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Guide to Making Federal Acts and Regulations
Strategic Considerations for Legislative Planning and
Management
This table highlights important questions and issues for
consideration in planning and managing legislative projects.
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Taken into Account |
| Questions and Issues |
yes |
no |
Legislative project team
- Are team members fully bilingual and able to evaluate drafts
critically in both official languages?
- Does the team include members who fully understand the Cabinet
approval process and parliamentary procedure?
- Are the team members able to network at all levels within the
Government, with Minister's staff and with staff of the House of
Commons and Senate?
- Does the team include a legal adviser from the Departmental Legal
Services Unit to deal with the many legal questions that necessarily
arise in a legislative project?
- Do the team members have the appropriate technical skills? (for
example, word processing, e-mail, Internet, etc.)
- Does the team include administrative support staff?
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Development of Legislative Strategy
- What is the priority of the proposed legislative project relative to
other bills?
- how does it relate to other Government priorities?
- was it part of the Speech from the Throne?
- was it part of the Budget?
- is there a technical reason for the bill (for example, the
implementation of an international agreement)?
- Which Parliamentary process should be proposed?
- normal legislative route
- committee study of a bill before Second Reading
- Senate consideration of bill before the House of Commons
- committee study of policy proposal before a bill is introduced
- committee study of a draft bill.
- What are the target dates for the Parliamentary phase (taking into
account other events)?
- introduction in the House of Commons
- passage by the House of Commons
- introduction in the Senate
- passage by the Senate
- Royal Assent.
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Communications Strategy
- What are the public, interest groups and the media saying about the
bill?
- What is the atmosphere in Parliament and what external events may
affect the debate on your bill?
- What is the appropriate focus of public communications (for example,
why is this a good initiative)?
- What media activities could support the strategy?
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Project Planning Templates
The two templates in this chapter are to assist managers, team
leaders and working level officials to plan each step in the law making
process. For each template, an outline is provided with an example
showing how the template might be used.
Product Development Template
This template is very useful during the early stages of legislative
development. The key step or activity is listed first (for example,
Introduction), along with the anticipated timing (for example, the week of
March 12th). Once that is established, the product associated with that step
is identified (for example, briefing books and information kits) along with
the start and finish dates, the person(s) responsible for drafting and the
status of development.
Template:
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Key Step or Activity |
Anticipated Timing |
|
| |
|
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Product |
Start on |
Finish by |
Responsibility |
Comments |
Status |
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Example:
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Key Step or Activity |
Anticipated Timing |
|
|
Introduction and first reading |
Week of March 12th |
|
Product |
Start on |
Finish by |
Respon-
sibility |
Comments |
Status |
|
Briefing books and information kits |
January 5 |
March 5 |
P. Smith |
Senior management to review the advance copy |
First draft now being reviewed by legislative project team |
Project Time Line Template
This template can be used at any stage of the law-making process. It is
designed to assist officials at every level in the process to generate a basic
project plan. Itemize the task, activity, or product to be developed, then fill
in the anticipated or earliest start and latest finish dates.
Template:
| Task or Step |
Earliest Start |
Latest Finish |
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Example:
| Task or Step |
Earliest Start |
Latest Finish |
| Prepare Ministerial briefing books |
January 5 |
February 5 |
| Prepare and assemble bill kits |
January 19 |
February 20 |
| Prepare news releases and information packages |
February 5 |
February 28 |
| Draft speeches |
February 5 |
February 28 |
Schematic Map of the Federal Law-making Process and Associated Support
Activities (Acts)
Note to users: Given the scope and complexity of the data, this
schematic map exceeds standard paper and/or screen dimensions. For printing
purposes, the map has been formatted to fit within 5 separate 8.5x11 pages.
Print each page separately and assemble side by side for a complete image.
INext
Table
of Contents
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