What if the head of the Ontario Professional Web Masters Association wanted the Association to be able to license its members? How would they go about making this a reality? The only avenue to achieve this goal would be via a private Bill. What exactly is a private Bill? Private Bills are a little known aspect of our legislative system. They are the tools that enable ordinary citizens and private entities to have a small but significant impact on the law. What does the process of passing a private Bill entail? Among other things, it involves filling out and submitting an application for the bill in concern, paying the required processing fees and drawing up a draft of the Bill itself. Having just proven how useful private Bills can be, it is interesting to note that not many people really know the difference between private Bills and Private Member’s public Bills. In order to have a true understanding of the nature and purpose of private Bills, a little research is necessary. Passing a private Bill is not a lighthearted undertaking. There is a rigid and complex ritual that is mandatory when attempting to have a private Bill passed.

As with all things, there is a certain price that must be paid in order to ensure the successful passage of a private Bill. Depending on the nature of the Bill and the extent of its reformations, the total expenditure involved in this process can range from a few hundred dollars to well over a thousand dollars. In cases where large organizations are involved, once the advertising and administrative costs are factored in, the tab can easily run up to several thousand dollars. However, the basic cost of passing a private Bill is not that exorbitant. There is a $150 processing fee that must be paid at the time of submitting the application for the Bill. Additionally, the applicant must pay for the cost of printing out copies of the Bill every time it is amended. Hence, the more controversial the Bill, the deeper into their pockets the applicants will have to dig. However, in cases where the proposed Bill has educational or religious purposes, all or part of the fees may be remitted. There is a procedure for doing this. In order for an exemption of fees to occur, the applicant must be approved for charitable or nonprofit status. Once this takes place, the printing costs will be waived. The $150 processing fee will still be collected, but if printing costs do not exceed $150, the balance will be returned to the applicant. Thus, the price for having a private Bill passed can appear excessive or trivial, depending on the resources of the applicant.

As a prelude to setting the whole process in motion, it is imperative that all relevant parties are informed of any changes that may result from the passage of the Bill. This is accomplished by means of notices that are placed in both the Ontario Gazette and at least one local publication. The selected local publication(s) must have a readership that is sufficiently large to classify it as a "voice of the people." These notices must be published weekly during the four weeks prior to submitting the application for the Bill. Each notice must clearly state the nature, purpose and possible consequences of the Bill. It should also contain a note mentioning that parties who are interested in submitting their responses to the proposed Bill ought to make written notification available to the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly.

Once the necessary preparations have been made a draft of the Bill itself must be written in the proper format. This version of the Bill is the one that will be read and debated at the first reading, so it should contain all the objectives of the applicant. The bill will be assigned a number and the annotation PR will be added before the number. After the Bill has been drawn up, it should be presented to the applicant’s local member of provincial parliament. In order to proceed beyond this point, the member of provincial parliament must agree to back up the Bill. In most cases the members of provincial parliament, when approached, will agree to propose the Bill, even if it doesn’t sit well with their own personal views. In situations where a proposed private Bill is in extreme conflict with the party line of the approached member of provincial parliament, it may have to be taken to another MPP.

When submitting the application for the Bill, a statutory declaration verifying publication of notice, as per instructions, must be filed with the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, accompanied by the draft Bill and the one hundred and fifty dollar fee. As a matter of course, this declaration ought to be flanked by copies of the publications in concern. When it is time to present the Bill for Introduction and First Reading, a compendium of background information pertaining to the Bill must be given to the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, along with the name of the MPP selected to introduce the Bill. This compendium must include extensive details about the reasons for the Bill and the ramifications of having it passed. Additionally, any known opponents of the Bill must be listed along with their reasons for opposing the Bill.

There are certain documents that are, of necessity, employed during the whole endeavor of proposing and forging ahead with a private Bill. These include, but are not limited to, the notices published as a preliminary to the application, a statutory declaration affirming publication of these notices, the application itself, the draft of the Bill in concern and a compendium of background information. The notices are necessary to ensure that all concerned parties have ample opportunity to represent their interests. The statutory declaration guarantees that dishonest parties cannot nullify the purpose of the notices by pretending to comply with the requirements while simultaneously furthering their own selfish interests. The application provides the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly with basic information about the applicant and possibly, the Bill. The draft of the Bill allows the House to be prepared for the debate or lack thereof that will ensue upon reading of the Bill. The purpose of the compendium of background information is to serve as a reference for anyone wishing to make a study of the proposed Bill. Evidently, the passage of a private Bill encompasses a cumbersome largesse of paperwork. (Take nap now)

There are a number of places that an applicant for a private Bill must visit en route to passing the Bill. First and foremost is the office of the applicant’s local MPP. This is where initial support for the Bill is garnered. The next stop is Queen’s Park, where the legislative building and related buildings are located. This is where the Bill is presented and later, debated. The Clerk of the Legislative Assembly has an office at Queen’s Park. Applicants will not deal with the Clerk directly, rather with one of the junior clerks.

The first official that the applicant will need to deal with is the local MPP. When it comes time to publish notices, the advertising managers of the two selected publications will need to be dealt with as well. Once the Bill has been drafted, personnel from the Office of Legislative Counsel will assist the applicant with the revision of the Bill. For purposes of registration, the applicant will have to see the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly. Later in the process, the applicant will have to deal with the Standing Committee of Regulations and Private Bills. Since most of these individuals tend to have busy schedules, the process can vary from several weeks, to over a year.

With enough study it becomes apparent that passing private Bills is not for the faint of heart. It is a grueling ordeal that puts an enormous strain on the resources of the organization or individual that aspires to utilize a private Bill to gain special authority or exemptions from general legislation. This is not an appealing prospect in the absence of a significant payoff as a result of passing a Private Bill. In this respect, although private Bills serve to allow private parties to extend or alter the law when necessary, they impose a significant amount of procedural inefficiency on those wishing to do so. As a consequence, they effectively exclude disadvantaged groups from taking advantage of their right to be a fundamental part of the democratic process.