Private Members’ Business

Introduction

Private Members’ Business consists of the consideration of bills and motions proposed 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 Private Members’ Business are largely inspired by recommendations of the Special Committee on the Reform of the House of Commons (the “McGrath Committee”), adopted provisionally in February 1986. They form the basis for the modern rules relating to Private Members’ Business, in addition to further modifications that were implemented through succeeding decades in a continuing effort to enhance the opportunities for private members to have their items considered.

The rulings included in this chapter deal with two issues: financial restrictions as well as votable and non-votable items.

Private members’ bills cannot infringe upon the financial prerogatives of the Crown, which are exercised exclusively by ministers. The power to impose or increase a tax rests solely with the government, and any such tax legislation must be preceded by the adoption of a ways and means motion moved by a minister. Therefore, a private member cannot introduce bills that impose taxes.

Similarly, any bill containing provisions for the spending of public funds must be accompanied by a recommendation from the Governor General, obtained by a minister of the Crown. In 1994, the Standing Orders were amended to permit private members to introduce bills requiring royal recommendations. However, no such bill may come to a vote at third reading unless a royal recommendation has been produced. In a statement on April 11, 2016, the Speaker outlined a practice by which items added to the order of precedence would be assessed for their need for a royal recommendation and by which members would be so advised accordingly.

On a number of occasions, Speaker Regan was required to rule on restrictions to Private Members’ Business arising from the financial prerogatives of the Crown. For example, on December 6, 2016, he ruled that a private member’s bill, which the sponsor had argued would not introduce new or distinct expenditure, nevertheless required a royal recommendation because it altered the object, purpose or condition of an existing appropriation.

No item of Private Members’ Business may be taken up by the House until a determination is made as to whether or not it should remain votable. Members who wish only to have their item debated without a vote may inform the Clerk of the House in writing that they wish to have the item designated non-votable. Items may also be designated as non-votable by the Subcommittee on Private Members’ Business of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, though such a decision is subject to review and an appeal involving a secret ballot open to all members. The secret ballot appealing a non-votable designation was used for the first two times during Speaker Regan’s tenure, and Speaker Regan was required to rule on requests to disclose aspects of the secret ballot. On January 29, 2019, Speaker Regan confirmed that the Standing Orders offer the Speaker no opportunity to disclose anything other than the final results of the secret ballot.