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There are two main types of bills: public and private. In general, a public bill is concerned with matters of public policy, while a private bill relates to matters of a particular interest or benefit to a person or persons, including corporations. Because the legislative process of a private bill is somewhat different, it is discussed separately at the end of this chapter.
There are two types of public bills: government public bills introduced and
sponsored by a Minister, and private Members' public bills sponsored by a
private Member. These may be further divided into those that are of a financial
nature and those that are not. A bill for the appropriation of any part of the
public revenue or for taxation must be accompanied by a Royal Recommendation.
Such bills require additional procedures for passage in the House, and are
discussed in detail in Chapter 13.
Government bills originating in the House are numbered from C-1 to C-200 in
the order in which they are introduced. They may be considered each day during
Government Orders in any sequence the Government determines.
Private Members' public bills, on the other hand, may be considered only
during Private Members' Hour, a period limited to one hour per day, five days
per week (Mondays from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and
Thursdays from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., and Fridays from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.).
During this period, no Member may speak for more than 10 minutes, except a
Member moving an item, who may speak for 20 minutes. Such bills originating in
the House are numbered from C-201 to C-1000 in the order in which they are
introduced, and are considered in the order established by a draw and as set
forth in the Standing Orders, although this order may be altered by unanimous
consent. (For further details on private Members' public bills, see Chapter 15.)
Before a bill becomes law, it goes through the following stages: (1) Once the
appropriate notice has been given, a Member is given leave of the House to
introduce the bill; (2) the bill is read a first time and printed; (3) the bill
is read a second time; (4) the bill is referred to committee; (5) the bill is
considered in committee and reported back to the House; (6) the House concurs in
the bill at report stage; (7) the bill is read a third time and passed by the
House; (8) the bill goes through stages in the Senate approximately the same as
those in the House; (9) finally, the bill receives Royal Assent.
In February 1994, new rules were adopted to give the House more flexibility
in dealing with legislation. While all bills must still go through the same
stages, the new rules allow the House to vary the order in which bills pass
through these stages. The new options for the legislative process are described
in section 11.(c).
To introduce a public bill, a Member must give 48 hours' written notice and then, by motion, obtain leave to introduce the bill. This motion is automatically adopted without debate, amendment or question put. A private Member introducing a bill then will normally make a short speech explaining the purpose of his or her bill. Normally, a Minister introducing a government bill does not speak at this time. However, the Standing Orders were modified in 2001 changing the order of Routine Proceedings so that “Introduction of Government Bills” comes just before “Statements by Ministers”. This change allows Ministers to make a brief explanation of a bill in the House following its introduction (As this stage forms part of Routine Proceedings, it is discussed more fully in Sections 7.(b) and (c)).
First reading follows immediately and is also automatically adopted
without debate, amendment or question put. The order for the printing of the
bill is included in the motion. Following that, the Speaker asks: "When
shall the bill be read a second time?” to which the response is generally:
"At the next sitting of the House". This formality allows the bill
to be placed on the Order Paper for second reading.
It is also at this stage that a specific bill number is assigned to
legislation.
Second reading is the most important stage in the passage of a bill. It is
then that the principle and object of the bill are debated and either accepted
or rejected. The clauses of the bill are not discussed in detail at this stage.
Three types of amendments may be proposed to the motion for second reading.
The first is the six months' hoist: "That Bill [number and title] be not
now read a second time but that it be read a second time this day six months
hence". If the amendment is
adopted, the bill is withdrawn for the remainder of the current session. The
second type is the reasoned amendment, which expresses specific reasons for
opposing second reading. Finally, an amendment may be introduced to refer the
subject-matter to a committee before the principle of the bill is approved. Such
an amendment would read: "That the bill be not now read a second time but
that the order be discharged, the bill withdrawn and the subject-matter referred
to the Standing Committee on ...". No amendments may be made to the bill
itself at this stage.
The Standing Orders provide that a bill be read twice and then referred to a
committee. Appropriation bills, authorizing the withdrawal of funds from the
Consolidated Revenue Fund, are
referred to a Committee of the Whole; other types of bills are generally
referred to a standing, special or legislative committee specified in the motion
for second reading. The committee then considers the bill clause-by-clause.
Amendments to the text of the bill are considered at this stage.
Before beginning clause-by-clause study, the committee usually hears the
Member or Minister sponsoring the bill and may also receive testimony from
outside witnesses. Amendments in committee must be in keeping with the principle
of the bill as agreed to at second reading in the House. Generally, the
committee may make amendments to any part of a bill (i.e., the title, preamble,
clauses or schedules). Clauses and/or schedules may be omitted and new ones
added. After a committee has completed its consideration of a bill, it orders
that the bill be reported to the House.
The House undertook a thorough revision of its legislative process in 1968,
which resulted in the modern rules where bills are sent to committee for
detailed examination. The
committee’s study is followed by an opportunity for further consideration in
the House in what is known as report stage.
At this stage, Members – particularly those who were not on the
committee – may propose amendments, after giving notice, to the text of the
bill as it was reported by the committee. Unlike
committee stage where the bill is considered clause-by-clause, there is no
debate at report stage unless notices of amendment are given, and debate is to
be relevant to these amendments. During
this stage, the Speaker is in the Chair and the general rules of debate apply,
with the added restriction that no Member may speak longer than 10 minutes on
any amendment.
Except for those bills considered in Committee of the Whole, report stage
cannot begin sooner than the second sitting day after the bill has been reported
unless the House orders otherwise. Motions in amendment at this stage must be
filed not later than the sitting day prior to the beginning of consideration and
placed on the Notice Paper. Those with financial implications require a Royal
Recommendation, which must also comply with this notice requirement. Ministers
of the Crown may, without notice, propose amendments regarding the form of
government bills only. Once report stage has begun, no further motions in
amendment may be introduced.
Over the past 30 years, a large body of practice has grown on how this
important legislative stage is conducted. Generally,
the rules relating to the admissibility of amendments presented at committee
stage apply to motions in amendment at report stage.
However, in order to prevent report stage from merely becoming a
repetition of committee stage, the Speaker is given authority to select and
group motions of amendment for debate and he or she may also rule on whether
each motion should be voted on separately or as part of a group. This decision
is made at the beginning of report stage, at which time the Speaker may also
indicate the amendments he or she considers procedurally dubious . The House
sought to provide some direction in 1986 by means of a note to Standing Order 76
outlining the guidelines to be used by the Speaker in selecting
amendments for consideration. The note states that the report stage is primarily
an opportunity for Members who did not sit on the committee that studied the
bill to have their proposed amendments considered by the House. Consequently,
the Speaker will not normally select for debate at report stage any motion in
amendment that was ruled out of order in committee.
Nor would a motion introduced in similar form and rejected previously at
the committee stage be selected unless the Speaker judges it to be of
exceptional significance. In February of 2001, the House sought to provide the Speaker
with additional guidance by means of a second note appended to Standing Order
76, which further specifies that the Speaker will not select for debate at
report stage a motion or series of motions of a repetitive or frivolous nature
or of a nature that would serve merely to prolong unnecessarily proceedings at
the report stage and, that in exercising this power of selection, the Speaker
will be guided by the practice followed in the House of Commons of the United
Kingdom.
When deliberations at report stage are concluded, a motion is moved that the
bill (with any amendments) be concurred in. The question is put immediately,
without amendment or debate. If no amendments are put down for consideration at
report stage, this stage becomes more of a formality, and report and third
reading stages may then occur on the same day.
Debate at third reading begins when the Order of the Day is called, the motion being "That Bill... be now read a third time and do pass". The basic principles governing the acceptability of amendments at third reading are that they be strictly relevant to the bill and do not contradict the principle of the bill as passed at second reading. The same types of amendments as may be proposed at second reading may also be proposed at third reading; that is, the six months' hoist and the reasoned amendment. In addition, an amendment may be proposed to refer the bill back to committee to be further amended in a specific area or to reconsider a certain clause or clauses.
In order for a bill to receive Royal Assent and become law, it must be passed
in identical form by both Houses. Accordingly,
after a bill has been passed by the House of Commons, a message is sent to the
Senate requesting that the bill be passed by the Upper Chamber, where procedures
for passage of a bill are similar to those in the House. If the Senate passes
the bill without any amendment, a message to that effect is sent to inform the
House of Commons and unless it contains financial provisions, the bill is not
returned to the House.
If there are amendments to the bill, the Senate communicates this to the
House by message. Twenty-four
hours’ written notice is required for any motion respecting Senate amendments
to a bill. In the House,
consideration of Senate amendments appears on the Orders of the Day and proceeds
under a motion moved by the sponsor of the bill.
If the Houses wishes to agree to the Senate amendments, the motion is
as follows: "That the amendments made by the Senate to Bill... be
now read a second time and concurred in". If the motion is adopted, a
message is sent informing the Senate accordingly, and the bill is returned to
the Senate for Royal Assent.
If the House does not wish to agree to the Senate amendments, it adopts a
motion stating the reasons for its disagreement, which it communicates to the
Senate. If the Senate wishes the amendments to stand nonetheless, it sends a
message to this effect to the House, which then accepts or rejects them. If it
is impossible for an agreement to be reached by exchanging messages, the House
that has possession of the bill may ask that a conference be held, although this
practice has fallen into disuse.
The Constitution Act, 1867 states that the approval of the Crown,
signified by Royal Assent, is required for any bill to become law after passage
by both Houses. The ceremony of Royal Assent is one of the oldest of all
parliamentary proceedings and brings together the three constituent parts of
Parliament: the Crown (represented by the Governor General), the Senate, and the
House of Commons. Until recently, Royal Assent was always given to bills by
means of the traditional ceremony outlined below. However, in 2002, legislation was passed providing for an
alternative procedure for signifying Royal Assent to bills.
Bill S-34, assented to on the June 4, 2002 and now Chapter 15 of the
Statutes of Canada, permits Royal Assent to be given by written procedure as
well as by the traditional ceremony.
Royal Assent is given to a bill when it has been passed in exactly the same
form by both Houses; it is at this stage that a bill becomes law. The bill comes
into force on the day of Assent, unless otherwise provided in the bill itself.
Provision is sometimes made for coming into force on a certain day or a day to
be fixed by order of the Governor in Council, and parts of bills may be brought
into force at different times.
During the traditional ceremony, the
Governor General may appear in person to give Royal Assent to major pieces of
legislation and at prorogation. However,
a Deputy in the person of the Chief Justice of Canada or a Puisne Judge of the
Supreme Court normally represents the Governor General at other times. On all
occasions, the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker is present at the bar of the Senate
Chamber where the ceremony takes place.
The office of the Governor General, acting at the request of the Government,
notifies the House by letter usually on the day of the event or one or two days
before Royal Assent is to be given. The message is read by the Speaker to the
House. It is a notice only and does not constitute a summons, which comes when
the Usher of the Black Rod appears in the Chamber to request the attendance of
Members in the Senate.
A quorum is not necessary for the Speaker to take the Chair when Black Rod is
at the door; if the House is sitting in Committee of the Whole, the Speaker
immediately takes the Chair. After knocking, entering and delivering the
summons, Black Rod returns to the Senate, followed by the Sergeant-at-Arms with
the Mace, the Speaker, the Table Officers and the Members, all of whom assemble
at the bar of the Senate.
The ceremony for Royal Assent consists of the reading by the Senate Clerk,
officially styled Clerk of the Parliaments, of the titles of the bill or bills
to be approved. The formula of assent is then pronounced by the Senate Clerk on
behalf of the Crown's representative. If supply bills are to receive assent, the
Commons' Speaker addresses the Crown's representative according to an
established formula and presents a copy of each bill to the Senate Clerk
Assistant. The Clerk of the Parliaments, in the name of the Sovereign, then
thanks the House for its loyalty and benevolence and announces the Royal Assent.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, the Speaker returns to the House and reports
what has just occurred. The proceeding usually takes 15 or 20 minutes, after
which the House resumes the business interrupted by the arrival of Black Rod or
adjourns the sitting.
The written procedure for signifying Royal Assent to bills adopted in 2002,
preserves the traditional ceremony outlined above by requiring that it be used
twice in each calendar year, including for the first appropriation bill in each
session. An Act that has been given
Royal Assent in written form is deemed assented to on the day on which the two
Houses of Parliament have been notified of the written declaration by their
respective Speakers.
All bills that come before the House of Commons must, in some way, pass through the same legislative stages in order to become law. Amendments to the Standing Orders adopted in February 1994 added two new options to the traditional legislative process
The Standing Orders provide that a motion to appoint or instruct a committee
to prepare a bill may be moved by a Minister or by a private Member.
However, the procedures to be followed in each instance are not entirely
the same.
A Minister who wants to instruct a committee to prepare and bring in a bill
must give 48 hours’ written notice of the motion he or she intends to move.
Once the notice period has passed, the motion will be placed on the Order
Paper under “Government Orders”. When
it is called by the government it may be debated for a maximum of 90 minutes,
after which the Speaker will interrupt debate and put all questions necessary to
dispose of the motion.
If a private Member wants to instruct a committee to produce and bring in a
bill, the Member must give at least two weeks’ written notice of the motion he
or she intends to make. When the
notice period has passed, the motion will be placed on the Order Paper under
“Private Members’ Business”. It
will then be governed by all the rules relating to Private Members’ Business,
that is, it will be subject to the random draw procedure, it will have to be
selected as a matter that can be voted on and it will be taken up during the
time set aside for Private Members’ Business.
(See Chapter 15 on Private Members’ Business for further information)
Tradition dictates that the adoption of the motion for second reading of a
bill defines the principle contained in the bill and therefore limits the scope
of the amendments that may be made to the bill in committee and at report stage.
On occasions where the House has wanted to expand the purposes of the bill after
second reading, it has generally been unable to do so because, with the adoption
of the second reading motion, the principle of the bill had already been
defined. By referring a bill to committee before the principle has been adopted
by the House, the House gives itself more flexibility to review and fine-tune
the legislation. In recognition of this, changes to the Standing Orders adopted
in February 1994 defined the procedures by which the House could refer a bill to
a committee for detailed examination before second reading.
A Minister wishing to move that a government bill be referred to a committee
for study before second reading will, immediately after the reading of the Order
of the Day for the second reading of the bill, and after notifying
representatives of the opposition parties, propose a motion that the bill be
referred to a standing, special or legislative committee. Under the rules of the
House, there may be up to three hours of debate on the motion, the motion is not
amendable, and there is a specific speaking order for Members of the different
parties. At the end of three hours, or when no other Member rises to speak, the
Speaker will put the question to the House. If the motion is adopted, the bill
will be referred to the committee for study.
Generally speaking, the committee will conduct its clause-by-clause
examination of the bill subject to the same rules and procedures governing the
committee study of bills after second reading. However, the scope of the
amendments that can be made to the bill is much wider. At the conclusion of its
study, the committee will report the bill to the House, with or without
amendments. The report stage of this bill cannot be taken up until three sitting
days after the bill is reported to the House.
When the bill is reported back to the House, what follows is essentially a
combined report and second reading stage. Members of the House can offer
amendments to the legislation, just as at report stage after second reading, and
the same procedures for dealing with amendments will be followed. However,
notice of amendments to be proposed at report stage must be given in writing two
sitting days before the bill is to be taken up. When the proceedings at report
stage have been concluded, a motion "That the bill, as amended, be
concurred in at report stage and be read a second time" or "That the
bill be concurred in at report stage and read a second time" will be put
and disposed of without debate or amendment. When the bill has been concurred in
and read a second time, it shall be set down for third reading and passage at
the next sitting of the House.
A bill designed to exempt an individual or group of individuals from the
application of the law is a private bill. Private
bills are subject to special rules in both Houses of Parliament, however, most
private bills originate in the Senate where the fees and charges imposed on the
promoter are less.
The progress of private legislation as prescribed by the Standing Orders is
somewhat different than for public bills in that a private bill is introduced by
means of a petition signed by the interested parties and presented in the House
by a Member who has agreed to sponsor it. "Parliamentary agents" are
authorized to promote private bills and find sponsors; Members are forbidden to
act as parliamentary agents or to accept payment for presenting bills. The
petition must be favourably reported upon by either the Examiner of Petitions or
the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. The sponsor must deposit
a printed copy of the bill with the Clerk of the House.
After approval of the petition, private bills are tabled, read a first time,
printed, and ordered for second reading. Private bills from the Senate
accompanied by messages requesting passage are deemed to have been read a first
time and are ordered for second reading. Such bills are automatically placed on
the order of precedence established for Private Members' Business and are
automatically made votable. As in the case of a public bill, debate at the
second reading is on the general principle and expediency of the bill.
Notice of private bills must be posted in the lobbies of the Parliament
buildings before consideration in a committee, but the procedures for hearing
witnesses and proposing amendments in committee are otherwise virtually
identical for public and private bills. However, when an amendment that might
harm parties concerned is moved to a private bill, adequate notice must be
given, and both the promoters of the bill and those opposed to it may be
represented by counsel. Another difference in procedure gives an extra vote to
the chairman of a committee considering a private bill: he or she votes to break
a tie like any other chairman, but also votes on the motion like the other
members.
The committee must report to the House on all bills referred to it.
Amendments may be made to the bill, lack of evidence to support the preamble may
be noted, and adherence to the rules governing notice may be commented on.
Consideration of the report by the House is the same for private and public
bills, as are the rules governing third reading.
