Private Members’ Business

Introduction

Private Members’ Business consists of the consideration of bills and motions introduced in the House of Commons by Members of Parliament other than the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker, Ministers of the Crown and Parliamentary Secretaries. One hour of every sitting day is devoted to Private Members’ Business.

The current rules relating to the conduct of Private Members’ Business developed largely from recommendations of the Special Committee on the Reform of the House of Commons (the “McGrath Committee”), established in December 1984. Further modifications were implemented throughout the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s in a continuing effort to provide equal opportunities for Members to have their items considered.

Several reforms of Private Members’ Business occurred during Mr. Speaker Milliken’s tenure, with important implications for the kinds of rulings he was called upon to make. In February 2003, the Special Committee on the Modernization and Improvement of the Procedures of the House of Commons presented two reports on Private Members’ Business (its First and Third), which were concurred in by the House. These reports proposed a number of changes to existing practice as well as amendments to the Standing Orders. Under the proposed new rules, every private Member would have an opportunity to have a bill or motion considered by the House of Commons during the life of a Parliament. Whereas previously most items of Private Members’ Business did not come to a vote, all items would now be votable by default, although criteria and procedures to make some items non-votable were set out in the proposed Standing Orders. On March 17, 2003, the new rules came into effect on a provisional basis, and were made permanent as of June 30, 2005, following the concurrence in the Thirty-Seventh Report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs on May 11, 2005.

Of Mr. Speaker Milliken’s rulings on Private Members’ Business, the majority dealt with three issues: financial restrictions; the prohibition of similar items; and questions of votability.

Private Members’ bills are subject to restrictions arising from the financial prerogatives of the Crown. Any bill containing provisions for the spending of funds must be accompanied by a recommendation from the Governor General which only a Minister of the Crown may obtain. In 1994, the Standing Orders were amended to permit private Members to introduce bills requiring royal recommendations and many Members now take advantage of this provision in the rules. However, no such bill may come to a vote at third reading unless a royal recommendation has been produced. The power to impose or increase a tax rests solely with the Government and any legislation to do so must be preceded by a ways and means motion which only a Minister may provide. Therefore a private Member cannot introduce bills which impose taxes. The Standing Order amendments of 2003 making all items of Private Members’ Business votable required Mr. Speaker Milliken to rule on the financial implications of private Members’ bills more often than his predecessors.

If a Member submits notice of a bill or motion which is judged by the Speaker to be substantially the same as another item of Private Members’ Business already submitted, the Speaker has the discretionary power to refuse the most recent notice. This is intended to prevent a number of similar items being placed in the Order of Precedence. For two or more items to be substantially the same, they must have the same purpose and they have to achieve that purpose by the same means. Thus, there could be several bills addressing the same subject, but if their approaches to the issue are different, the Chair could deem them to be sufficiently distinct that they may both proceed. On a number of occasions Mr. Speaker Milliken was required to rule on what constitutes similar or identical items.

Mr. Speaker Milliken’s rulings touching on the votability of items of Private Members’ Business sought to protect the rights of Members whose items had been designated non-votable by ensuring that they had ample time to pursue all options under the Standing Orders; that is, to accept the decision of the Committee; to appeal its decision; or to substitute another item. In more than one instance, the Speaker ordered that an item be dropped to the bottom of the Order of Precedence pending a report of the Committee on its votable status. In another decision, he declined to find a Member’s inability to ascertain the reasons for the Committee’s denial of votable status to be a breach of privilege.

Mr. Speaker Milliken’s numerous precedent-setting rulings with respect to Private Members’ Business were a necessary response to the introduction of sweeping changes to the manner in which it was conducted during his tenure as Speaker. Collectively, they are an important part of his procedural legacy.