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The bill had its first reading in January. Two things could happen on Friday. The bill might get a standing vote, or there may be a request for a recorded vote. Typically, if there is a standing vote and it passes, the bill would go to the standing committee on Canadian heritage. A recorded vote would happen next Wednesday. If that passes, the bill would also go to the standing committee.

Technically, it takes six weeks for a bill to be reviewed by a standing committee before being sent back to the House of Commons for third reading. If it passes, the bill goes to the Senate.

But it would not be unprecedented for events to move far more quickly. On several occasions in recent years, private members’ bills have passed all stages in one sitting after receiving unanimous consent, including two bills to change the names of electoral districts.

Senator Jim Munson says he would be pleased to sponsor the bill in the Senate. “It would be a wonderful tribute to a man who has done so much for Parliament and his country.”

Bélanger, who was first elected in 1995, was considered a frontrunner for Speaker of the House, but withdrew after he was diagnosed with ALS only a month after the federal election last October.

He introduced a similar bill early last year, but it was defeated at second reading in April after almost all Conservative MPs voted against it.

In January, Bélanger said although it was defeated, MPs from all parties supported it. “With my bill, I want to pay tribute to all the women who have worked and fought to build and shape the Canada we know today.”