Activity

When a bill is reported from committee without amendment, it is placed on the Order Paper for third reading at the next sitting of the Senate or the House of Commons.

If a bill is reported with amendments, the report is debated in the Senate or the House of Commons and parliamentarians may propose amendments. Following the adoption of the report, the bill is placed on the Order Paper for third reading at the next sitting of the chamber.

During the third reading stage, parliamentarians in either chamber have a final opportunity to propose amendments.

Materials Required

• completed “Flow Chart of How a Bill Becomes a Law”
• copies of handout “How a Bill Becomes a Law”

Time

50 minutes

Who's Involved

Senate:

Government in the Senate, Opposition Party in the Senate, independent Senators

House of Commons:

Cabinet, Government Backbench, Official Opposition, Third Party

What It Is

After a Senate or a House of Commons committee has reported a bill back to its chamber (with or without amendments), two further steps still remain in the consideration of a bill: report stage and third reading.

If there are no amendments proposed for report stage, or once the amendments have been dealt with, the bill then proceeds to third reading.
The debate at third reading is very similar to the second reading debate.

What You Need to Do

1. Review the flow chart and handout from the background lesson: “How a Bill Becomes a Law”.
2. Discuss with your classmates the significance of report stage and third reading.