1. Grade 9 Government Simulation
Creating a Law for our School

2. Preliminary Work
Divide yourselves into groups of no more than 5 and try to group yourself with people who have similar values to you.
You have now formed a federal political party. Step 1 of this simulation involves creating some specifics for your party. In your group you need to come up with:
The Name of your Party
A Party Logo & Primary Color (Ex: Conservatives are Blue, NDP are Orange)
Choose a Party Leader

3. Brainstorming Session
Now that you have formed an official Political Party in the House of Wells, it is time to get to work!
In your group begin brainstorm possible problems you see/improvements you think can be made at Our Lady of Grace School
Use your imagination
You are confined to the limits of the actual law – No you cannot come to school for only 2 hours a day
Don’t be a negative nelly – we are ultimately trying to make OLG a better place

4. Brainstorm a New “Law” for our Class/School
Now that you have some ideas of where/how OLG can improve, it’s time to create a Bill!
In your group pick ONE of the problems you brainstormed and begin outlining how you would fix it/what new rule you would put in place. Try consider every possible factor:
Is It going to cost money to do this, and if so where is that money coming from?
Will it work within the schools existing schedule? Will it require more teacher or admin supervision?
Will it include all students at OLG or only some?

5. TURNING A BILL INTO A LAW
Turning a bill into a law is a long process that looks something like this:

6. TURNING A BILL INTO A LAW
So, in a TL;DR version of that photo, a bill must go through the following proccess, first in the H.O.C, then in the Senate:
First Reading
Second Reading
Committee Stage
Report Stage
Third Reading
Royal Assent

7. TURNING A BILL INTO A LAW
As a class we will now take the Bills you have brainstormed and go through the process of turning those Bills into laws.
You are now all MWPs (Members of Wells’ Parliament), in the House of Wells (H.O.W)
Any time you wish to speak to the H.O.W you must raise your hand to be called upon by the speaker of the H.O.W (Ms. Wells).
Once called upon you must always stand when speaking.
Ms. Wells as Speaker of the H.O.W will determine at all times who speaks and when. Yelling at each other when not called upon will NOT be tolerated
You must AT ALL TIMES sit with your Political Party

8. TURNING A BILL INTO A LAW
End Goal:
We will track each bills process on the white board.
If at any point in time your Bill is rejected – it will still continue forward in the Bill to Law Process – however your rejection will be documented
Any Bill that makes it through the entire process without being rejected by the H.O.W will move onto Royal Assent (the last step)
Royal Assent will come from Admin (if applicable to whole school) or Ms. Wells (If only applicable to our class)

9. FIRST READING!

10. Step 1: The First Reading (Notes)
In this step printed copies of the Bill are presented and considered for the first time
There is no debate or vote

11. Step 1: The First Reading (Simulation)
Each Political Party’s Leader will present their Bills to the H.O.W. We will outline (Ms. Wells will type up) what that bill would look like in action, etc and will give each bill a name.
Ex: Bill 9A-1, 9A-2, 9B-1, 9B-2, etc
There will be no debating in this step as we are simply outlining our proposals
Afterwards, each political party will receive a copy of these bills as we move forward into the rest of the Bill to Law Proccess!

12. SECOND READING

13. Step 2: The Second Reading (Notes)
In this step parties debate on the principal of the bill (is it really going to serve the interests of Canadians?)
After it has been debated, there is a vote in the H.O.C on whether to reject the Bill or move it onto the next stage (must be a majority vote)

14. Step 2: Second Reading (Simulation)
You will now debate each of your proposed bills
It is the responsibility of the party that proposed the bill to defend the bill in its current formant and ease other party’s concerns
It is the responsibility of other Party’s to challenge the bill and ask questions of the proposing party.
After this debate, the H.O.W will vote on the bill. They will vote to either:
Reject the Bill
Move it forward to the next stage

15. COMMITTEE STAGE

16. Step 3: The Committee Stage (Notes)
In this step a detailed study of the Bill is completed by a Committee
The Committee is made up of MPs or Senators who seek the help of witness, including experts and citizens.
After its detailed study the Committee returns a detailed report of their findings to the H.O.C or Senate with recommendations on how to improve the Bill.

17. Step 3: Committee Stage (Simulation)
For this stage, your party will act as the committee and will come up with a series of survey questions to ask fellow students, teachers, and administrators about your bill
Questions to ask should be things like:
Do you think we need this rule for our school?
What problems do you think this bill may cause?
How would you address these problems?
What changes would you like to see made to our bill?

18. Step 3: Committee Stage (Simulation)
After you’ve completed your questions, you will go around the school getting people's answers to your questions.
You will need input from at least ONE administrator and at least ONE teacher
Be sure not to disrupt classes in asking for opinions – ask to remove small groups of students at a time
Do not bother any classes below Grade 6
Be sure to track and compile the opinions/answers you receive, as you will need to report on them in the next stage

19. REPORT STAGE

20. Step 4: The Reporting Stage (Notes)
In this step the H.O.C or Senate debate and vote only on changes (amendments) being made to the Bill as recommended by the Committee in the previous stage.

21. Step 4: Report Stage (Simulation)
Now that you have concluded your research from the Committee stage, you will need to take the suggestions you received and make changes to your bill
Afterwards you will present your suggested changes (amendments) to the bill to the H.O.W, during which we will
Debate whether to add those changes to the Bill or not
Then voting on whether to add the changes or not.
We are not debating or voting on the bill itselfs, ONLY on the changes!

22. THIRD READING

23. Step 5: The Third Reading (Notes)
In this step there is a final debate and vote on the final form of the Bill

24. Step 5: The Third Reading (Simulation)
Now that you have chosen to add (or not) some changes to your original bill, it is time for the final reading.
This is the last chance for those for and against the bill to explain why the bill should or should not become law at OLG.
At the end of this final debate, the entire H.O.W will vote on whether to take the bill to the final stage of our Simulation - The Royal Assesnt

25. The Senate

26. Step 6: The Senate (Notes)
After a Bill has made its way through the H.O.C, the bill is passed on to the Senate where it goes through the same process all over again.
If it makes its way through the Senate it moves onto the final stage: Royal Assent

27. ROYAL ASSENT

28. Step 7: Royal Assent (Notes)
Now that the HOC/Senate has approved the Bill and believe it is ready to become a law, it is now usually a formality that the Governor General (acting on behalf of the Queen) give the final Royal Assent and make the Bill official Law in Canada!
But, the Governor General can still reject the bill if he/she so pleases
What will Ms. Wells/Admin do for your Bill??

29. Simulation Self - Reflection
Answer the following questions in your Interactive Notebook:
What did you think of this process? Was it difficult? Too easy?
Would you change anything about Canada’s legislative process? If so, what?
Consider party relationships – did you oppose any bills just because it was coming from a certain group? Do you think this happens in real parliament?