Introducing a Private Bill

A private bill is proposed legislation that affects a small segment of the public. It aims to obtain exclusive or special rights or privileges for an individual or a legal person.

The promoter of a private bill is the person who wishes to have it passed by the National Assembly. Anyone may request the passage of a private bill, including

• heirs
• executors (or "liquidators", as they are called in the Civil Code)
• property owners
• groups with a common interest
• municipal corporations
• financial institutions
• cooperatives
• educational or religious institutions
• business companies

• Purpose of a Private Bill
• Stages of the Legislative Process
• Notice
  • Content
  • Publication 
• Committee Consideration
• Fees
• For More Information

Purpose of a Private Bill

There are no specific rules as to the purpose or intent of a private bill. Generally speaking, a private bill seeks special rights or privileges for serious reasons. A private bill may, for example:

• amend, revise or repeal a municipal charter
• ratify municipal by-laws or resolutions
• amend the charter of a legal person
• remedy defects in titles to immoveable property
• confer powers not otherwise provided for in Québec’s laws 

A private bill may not:

• overlap existing public legislation
• be contrary to public order or morality

People wishing to have a private bill passed by the National Assembly usually call on a legal adviser to act as their attorney. To draft the private bill, the legal adviser looks for models and precedents in existing legislation.
Fees involved in passing a private bill and having the mandatory notices published are payable by the promoter.

Stages of the Legislative Process

A private bill is introduced in the National Assembly by a Member of the National Assembly (MNA). The MNA does not endorse its content and may not approve its provisions. By custom, the MNA is not a Cabinet minister.

1. The promoter of a private bill finds an MNA who agrees to present it, usually the MNA for the promoter’s electoral division. See MNAs in office. 
2. The promoter publishes a notice in the newspapers and in the Gazette officielle du Québec to let people know that the bill will be introduced in the National Assembly.
3. The promoter gives the MNA the documents the Assembly will need in order to consider the private bill, namely:
   1. One copy of the text of the bill.
   2. Proof that the notice has been published in the newspapers and in the Gazette officielle du Québec.
   3. Any documents cited in the bill.
   4. If the promoter is a municipality or business company, a certified true copy of the resolution granting it authorization to have the bill introduced in the National Assembly.
   5. Any other relevant document.
4. The MNA sends the bill and the related documents to the National Assembly’s Law Clerk and confirms in writing that he or she has agreed to introduce it.
5. The Law Clerk acknowledges receipt of the bill, which serves as proof of the date on which the bill was filed.
6. The Legal and Legislative Affairs Directorate verifies the form and content of the bill, the date on which it was filed and the documents enclosed with it. It also makes sure that the notices were published as required by law.
7. The Legal and Legislative Affairs Directorate sends the bill to the appropriate government department to inform the minister concerned and obtain the opinion of the department’s legal affairs service. The department or the Assembly may suggest changes to the form or content of the bill. The promoter of the bill is free to accept or refuse these changes.
8. The Legal and Legislative Affairs Directorate sends the Parliamentary Committees Directorate the information it needs to invite persons interested in the detailed consideration of the bill to be heard in committee.
9. The National Assembly translates the bill and prints the French and English versions.
10. The MNA who agreed to introduce the bill has it entered on the Order Paper and Notices of the Assembly.
11. The bill goes through the stages in the consideration of a private bill, namely, introduction, clause-by-clause consideration, passage in principle and passage. The promoter is directly involved only at the clause-by-clause committee consideration stage.
12. Once the bill is passed, it is assented to by the Lieutenant-Governor and published in the Gazette officielle du Québec at the promoter’s expense.

To be passed during the fall sitting period, a private bill and any related documents must be filed with the Law Clerk before the 3rd Tuesday in September. (See note 1.)

To be passed during the spring sitting period, a private bill and any related documents must be filed with the Law Clerk before the 2nd Tuesday in February. (See note 2.)

Note 1: Since the 42nd Legislature is set to expire on August 29, 2002, and a general election is to be held, no private bills can be filed between the end of the 42nd Legislature and the start of the 43rd Legislature. A bill can be filed only if a Member sponsors it and, due to the Legislature ending, there will be no elected Members between the end of the 42nd Legislature and the first day of the 43rd Legislature. After the general election, the 43rd Legislature will begin upon the receipt by the Secretary General, from the Chief Electoral Officer, of the list of the candidates who have been declared elected.

Note 2: On June 7, 2022, the National Assembly departed from its Standing Orders in order for the 2022-2023 spring sessional period to begin on the last Tuesday in January. Therefore, to be passed during the spring 2023 sessional period, a private bill and any related documents must be filed with the Law Clerk not later than January 30, 2023.

Notice

The promoter must let the public know that a private bill is to be introduced by publishing a notice in the newspapers and in the Gazette officielle du Québec. This is done in the interests of people who may be affected by the private bill.

Content

The notice published in the newspapers and in the Gazette officielle du Québec must

• have the following heading: “Notice of Introduction of a Private Bill”
• state that the promoter will petition the National Assembly for the introduction of a private bill
• briefly explain the nature and purpose of the bill
• specify that anyone having reasons to speak to the bill must inform the Law Clerk of the National Assembly
• be signed by the promoter or the promoter’s attorney

Publication

The notice must be published

• once in the Gazette officielle du Québec
• once a week over 4 consecutive weeks
  • in a French-language daily or weekly in the promoter’s judicial district or, in some cases, in the district where the property affected by the bill is located
  • in a French-language newspaper in the closest judicial district, if there is no French-language newspaper in the district concerned

A copy of the first notice published in the newspaper must be enclosed with the bill when it is filed with the Law Clerk. Copies of the three other notices must be sent to the Legal and Legislative Affairs Directorate as they are published.

Committee Consideration

All private bills go through clause-by-clause consideration in committee. The following people take part in the committee sitting:

• the minister concerned
• the MNA who introduced the bill
• the promoter or the promoter’s attorney
• the people who applied to be heard during committee consideration of the bill
• the Assembly’s Law Clerk

For the list of parliamentary committees
For more about

• committee sittings during which a private bill is considered
• parliamentary committees 

Once the clause-by-clause consideration of the bill is finished, the parliamentary committee reports to the National Assembly, which passes or rejects the bill during one of its sittings.

Fees

Under the Act respecting the National Assembly, the promoter of a private bill must pay

• the cost of printing the bill as introduced and, if applicable, as assented to, plus 15%
• $220 per page and $110 per half-page or less, not counting the title page, for translation and proofreading
• $100 per page (French version) for publication of the assented French and English versions of the bill in the annual Lois du Québec and Statutes of Québec

Other fees are payable to Québec’s official printer, the Éditeur officiel du Québec, for publication of the assented version of the bill in the Gazette officielle du Québec.

For More Information

Contact the National Assembly’s Legal and Legislative Affairs Directorate:

• Telephone: 
  • Québec City area: 418-528-0020
    Toll-free: 1-866-337-8837
• Email: af.juridiques@assnat.qc.ca
• Mailing address:
  
  Direction des affaires juridiques et législatives et de la procédure parlementaire
  Assemblée nationale
  Édifice André-Laurendeau
  1050, rue des Parlementaires
  5e étage, bureau 5.49
  Québec (Québec)  G1A 1A3