23. Private Bills Practice

Private bills are subject to the same procedural requirements as public bills: they must have three separate readings and be given a detailed study by a committee. ^[83]  Bills originating in the Senate retain their Senate bill number during passage through the House. ^[84] Those private bills originating in the House are numbered consecutively beginning with C-1001. Private bills are considered during the time provided for Private Members’ Business. However, as explained earlier in this chapter, while a private bill must be sponsored by a private Member in the House, it is not considered as a private Member’s bill because it is introduced at the request of a private person outside Parliament.

As soon as a petition for a private bill is received, the Clerk of Petitions asks the Member who will be acting as the sponsor to endorse the petition by signing the back of it. ^[85]  It is then filed with the Clerk of the House and recorded in that day’s Journals. ^[86]  The petition must bear the original signatures of the persons who are requesting the legislation and who are to benefit from it. ^[87]  In the case of a petition from a corporation, the petition must bear the corporate seal as well as the signatures of the authorized officials of the corporation. The signatures must appear at the end of the prayer, ^[88] and where there are three or more petitioners, at least three of the signatures must follow the prayer on the same page. ^[89] 

Although the Standing Orders are not explicit as to whether a petition is required for a private bill originating in the Senate to be considered by the House, the long-established practice is for the promoter of the bill to petition each House separately. ^[90] With a private bill originating in the Senate, the usual practice is for the Member acting as the sponsor to file the petition with the Clerk of the House after the bill has received second reading in the Senate.

The day after the petition is recorded in the Journals, the Clerk of Petitions files a report with the Clerk of the House indicating whether the petition meets the requirements of the Standing Orders and the practices of the House as to form and content. If the petition does meet the requirements, it is deemed read and received ^[91]  and will be deemed referred to the committee which will be studying the private bill after second reading. ^[92]  If the petition is deemed inadmissible, it cannot be received by the House as it stands, and the private bill based thereon cannot be submitted to the House. ^[93]  No debate is allowed on the report of the Clerk of Petitions. ^[94] 

Once the petition for a private bill has been received by the House, an official of the House acting as the Examiner of Petitions for Private Bills examines the petition and the published notices to ensure that the requirements have been met regarding notice and the number of times it has been advertised in the Canada Gazette. ^[95]  The Examiner of Petitions for Private Bills then files a report with the Clerk of the House on whether the requirements regarding notice have been observed by the applicant. ^[96]  Should the Examiner report that notice has in some way been deficient or defective or that there is some doubt in the matter, the Examiner’s report and the petition are deemed referred to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. ^[97]  If a private bill originating in the Senate is sent to the Commons without being based on a petition received in the House, the Examiner of Petitions compares the terms of the preamble of the bill with the required notices and proceeds exactly as if a petition had been received. ^[98] 

If a report of the Examiner of Petitions has been referred to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, the Committee may call before it the Member of Parliament who presented the petition for a private bill as well as the applicant or the parliamentary agent. After hearing their explanations, the Committee decides whether or not the petition should be acted on and under what conditions. The Committee presents a report to the House regarding any deficiencies or defects found in the notices and recommends the course it deems appropriate in the circumstances. ^[99]  For example, the Committee may recommend that certain provisions of the Standing Orders be suspended, the grounds for which are included in the report. Should the Committee not recommend that the Standing Orders be suspended, the House cannot consider the bill based on the petition. ^[100]  After the Committee’s report has been tabled, the Chair of the Committee or the Member who presented the petition will usually move concurrence in the report. ^[101] 

After either the Examiner of Petitions for Private Bills or the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs has reported that the notice requirements have been satisfied (i.e., the applicants published a notice of intent in the Canada Gazette and provided proof of this publication), any private bill originating in the Commons may be laid upon the Table by the Clerk of the House. ^[102]  It is then deemed to have been read a first time, ordered to be printed, ordered for a second reading and added to the bottom of the Order of Precedence for Private Members’ Business. ^[103]  It is designated a votable item for the purposes of Private Members’ Business. ^[104] 

A private bill originating in the Senate is deemed to have been read a first time and ordered for a second reading at a subsequent sitting of the House as soon as a message is received from the Senate advising that it has passed the bill. ^[105]  It is also placed at the bottom of the Order of Precedence for Private Members’ Business and considered a votable item. ^[106] 

Unlike a public bill which is founded on reasons of public policy and which the House, in agreeing to its second reading, accepts and affirms in principle, the expediency of a private bill is mainly founded upon assertions to be proven in committee. The practice is for the House to agree to the second reading of a private bill; in doing so, it affirms the principle of the private bill, subject to a committee finding that the assertions set down in the preamble are true. ^[107]  The amendments which can be moved at second reading are the same as those which can be moved to the motion for second reading of a public bill (i.e., a hoist amendment, a reasoned amendment and motion to discharge the order for second reading). ^[108] 

Although the Standing Orders require that all private bills be referred to a legislative committee after second reading, the House of Commons regularly gives unanimous consent to take the committee stage in a Committee of the Whole since most private bills originate in the Senate. ^[109]  However, where the House has received a petition against the bill or Members feel the bill warrants further examination, it is usually referred to a committee. ^[110] 

The first business of the committee is to prove the preamble of the bill, that is, to substantiate the assertions contained in the bill’s preamble and on which the rest of the bill is based. The promoters, or their parliamentary agent, present their case for the accuracy of the assertions and the appropriateness of the solution provided by the provisions of the bill. Any opponents, or their parliamentary agent, may present grounds for opposition to the bill or to some part of it. If any part of the preamble is not proven to the committee’s satisfaction, then it may strike from the bill both that part of the preamble and those provisions which pertain to the unproven assertions. The committee may also prefer to report that the preamble was found not proven and that the bill should not be proceeded with. Any such report must include the reason for any material change to the preamble of the bill or why the preamble was found not proven. ^[111]  Finally, the committee may amend the preamble either by striking out or modifying any assertions that may not have been substantiated to their satisfaction or by expunging any assertions the promoters may be desirous of withdrawing.

After the preamble has been considered and proven to the satisfaction of the committee, it reviews the bill clause by clause and amendments may be moved. The amendments made to a private bill by a committee ought not to be so extensive as to constitute a different bill from that which has been read a second time. ^[112]  All questions before the committee are decided by a majority of votes. The Chair may vote twice: once with the other members of the committee on any question, and then a second time if the first vote results in a tie. ^[113]  The Chair initials the clauses of the bill when they are passed, with or without amendments, and signs the bill. ^[114] 

Once the deliberations on the bill have been completed, the committee is required to report the bill back to the House, with or without amendments. ^[115] 

If a committee reports to the House that the preamble was not proven, the bill is not placed on the Order Paper unless by special order of the House. ^[116]  If the committee reports to the House that the bill contains provisions which were not contemplated in the notice or petition, the bill is not placed on the Order Paper until the Examiner of Petitions reports on the sufficiency or otherwise of the notice or petition to cover such provisions. ^[117] 

Since the bill belongs to the promoter and not to the Member in charge of ushering the bill through the House, the promoter may inform the committee at any time that he or she does not wish to proceed any further with the bill. ^[118]  This is reported to the House and the bill is withdrawn. ^[119] 

These two stages are governed by the Standing Orders relating to Private Members’ Business (see Chapter 21, “Private Members’ Business”). If a private bill is considered at the report stage, one day’s notice of all amendments to the bill must be given at this stage of the proceedings. ^[120]  During the third reading stage, the same amendments that may be proposed during third reading of a public bill may be moved (i.e., a hoist amendment, a reasoned amendment and an amendment to recommit the bill to committee).

If a private bill which has originated in the House is passed in the same form by the Senate, the bill receives Royal Assent and becomes law. If it is amended by the Senate, a message is sent informing the House of the amendments. Between 1945 and 1978 (the last time a private bill originated in the House), no amendments were made by the Senate to private bills originating in the House. In the early years of Confederation, the Senate often amended private bills which had originated in the House. The House would typically read the amendments a second time and pass them. ^[121]  On occasion, if amendments were substantive as opposed to “merely verbal or unimportant”, the House would refer the amendments back to the committee which originally studied the bill. ^[122]  If these amendments were agreed to by the committee in a report to the House, they were considered by the House. ^[123]  If the amendments were read a second time and passed by the House, a message was sent informing the Senate accordingly and the bill then received Royal Assent. If the committee disagreed with the amendments, it reported accordingly to the House. The House then sent a message to this effect to the other Chamber if it concurred in the committee’s report. ^[124] 

If a private bill which has originated in the Senate is passed by the House in the same form, the bill receives Royal Assent and becomes law. If the House of Commons has passed the bill with amendments, a message is sent to the Senate requesting concurrence in the amendments. Subsequently, a message is received from the Senate agreeing or disagreeing with the amendments. If the amendments are concurred in by the Senate, a message is sent informing the House of its concurrence and the bill then receives Royal Assent. ^[125]  If the Senate does not agree with the amendments, it informs the House accordingly.