The Legislative Process

Introduction

The examination and enactment of legislation are arguably the primary tasks of Parliament. A bill (a legislative proposal) must pass through a number of very specific stages in the House of Commons and the Senate before it becomes law. This is known as the legislative process.

Since Confederation, the rules of both Houses have contained detailed provisions governing the passage of public and private bills. A number of the rules that were in effect at Confederation remain in effect today. For example, in the case of the House of Commons, the Standing Orders prohibit the introduction of bills in blank or imperfect form, stipulate that all bills be subject to three separate readings, on different days, and require that bills be printed in both official languages and be certified by the Clerk of the House after each reading.

Over the years, the rules governing the legislative process have been amended on many occasions in order to better facilitate the consideration of public bills, to expand the roles of committees and to encourage greater participation by Members.

There were no changes to the Standing Orders with respect to the legislative process during Speaker Scheer’s term; nevertheless, he did provide a number of rulings that further contributed to the clarification of the Speaker’s role in selecting motions in amendment at report stage. In particular, Speaker Scheer’s decision of June 11, 2012, regarding 871 motions in amendment of Bill C-38, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 29, 2012 and other measures, reaffirmed the Speaker’s discretionary authority to select and group motions at report stage. Similarly, his decision of November 29, 2012, which he elaborated upon on December 12, 2012, further confirmed that the Speaker selects and groups motions in amendment at report stage in accordance with past practice.

In these two rulings, Speaker Scheer also acknowledged some of the challenges faced by independent Members in presenting amendments to legislation. While reminding Members that the Chair could only follow past practice without regard to the composition of the House, he invited Members to explore new possibilities and to find a mechanism that would afford independent Members an opportunity to move motions to legislation in committee. This led to the development of a new practice in which committees of the House started including independent Members in their clause-by-clause consideration of legislation.

The Speaker also made a number of important rulings relating to the powers of committees. On May 21, 2013, he ruled on the admissibility of a concurrence in a committee report which effectively expanded the scope of a private Member’s bill. In so doing, he indicated that committees must continue to meet their obligations regarding the admissibility of amendments, but that ultimately the Speaker could act as arbiter in determining the admissibility of amendments agreed to in committee. Speaker Scheer also ruled on the admissibility of a motion of instruction giving a committee the power to expand the scope of a bill.

On several occasions, Speaker Scheer ruled on procedural matters related to the form of bills or the transmission of bills from the House to the Senate.

This chapter contains 17 decisions, including those mentioned above, that touch on and are grouped here by the various stages in the legislative process. They show that Speaker Scheer played an important role in upholding and explaining relevant practices, while also responding to new and unforeseen circumstances.