11. THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS

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. 

11.(a) Public Bills

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. Only a Minister may introduce a bill for the appropriation of any part of the public revenue or for taxation. 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. At least two weeks must elapse between first and second reading. 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) 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). 

11.(b) Stages of a Bill --The Traditional Legislative Process

Introduction

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. (As this stage forms part of Routine Proceedings, it is discussed more fully in Section 7.(e)) 

First Reading

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. 

Second Reading

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". 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. 

Committee Stage

The Standing Orders provide that a bill be read twice and then referred to a committee. Bills based on supply motions are referred to a Committee of the Whole; other types of bills are 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 on technical matters.  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. 

Report Stage

At report stage, the House reviews bills that have been studied and possibly amended in committee by considering motions in amendment of which notice in writing is given. 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. 

The Standing Orders require that every bill examined and reported by a committee be considered by the House at report stage. 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 only of government bills. Once report stage has begun, no further motions in amendment may be introduced. 

Amendments previously discussed in committee or aimed at restoring the original text may be proposed at this stage; the Speaker may select and group proposed amendments for debate, and 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. Normally, the Speaker will not select for debate at report stage any motion in amendment which was introduced in similar form and rejected previously at the committee stage. In February 1986, a note was appended to what are the present Standing Orders 76(5) and 76.1(5) outlining the guidelines to be used in selecting amendments for consideration. It states that the report stage is primarily an opportunity for Members who did not sit on the committee which studied the bill to have their proposed amendments considered by the House. 

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. 

Third Reading

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. 

Passage by the Senate

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. 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, as follows: "That the amendments made by the Senate to Bill ..., be now read a second time and concurred in". If the House agrees to the Senate amendments, a message is sent informing the Senate accordingly, and the bill is returned to the Senate for Royal Assent. 

If the House does not 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 decides to reject them, the House may adopt a motion requesting a conference between the two Houses, where their respective representatives attempt to resolve the impasse. Twenty-four hours' written notice is required for any motion respecting Senate amendments to a bill. 

Royal Assent and Proclamation

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. Although the Governor General in person may give Royal Assent to major pieces of legislation and at prorogation, 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 Gentleman 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 short 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. 

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 fixed by order of the Governor in Council, and parts of bills may be brought into force at different times. 

11.(c) Stages of a Bill -Variations on the Traditional Legislative Process

All bills which 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. 

(i) Committee Prepares and Brings in a Bill

It has always been possible for the House to adopt a motion to order a committee to prepare and bring in a bill. However, the use of this procedure has been rare. The recent amendments entrenched in the rules specific procedures for committees to prepare and bring in bills. 

A Member or Minister wishing to appoint or instruct a committee to prepare and bring in a bill gives the requisite 48 hours' written notice of the motion. After the expiration of the notice period, the item will be transferred to either the list of "Items outside the Order of Precedence for Private Members' Business" or to "Government Orders" on the Order Paper. In the case of the former, the motion will be subject to all of the rules of Private Members' Business. In the case of the latter, the item will be called for debate at the discretion of the Government. The focus of the discussion which follows will be primarily on a motion sponsored by the Government. 

When the Minister moves the motion to appoint or instruct a committee to prepare and bring in a bill, the motion, which may be amended, can be debated for up to ninety minutes. At the end of the ninety minutes, or when no other Member rises to speak, the Speaker will put all questions necessary to dispose of the motion. If the motion is adopted, it will be an order of the House for the committee to prepare and bring in a bill. 

Upon conclusion of its study, the committee charged with preparing and bringing in the bill reports to the House. As specified in Standing Order 68(5), in its report the committee is required to "recommend the principles, scope and general provisions of the said bill and may, if it deems appropriate, include recommendations regarding legislative wording." 

Unlike other motions for concurrence in committee reports, these motions are not dealt with under Routine Proceedings. As with any notice of motion for concurrence in a committee report, any Member may give notice. If a private Member gives notice of a motion to concur in the report of a committee bringing in a bill, this motion will be treated as an item of Private Members' Business, subject to all of the rules of Private Members' Business. Should a Minister of the Crown give notice of a motion to concur in the report of such a committee, this will be taken up for consideration under Government Orders. When debate on such a motion is held under Government Orders, it shall be considered to be a stage of the bill, and therefore subject to the Standing Orders governing time allocation. 

The adoption of a motion to concur in the report of such a committee shall be an Order of the House to bring in a bill based thereon. First reading of these bills shall be decided without debate, amendment or vote. However, when a Minister proposes a motion for first reading of a bill and notes that the bill is in response to an Order of the House, the bill cannot be set down for consideration at the second reading stage before the third sitting day after having been read a first time. The second reading and any subsequent stages of any such bill shall be considered under Government Orders. When the motion for second reading of the bill is proposed, the Speaker will immediately put all questions necessary to dispose of the second reading stage of the bill without debate or amendment. 

Should a private Member propose a motion for first reading of a bill based on the committee report, the bill will then be subject to selection as a votable item under Standing Order 92. If the bill is selected as a votable item, when the motion for second reading of the bill is proposed, the Speaker will immediately put all questions necessary to dispose of the second reading stage of the bill without debate or amendment. 

For the remaining stages of the legislative process, these bills are treated in the same manner as all other bills. 

(ii) Committee Study of a Bill Before Second Reading

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 which 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 for, 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 can give itself more flexibility to review and fine-tune the legislation. In recognition of this, some of the new 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 which 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. 

11.(d) Private Bills

A bill designed to exempt an individual or group of individuals from the application of the law is a private bill. 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 by the first day of the session. 

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. 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. 

Any further amendments adopted by the Senate are referred to the committee that considered the bill initially. If accepted, the amendments are read in the House a second time and, once agreed to, are returned to the Senate with a message informing that Chamber accordingly. If the committee reports unfavourably, the House may continue to insist on its own amendments in its message to the other Chamber. If an impasse occurs, a conference between the two Chambers may be requested.