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Bills sponsored by private Members fall into two categories, public bills and private bills. Public bills deal with matters of public policy under federal jurisdiction, whereas private bills concern matters of a private or special interest to specific corporations and individuals and are designed to confer special powers or benefits upon the beneficiary or to exclude the beneficiary from the general application of the law. The vast majority of private Members’ bills are public bills. Procedures relating to public bills are discussed in this chapter while those concerning private bills are dealt with in Chapter 23, “Private Bills Practice”. A private Member’s bill is typically drafted with the assistance of Parliamentary Counsel (Legislation) in the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel to ensure the appropriateness of the proposed legislation, taking into account existing laws, drafting conventions and constitutional and formal requirements. In drafting each legislative proposal, Parliamentary Counsel act on the Member’s clear, written instructions about the purposes and objectives of the proposed legislation. A private Member’s bill is certified by Parliamentary Counsel in accordance with the Standing Orders to indicate that the bill is in the correct form.[52] The certified copy of the bill is then returned to the Member.
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