came as two lines… and fifty PDFs. Most people would simply walk away.
So I had an idea: use artificial intelligence first to read through all of it, then to put it in plain words. That's how DossierCanada was born.
Alongside the AI recap, I've given people a lexicon that explains the basics of political jargon. Plain-language law exists — think of this as its equivalent for politics!
Parliament glossary
Parliamentary jargon, translated into everyday language.
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