21. Private Members’ Business

While government bills and motions are called for debate in the order that the government chooses, items of Private Members’ Business are called according to their place on the order of precedence; only those items in the order of precedence may be considered during Private Members’ Hour. ^[74]  The order of precedence is a list of items sponsored by private Members, established following a random draw of names. A Member’s name is entered in the draw provided that he or she does not already have an item in the order of precedence and provided that he or she has at least one item of Private Members’ Business on the list of items outside the order of precedence. For the purpose of the draw, the following items are considered to be on the list of items outside the order of precedence:

• a bill, if it has been introduced, read a first time and ordered for a second reading at the time of the draw;
• a notice of motion, if it has been put on the Notice Paper not later than the day before the draw;
• a notice of Motion (Papers), if it has been transferred for debate before the draw.

Any item on which a recorded division has been deferred and which would be removed from the order of precedence as a result of the division is not considered to be an item in the order of precedence for the purpose of the draw. ^[75] 

The draw is organized by the Clerk of the House and is chaired, by practice, by the Deputy Speaker or one of the other Presiding Officers of the House. At least 48 hours before a draw is to be held, the Clerk of the House notifies Members of the date, time and place of the draw. ^[76]  Members or their staff may attend the draw, though their presence is not required. The draw itself is not a formal proceeding of the House; therefore, no formal recording is made in that day’s Journals. The new items in the order of precedence will appear in the Order Paper of the following sitting under the heading “Private Members’ Business — Items in the Order of Precedence”.

First Draw of a Session

At the beginning of a session, Members are notified of the first draw within two sitting days after 30 or more Members have each placed at least one eligible item of Private Members’ Business on the Order Paper. ^[77]  The draw is conducted so that the order of precedence contains an equal number of public bills originating in the Commons and motions (including motions for papers), provided there are sufficient numbers of eligible bills and motions. ^[78]  The names of Members with eligible bills are drawn first, followed by the names of Members with eligible motions, for a total of 30 names to be drawn. If a Member’s name is drawn for both a bill and a motion, then his or her name is set aside the second time since no Member may have more than one motion or bill at second reading on the order of precedence at one time. ^[79]  These 30 names are then redrawn to establish the order of items on the order of precedence. ^[80] 

When a Member whose name has been drawn has more than one eligible item standing in his or her name on the Order Paper, the Member must choose which one of these items is to be placed on the order of precedence. The Member must notify the Clerk of the House of his or her choice by the end of the second sitting day after the draw. Should the Member fail to do so within the allotted time, the first item put on the Order Paper in the Member’s name will be the one placed on the order of precedence. ^[81]  The number of joint seconders influences neither the chances of a bill or a motion being placed on the order of precedence nor of it being selected later as a “votable item”. ^[82]  Any private and Senate public bills which have been ordered for a second reading in the House and placed at the bottom of the order of precedence at the time of a draw are not considered to occupy any of the 30 positions on the order of precedence.

Subsequent Draws

The order of precedence may not contain more than 30 motions and public bills originating in the House at the second reading stage, nor fewer than 15 items. ^[83]  Further draws for up to an additional 15 items are held during the session whenever the number of items on the order of precedence is close to 15. ^[84]  The number of bills and motions to be chosen following each draw depends on the number of bills and motions still in the order of precedence at the time of the draw. For example, if there are 10 motions but only five bills on the order of precedence at the time of the draw, five additional motions and 10 additional bills will be chosen. If a Member already has an eligible item on the order of precedence at the time of the draw, his or her name will not be included in the draw, unless it is an item on which a recorded division has been deferred and which would be removed from the Order Paper as a result of the vote. ^[85] 

If a Member no longer wishes to proceed with a notice of motion which is on the list of items outside the order of precedence or a bill which has not yet been given first reading, and thus does not wish to see the item placed on the order of precedence, he or she may request to have the item withdrawn from the Order Paper by notifying the Clerk of the House in writing. If a Member wishes to withdraw a bill which has been given first reading, he or she must seek the unanimous consent of the House to do so since, having been ordered for a second reading by the House, the bill is then in the possession of the House and only the House can take a further decision on it. ^[86] 

Since the order of precedence is established by the Standing Orders, a Member wishing to withdraw any item which has been placed on the order of precedence must first seek the unanimous consent of the House. ^[87] 

Items not chosen following the draw to establish the order of precedence remain on a list, which may be consulted at the Table in the Chamber or on the electronic version of the Order Paper, entitled “Items Outside the Order of Precedence”, and are eligible for subsequent draws in the session. ^[88]  Unless chosen following a subsequent draw, items outside the order of precedence do not receive consideration during Private Members’ Business. There is no limit to the number of bills and motions a Member may have on the list of items outside the order of precedence.

Certain items of Private Members’ Business are placed automatically at the bottom of the order of precedence regardless of the results of the draw or the number of items already on the list. ^[89]  These items include:

• orders for consideration of subsequent stages of a bill already debated during Private Members’ Business (including bills reported back or deemed to have been reported back from committees ^[90] );
• bills on the order of precedence in a previous session which are reinstated; ^[91] 
• consideration of Senate amendments to bills;
• all stages of a private bill;
• private Members’ public bills originating in the Senate.

An item supported by 100 Members, including at least 10 Members each from a majority of the recognized parties in the House, is also eligible to be added to the order of precedence if the sponsoring Member does not already have an item on the order of precedence. ^[92]  The order of precedence can contain only one such item at any given time. Thus, it is possible for the total number of items on the order of precedence to exceed 30 since this number applies only to motions and public bills originating in the Commons at second reading.