If the private member is to count for
anything, there must be a relationship between what the private member and the
institution of Parliament can do and what the electorate thinks or expects can
be done.
Third Report of the Special Committee on the Reform of the House
(McGrath Committee), June 1985, p. 2
P
rivate Members” are generally
defined as Members of the House of Commons who are not part of the
Ministry. [1]
While
there is no rule specifically excluding Parliamentary Secretaries from this
designation, the practice is for them to abstain from sponsoring items under
Private Members’
Business. [2]
In
general, Presiding Officers of the House have also abstained from sponsoring or
pursuing private Members’ bills or
motions. [3]
Each sitting day, one hour is set aside for
Private Members’ Business, that is, for the consideration of bills and
motions presented and sponsored by private Members. Private Members may use the
time allotted for the consideration of Private Members’ Business to put
forth their own legislative and policy proposals, and express their views on a
variety of issues. [4]
Private Members’ proposals can take the form of a bill (either public or
private), a motion, or a notice of motion for the production of
papers.
A private Member’s bill is the text
of a legislative initiative sponsored by a private Member. Based on private
Members’ own ideas and drafted with the aid of legislative counsel, such
bills are brought forward by the sponsoring Member. Like government bills,
private Members’ bills become statutes once they receive Royal
Assent. [5]
Most private
Members’ bills are public bills originating in the Commons, but some
public bills, and occasionally private bills, sponsored by private Members come
to the Commons from the
Senate. [6]
A private Member’s motion typically
proposes that the House declare its opinion on some topic or that the House
order a certain course of action to be taken, either by the House itself, or by
one of its committees or officers.
A notice of motion for the production of
papers is a request that the government compile or produce certain papers or
documents and table them in the
House. [7]