March 1999
Privy Council Office
Government of Canada
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
2. Fundamentals of the Government's Law-making Activity
3. Preparation of the Government's Legislative Program
4. Preparation of Government Bills
5. Parliamentary Processes and Amendments
6. Coming into Force
7. Regulation-making
8. Conclusion
Cabinet Approval of Policy
[Excerpt]
An MC should address the type of public consultation, if any, that the sponsoring
Minister has held or expects to hold and should specify whether the Minister intends
to consult on the basis of the draft bill. By tradition, draft bills have been treated
with strict confidence before they are introduced in Parliament. However, in
keeping with the Government's commitment to openness and consultation, sponsoring
Ministers may wish to consult on the basis of draft bills. This consultation is intended
to ensure that bills take into account the views of those concerned and it must not
pre-empt Parliament's role in passing bills. Also, there may be cases where it would not be
appropriate to do so for reasons such as the risk of giving the consulted party an
unfair economic advantage. So, if a draft bill is intended to be used in consultation before
it is tabled in Parliament, the MC should state that intention and ask for the
Cabinet's agreement. In the case of a draft bill involving changes to the machinery of
government, the approval to consult should generally be sought in a letter to the
Prime Minister from the sponsoring Minister.
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