Written by Étienne Trépanier, Lawyer, Media Producer and Professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Civil Law.
There’s an open secret on Parliament Hill. It’s not a conspiracy, there’s no collusion involved, and there’s no malicious intent to be found. Yet, the fact remains that the mechanisms of governance in this country are understood by few outside the ecosystem of the government.
This isn’t intentional. Nothing is being hidden per se. The rules, procedures, and processes are all available to be read at your leisure on the Government of Canada’s website, whether that’s how drafting instructions flow between Cabinet to the Department of Justice, or how government bills are always created by two drafters. Despite this, most new staffers, lobbyists, or other politically involved or adjacent professionals face a trial by fire when they arrive. Even law school doesn’t train its graduates on the mechanisms of legislation and regulation. I first learned this material by interacting with experienced professionals in the Federal Government and on the Hill.
Most only learn how to turn the mechanisms of government by being thrown in the deep end. But that only leaves you two choices: sink or swim. As a result, most spend a great deal of time sinking before they learn how to swim. Along the way, they miss opportunities to accomplish their goals, many of which they won’t have even realized were there.
Missed Mechanics Can Mean Missed Opportunities
Most people assume that governments move quite slowly. And often they do. But there’s a cadence to governmental activity based on how legislation is drafted, reviewed, and finally made into law, and the same is true of regulations. Understanding what governs this pacing is crucial to being impactful.
This is as true for MPs and staffers as it is for lobbyists or special interest groups working on the Hill. If you need to make a comment or provide input into a bill, is the best time to do so when it’s before Parliament? Or is it two years earlier, when there was consultation being done on the topic? Influencing legislative and regulatory policy-making is much easier and more effective if it’s done before bills create law or regulation. But even if your input is valuable or crucial to ensuring the bill accomplishes what it’s supposed to, or doesn’t have unintended side effects, missing your window might mean losing the chance to offer that insight.
But it’s equally important to understand the avenues that exist when it comes to creating or influencing policy. Consultation is one of them. But so are private members bills. If you’re outside the political process, you may not realize that private members bills generally don’t become law, but they can still be a powerful way of indirectly influencing government policy.
In other words, there are various mechanisms that can be leveraged to impact on government policy-making decisions. It’s important to understand how to be effective in this ecosystem.
Opacity by Circumstance, Not Design
How does this happen that an ostensibly open process with public explanations of how it works nevertheless stymies new professionals? There are several factors.
First, the publicly available information is, while technically accurate, both dry and dense. It’s difficult to absorb, especially for someone trying to learn it on their own without guidance.
These challenges are further complicated by the complex history of the legislative process, which goes back before 1867. Modern methods and mechanisms are built on and around rules and requirements based, in part, on traditions and conventions. These can seem arbitrary in a modern context, and often are, at least until they aren’t. The role of the Crown in Parliament seems of remote importance, until the Governor General prorogues Parliament. Bills are sometime tabled to update old legislation to amend language and bring it in line with modern terminology without making a substantial change in the function of the law. Understanding these subtle differences is crucial for anyone working on the Hill.
And the challenge for new staffers is that the best people to learn from, and often the only people to learn from, are those who are embroiled in this process every day. They understand the process on both levels, but are often, frankly, quite busy. New staffers are often left simply borrowing time from their more experienced co-workers whenever they can, and often enough the answer is simply “just follow along, and you’ll pick it up.”
Governance Must Contend With Legal and Linguistic Realities
Of course, Ottawa is not an island. Federal legislation and regulation are not drafted to simply sit in the government archives but set rules and statutes for the entire country.
But how do they interact with the rest of the country? One might assume the federal government simply says jump, and the rest of the country says “how high?” But Canada is a federation with ten provinces, three territories and a diversity of legal systems. The most obvious is Canada’s two official languages, which creates considerations when drafting legislation. But Canada also has multiple legal schemes: Common law is the law of the land in most of Canada, but Quebec has a civil code and Indigenous communities also have their own legal traditions.
Any federal legislation or regulation must be crafted with a clear understanding of the constitutional, procedural, and practical requirements shaped by Canada’s diverse legal, social, and political landscape.
uOttawa PDI Goes Beyond Access Into Insight
A gap exists in Canada’s legislative education. New staffers, lobbyists, and other civil service professionals come into the federal ecosystem and are forced to simply learn as best they can on the job.
This is why uOttawa PDI created The Legislative and Regulatory Process in Canada course. This multimedia, audiovisual program is guided and curated by professionals who have learned—often through firsthand experience—how things really work on Parliament Hill, both formally and informally. The course walks learners through the full lifecycle of bills and regulations: from the development of underlying policy ideas to the drafting, review, amendment, and final adoption of legislative and regulatory texts. Along the way, it offers practical insights into the legal requirements that shape these processes, including constitutional considerations, statutory interpretation, and institutional constraints.
Designed to be completed at your own pace, the course maximizes accessibility and flexibility, making it as convenient as it is informative for learners at all levels. Documentary-style interviews with experts, interactive infographics, as well as video modules, short texts, and quizzes are designed to provide an engaging and easy-to-understand guide into Canada’s legislative and regulatory framework. And after completing the course, participants retain access to course materials for 120 days, and receive a certificate of completion, which can be put towards many continuing professional development requirements.
Every Canadian has a vested interest in the mechanics of government continuing to function. For anyone getting their first jobs working in or with government, this is the course designed to get you up to speed and ready to work at maximum effectiveness.
If you’re a new professional heading to Parliament Hill, or simply want to better understand how Canadian democracy works, visit our website to learn more about the course and how to register.
