1. Federal statutes

1.1.1          Bills

• The bills of the current session are available on Reserve. Bills from previous sessions and legislatures are available in the Parliamentary Documents section of the library (main floor).

Call #: CA1 XB B56

Location:FTX Parliamentary Doc 

Library Has Latest sess. kept in STATUTES.,

1st Reading: 28th Parl. 1st sess.-38th Parl. 1st sess. 1968-2005,

1st Reading: 39th Parl. 1st Sess. : no.2-7,9-37,40-48,51-59,61-62,201-449 2006-07

• Bills are numbered consecutively within each session of Parliament following the order in which they are introduced. The bills presented within the House of Commons are prefixed by “C”, while those presented in Senate begin with “S”.

• Bills originating from the government or public interest bills are numbered from 1 to 200. Those that originate from Parliament are numbered from 201-1000 and private bills are numbered from 1001 onwards.

o        N.B.       A governmental or ministerial bill is introduced by the Minister responsible for the department concerned with subject of the bill. A private members’ bill is filed by a private member, including a member of the opposition.

·A session of Parliament corresponds to the period of time during which the two houses are seated (i.e. meets) between two elections. Under the terms of the Canadian Constitution, a parliament cannot last more than five years.

·A session is the term used to describe the periods of time or groupings of sittings into which a Parliament can be divided. The first session of a Parliament begins with a Speech from the Throne and ends with prorogation or dissolution of the Parliament. 

·The speech from the throne is read by the general governor at the beginning of each session. The speech sets out the broad goals and directions that the government intends to present to the House of Commons and Senate.

·Prorogation of a Parliament results in the termination of a session which ends all activities and committees of Parliament.

·A bill can establish a new law or amend an already existing law. A new bill adds a law to the body of legislation, whereas an amending bill brings changes to an existing text.

·A bill can establish a new law or amend an already existing law. A new Bill adds a law to the legislative corpus, whereas a modifying bill brings changes to an existing text.

                                 (a) A public bills is concerned with matters of public policy,

                                 (b) A private bill benefits the named individuals or companies.

·Bills consist of clauses which are numbered sequentially from the beginning of the bill to the end, and may be grouped in parts, divisions and subdivisions. A number of related ideas will be set out in sub-clauses within a single clause.

·A bill may contain schedules that provide details that are essential to certain provisions of the bill. There are two types of schedules: those that contain material that cannot be put into the form of sections -- tables, diagrams, lists and maps -- and those that reproduce an agreement that falls within Crown prerogative, such as treaties and conventions.

·Bills are printed at the first and third readings.

Citation standard:  See CGULC, 6th ed. 2.1.5 Bills, pp. E-23 – E-24.

N.B.       Bills are cited by their official title as it appears on the cover page.

Example:

Bill C-26, An Act to establish the Canada Border Services Agency, 1st Sess., 38th Parl., 2005 (as passed by the House of Commons 13 June 2005).

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