The Lucknow Sentinel, 1987-01-28, Page 7Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, January 28, 1987—Page 7
Riddell explains Private Members' Bills
To the editor:
In light of the controversial debate that
has surfaced in Huron County recently
over the Library Bill (Pr7) I think it would
be appropriate at this time to point out how
our democratic system Works.
In the Provincial Legislature, which is a
parliamentary form of government, the
House deals with three kinds of Bills:
Government Bills, Private Members'
Bills, and Private Bills.
A government bill, also called a "public
bill" is introduced into the House by a
Cabinet Minister. It represents some
aspect of Government policy, as determin-
ed by the Cabinet and is introduced only
after it has been extensively examined by
Cabinet, of which I am a member. Only
government bills may deal with the expen-
diture of public funds or the raising of
revenues through taxation. The over-
whelming majority of all laws and statutes
began as government bills.
The next category is the Private
Members' Bills, which can be introduced
by any elected member of the Legislature,
except Cabinet members. These bills deal
with a wide range of matters of public
policy, but may not involve the expen-
diture of public money.
Such Private Members' Bills rarely
receive third reading, but many times
Cabinet ministers take them into con-
sideration when drafting policy and in-
troducing their own bills.
The third category, which embraces the
Huron County Library (Pr7) bill, is the
Private Bill (Pr). They are introduced by
a Member of the Legislature for special
private interests, usually on behalf of
another individual group, institution, or
municipality. They too cannot be introduc-
ed by a Cabinet minister and neither can a
Cabinet minister become involved with
such bills as they go through the Commit-
tee stage.
All bills are introduced into the House
with what is called "First Reading",
which gives them a title and a brief ex-
planation. There is no debate or amend-
ment during "first reading", and if the mo-
tion is passed, the bill is printed, assigned
a number and ordered for second reading.
After at least several days between first
and second reading to allow the members
of all parties to study the bill, it comes
back into the House where the principle of
the bill is debated, with no time limit on
members' speeches. In rare instances, the
bill may proceed directly to third reading
but usually after second reading, the bill is
sent to a committee for clause -by -clause
examination and possible amendment.
This committee, which may be a Stan-
ding or Select Committee of the
Legislature or the Committee of the Whole
House, gives it close and careful scrutiny.
At this point, the public may come into a
Select or Standing Committee and add
their voice, either expressing reservations
or suggesting amendments. Here again, a
Cabinet minister cannot be a member of
any .committee.
After a bill has been examined in com-
mittee, a report is presented to the House,
and if amended, the bill must be reprinted
before it may proceed to the Legislature
for third reading, which is largely a for-
mality, with little debate involved, since
the principle of the bill has been approved.
Following third reading approval of the
Shoot party, held
at St. Helens
There were nine tables of shoot at the St.
Helens WI Hall on January 12.
The high lady was Catherine Taylor
while the second high lady was Irene
Markham. The high man was Harvey Rit-
chie with Ross Errington as the second
high man.
Lloyd Moffat won the draw for the most
shoots over five other players.
The next card party will be held on Mon-
day, January 26.
Of the 1,151 periodicals counted in the
countryin 1984 by Statistics Canada, 266
dealt with religion, 173 with business and
72 with agriculture. However, contrary to
popular belief that sports occupies a big
part of that market, there were only 29
sport magazines.
House, the bill is given the ceremonial
Royal Assent by the Lieutenant Governor
and proclaimed.
As a member of the Cabinet, under
parliamentary tradition, I can only in-
troduce Government Bills and not Private
Member Bills nor Private Bills. In the case
of the Pr7 bill, it was introduced by Mid-
dlesex MPP Doug Reycraft, who is the
member closest to Huron County, as
neither Murray Elston MPP for Huron -
Bruce and a member of Cabinet, nor
Perth's Hugh Edighoffer, the Speaker, can
introduce Bills.
As with any municipal bill such as the
Library Bill (Pr7) , which received the
overwhelming support of Huron County
Council, it is customary for the Legislature
to deal with them ,in as expeditious a man-
ner as possible, as Huron County council
are a duly elected autonomous body and it
is NOT the provincial government's
prerogative to tell them how to run their
business.
The bill was backed in committee by the
Liberal caucus to follow the wishes of the
municipality. At that time the general
public also had ample chance to comment
on it. Again; as a member of Cabinet I can-
not speak on a Private Bill, nor can I in any
way block its progress through the
Legislature. You can imagine the howls of
protest that would ring throughout the pro-
vince if any Cabinet Minister tried to in-
terfere in the democratic process at the
municipal level.
I hope this explains how the Parliamen-
tary process works in Ontario, and should
TO
any reader require a fuller explanation of
the Legislative process, I would be glad to
mail them the information if they contact
my offices either in Goderich, Exeter, or
Queen's Park.
Yours sincerely,
Jack Riddell, M.P.P.
Huron -Middlesex
Minister of
Agriculture and Food
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