VIII.

The Legislative Process

Cabinet ministers, the prime minister, ordinary MPs, and senators all can introduce bills in Parliament. Nearly all bills introduced by the government are passed during the session in which they are introduced. MPs introduce many bills, but only a small number ever reach the floor of Parliament for debate, and even fewer are approved. Only the government can introduce estimates. Government bills and estimates pass through several parliamentary stages before becoming law.

Bills must undergo three readings in Commons. All estimates are consolidated into the appropriation bill (the annual budget), which also undergoes three readings. The first reading is a formality at which point the bill is introduced and an order is given to print it. During the second reading, MPs debate the broad purposes of the bill and approve or reject it in principle. Debate at this stage can be lengthy, but the government can end it with a time allocation or a closure motion. After approval in principle, a bill is referred to a standing committee for detailed review. The committees examine and, to a limited degree, amend bills after second reading. At the report stage, committees present their findings. Often the report stage is combined with the third reading and a final vote on the bill.

The bill is then sent to the Senate to be debated and perhaps amended, in a process similar to that which occurred in Commons. Normally the Senate proposes only technical changes. If a new governing party has not been able to make appointments to the Senate and does not have a majority, the Senate will occasionally strive to defeat or to amend government bills significantly. The Senate can defeat, delay, or modify bills, but it rarely opposes the majority opinion of the popularly elected House of Commons.

The wording of the bills passed by Commons and the Senate must be identical. After any differences in the Commons and Senate versions of a bill are resolved, the governor-general gives royal assent to the bill in a formal ceremony in the Senate chamber, to which MPs are invited. Immediately upon royal assent, a bill becomes an act of Parliament and has the force of law, unless it contains a provision that all or part of the law will be put into effect later. When a law is proclaimed at a later date, it is done by means of an order from the government.