Bill S-15

1st Session, 36th Parliament,

46-47 Elizabeth II, 1997-98

senate of canada

BILL S-15

An Act respecting the declaration of royal assent by the Governor General in the Queen’s name to bills passed by the Houses of Parliament

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

1. This Act may be cited as the Royal Assent Act.

2. Royal assent by the Governor General in the Queen’s name to a bill passed by the Houses of Parliament may be declared

(a) in the form and manner customary before the coming into force of this Act; or

(b) by a written declaration, unless the bill is the first appropriation bill or the first bill other than an appropriation bill presented for assent in a session.

3. A written declaration of royal assent shall be reported in each House of Parliament by the Speaker of that House, or by the person acting as the Speaker, within the first fifteen sitting days of that House after the declaration is signed.

4. Where royal assent is declared by a written declaration, the date of assent is the day on which the declaration is reported in both Houses of Parliament or, if it is reported in each House on different days, the later of those days.

5. A written declaration of royal assent is not a statutory instrument within the meaning of the Statutory Instruments Act.