40th Canadian Parliament
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40th Canadian Parliament
The 40th Canadian Parliament was in session from November 18, 2008 to March 26, 2011. It was the last Parliament of the longest-running minority government in Canadian history up to that point, that began with the previous Parliament. The membership of its House of Commons was determined by the results of the 2008 federal election held on October 14, 2008. Its first session was then prorogued by the Governor General on December 4, 2008, at the request of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who was facing a likely no-confidence motion and a coalition agreement between the Liberal party and the New Democratic Party with the support of the Bloc Québécois (2008–2009 Canadian parliamentary dispute). Of the 308 MPs elected at the October 14, 2008 general election, 64 were new to Parliament and three sat in Parliaments previous to the 39th: John Duncan, Jack Harris and Roger Pomerleau. There were three sessions of the 40th Parliament. On March 25, 2011, the House of Commons pass ...
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Peter Milliken
Peter Andrew Stewart Milliken (born November 12, 1946) is a Canadian lawyer and politician. He was a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 until his retirement in 2011 and served as Speaker of the House for 10 years beginning in 2001. Milliken represented the Ontario riding of Kingston and the Islands as a member of the Liberal Party. On October 12, 2009, he became the longest serving Speaker of the House of Commons in Canadian history. His Speakership was notable for the number of tie-breaking votes he was required to make as well as for making several historic rulings. Milliken also has the unique distinction of being the first Speaker to preside over four Parliaments. His legacy includes his landmark rulings on Parliament's right to information, which are key elements of parliamentary precedent both in Canada and throughout the Commonwealth. Milliken chose to stand down from Parliament at the 2011 federal election. His successor as Speaker, Andrew Scheer, was ...
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Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She had been queen regnant of List of sovereign states headed by Elizabeth II, 32 sovereign states during her lifetime and was the monarch of 15 realms at her death. Her reign of 70 years and 214 days is the List of monarchs in Britain by length of reign, longest of any British monarch, the List of longest-reigning monarchs, second-longest of any sovereign state, and the List of female monarchs, longest of any queen regnant in history. Elizabeth was born in Mayfair, London, during the reign of her paternal grandfather, King George V. She was the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother). Her father acceded to the throne in 1936 upon Abdication of Edward VIII, the abdic ...
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New Democratic Party (Canada)
The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal List of political parties in Canada, political party in Canada. Widely described as Social democracy, social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (April 28, 2025)."New Democratic Party" ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved April 28, 2025 the party sits at the Centre-left politics, centre-left to Left-wing politics, left-wing of the Canadian political spectrum, generally to the left of the Liberal Party of Canada, Liberal Party. The party was founded in 1961 by the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and the Canadian Labour Congress. As of 2025, it is the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons, with seven seats. The federal and provincial (or territorial) level NDPs are more integrated than other political parties in Canada, and have shared membership. The NDP has never won the largest share of seats at the federal ...
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Coalition Government
A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election. A party not having majority is common under proportional representation, but not in nations with majoritarian electoral systems. There are different forms of coalition governments, minority coalitions and surplus majority coalition governments. A surplus majority coalition government controls more than the absolute majority of seats in parliament necessary to have a majority in the government, whereas minority coalition governments do not hold the majority of legislative seats. A coalition government may also be created in a time of national difficulty or crisis (for example, during wartime or economic crisis) to give a government the high degree of perceived political legitimacy or collective identity, it can also play a ro ...
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Motion Of No Confidence
A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fit to continue to occupy their office. The no-confidence vote is a defining constitutional element of a parliamentary system, in which the government's/executive's mandate rests upon the continued support (or at least non-opposition) of the majority in the legislature. Systems differ in whether such a motion may be directed against the prime minister, against the government (this could be a majority government or a minority government/coalition government), against individual cabinet ministers, against the cabinet as a whole, or some combination of the above. A censure motion is different from a no-confidence motion. In a parliamentary system, a vote of no confidence leads to the resignation of the prime minister and cabinet, or, depen ...
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Prime Minister Of Canada
The prime minister of Canada () is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the Confidence and supply, confidence of a majority of the elected House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons; as such, the prime minister typically sits as a Member of Parliament (Canada), member of Parliament (MP) and leads the largest party or a Coalition government, coalition of parties. As List of current Canadian first ministers, first minister, the prime minister selects ministers to form the Cabinet of Canada, Cabinet. Not outlined in any constitutional document, the prime minister is appointed by Monarchy of Canada, the monarch's representative, the Governor General of Canada, governor general, and the office exists per long-established Convention (norm)#Government, convention. Constitutionally, Executive (government), executive authority is vested in the monarch (who is the head of state), but the powers of the monarch and governor gene ...
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Governor General Of Canada
The governor general of Canada () is the federal representative of the . The monarch of Canada is also sovereign and head of state of 14 other Commonwealth realms and resides in the United Kingdom. The monarch, on the Advice (constitutional law), advice of his or her Canadian prime minister, appoints a governor general to administer the government of Canada in the monarch's name. The commission is for an indefinite period—known as serving ''at His Majesty's pleasure''—usually five years. Since 1959, it has also been traditional to alternate between French language in Canada, francophone and English language in Canada, anglophone officeholders. The 30th and current governor general is Mary Simon, who was sworn in on 26 July 2021. An Inuk leader from Nunavik, Quebec, Simon is the first Indigenous peoples in Canada, Indigenous person to hold the office. As the sovereign's representative, the governor general carries out the day-to-day constitutional and ceremonial duties of th ...
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Prorogation In Canada
Prorogation is the end of a parliamentary session in the Parliament of Canada and the parliaments of its provinces and territories. It differs from a recess or adjournment, which do not end a session; and differs from a complete dissolution of parliament, which ends both the session and the entire parliament, requiring an election for the House of Commons in the bicameral federal parliament and the singular legislative chamber of the unicameral provincial parliaments. In the Canadian parliamentary system, the legislature is typically prorogued upon the completion of the agenda set forth in the Speech from the Throne and remains in recess until the monarch or governor general, in the federal sphere, or lieutenant governor, in a province, summons parliamentarians. From 2008 to present, prorogation has been the subject of discussion among academics, the Canadian public, and their political representatives. Mechanism It is, according to the constitution of Canada, the Canadian m ...
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Parliamentary Session
A legislative session is the period of time in which a legislature, in both parliamentary and presidential systems, is convened for purpose of lawmaking, usually being one of two or more smaller divisions of the entire time between two elections. A session may last for the full term of the legislature or the term may consist of a number of sessions. These may be of fixed duration, such as a year, or may be determined by the party in power. In some countries, a session of the legislature is brought to an end by an official act of prorogation, in others by a motion to adjourn ''sine die''. In either event, the close of a session generally brings an end to all unpassed bills in the legislature, which would have to be introduced anew to continue debate in the following session. Common procedure Historically, each session of a parliament would last less than one year, ceasing with a prorogation during which legislators could return to their constituencies. In more recent times, deve ...
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2008 Canadian Federal Election
The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on October 14, 2008, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the 39th Canadian Parliament, previous parliament had been dissolved by Governor General of Canada, Governor General Michaëlle Jean on September 7, 2008. Conservative Party of Canada, Conservative Prime Minister of Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper called the election due to his belief that there was a lack of cooperation between the minority government Conservatives and the opposition parties, which the former had to rely on to pass legislation; hence Harper argued that Parliament had reached the end of its productiveness. The election resulted in a second but stronger minority government for Harper's Conservatives. While they were a dozen seats away from a majority government, the Liberal Party of Canada, Liberal Party led by Stéphane Dion lost 18 seats as the New Democratic Party and the Bloc Québécois made slight g ...
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House Of Commons Of Canada
The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body whose members are known as Member of Parliament (Canada), members of Parliament (MPs). The number of MPs is adjusted periodically in alignment with each decennial Census in Canada, census. Since the 2025 Canadian federal election, 2025 federal election, the number of seats in the House of Commons has been 343. Members are elected plurality voting, by simple plurality ("first-past-the-post" system) in each of the country's Electoral district (Canada), electoral districts, which are colloquially known as ''ridings''. MPs may hold office until Parliament is dissolved and serve for constitutionally limited terms of up to five years after an election. Historically, however, terms have ...
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39th Canadian Parliament
The 39th Canadian Parliament was in session from April 3, 2006 until September 7, 2008. The membership was set by the 2006 Canadian federal election, 2006 federal election on January 23, 2006, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections. The Parliament was dissolved on September 7, 2008, with an 2008 Canadian federal election, election to determine the membership of the 40th Parliament occurring on October 14, 2008. There were two Parliamentary session, sessions of the 39th Parliament: Overview The 39th Parliament was the longest minority government led by any Canadian federal government until the record was surpassed by Justin Trudeau's Liberal minority government in the 44th Canadian Parliament, 44th Parliament on June 17, 2024. No other Conservative minority had previously lasted a full year, and only Lester B. Pearson's governments had lasted more than two. The 39th Parliament was controlled by a Conservative Party of Canada, Conservative Party mino ...
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