The Effects of Prorogation on Private Members’ Business

Prorogation of a session usually brings to an end all proceedings before Parliament. Unfinished business dies on the Order Paper and must be started anew in a subsequent session. However, for the purposes of Private Members’ Business, prorogation has almost no practical effect.266 The List for the Consideration of Private Members’ Business established at the beginning of a Parliament, provisions governing how the order of precedence is established267 and the order of precedence itself continue from session to session.268

Private Members’ bills and motions originating in the House, including motions for papers which have been transferred for debate, need not be reintroduced in a new session as they are automatically deemed to have passed all stages completed in the previous session and retain the same place on the Order Paper. Thus, items originating in the House and placed in the order of precedence remain there. Items designated as non-votable maintain that designation.269

Private Members’ bills that originated in the House are deemed to have been adopted at all stages of the legislative process agreed to in the previous session. Bills read a third time and passed are deemed to have done so, and a new message is sent to the Senate to that effect. If consideration of an item at a certain stage had begun but had not been completed, the item is restored at the beginning of that stage, as if no debate had yet occurred. Bills that were referred to a committee in the previous session are deemed referred back to the same committee. For the purposes of the Standing Orders, the deadline for reporting a private Member’s bill from committee is 60 sitting days following the day it is deemed referred to the committee, usually on the first day of the session.270 For ease of reference, all bills that originated in the House and motions under Private Members’ Business retain the same number from session to session.

Bills given Royal Assent and motions that have been adopted, as well as bills and motions that have been defeated, withdrawn or dropped from the Order Paper, are no longer before the House and are therefore not carried over following a prorogation. These may, however, be reintroduced (with the exception of bills given Royal Assent). No item can be carried over from one Parliament to the next.

Some private Members’ bills originate in the Senate and are sent to the House after passage by the Senate. As they are the result of proceedings in the other place, these bills cannot be carried over from session to session. However, should the Senate decide to adopt a bill that is identical to one sent to the House in a previous session of the same Parliament, the sponsor of the bill in the House may ask that it be reinstated at the same stage of the legislative process. Such reinstatement can occur only within the first 60 sitting days of the session.271 If the bill receives first reading later than 60 days into the session, no reinstatement is possible and the bill must continue through the regular legislative process. In addition, only Senate public bills can be reinstated. Private bills, which are subject to a number of other requirements, are not eligible for reinstatement.

The request for reinstatement of a Senate bill is made by the sponsor at the time of the bill’s first reading. If the Speaker agrees that the bill is in the same form as a previous bill, the Speaker announces that the bill is deemed to have passed whatever stages had been agreed to by the House in the previous session.272 If consideration of the bill at a certain stage had begun but had not been completed, the item is restored at the beginning of that stage as if no debate had yet occurred. Bills that were referred to a committee in the previous session are deemed referred back to the same committee. Furthermore, the reinstated bills will not be assigned the same numbers from one session to another.