The 38th Canadian Parliament was in session from October 4, 2004, until November 29, 2005. The membership was set by the 2004 federal election on June 28, 2004, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and

by-elections A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

, but due to the seat distribution, those few changes significantly affected the distribution of power. It was dissolved prior to the 2006 election. It was controlled by a

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

minority under

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and retired politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. Th ...

and the

27th Canadian Ministry The Twenty-Seventh Canadian Ministry was the Cabinet led by Prime Minister Paul Martin. It governed Canada from 12 December 2003 to 6 February 2006, including the last five months of the 37th Canadian Parliament and all of the 38th. The gove ...

. The

Official Opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''t ...

was the Conservative Party, led by

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...

. The Speaker was

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 2 ...

. See also

List of Canadian federal electoral districts This is a list of Canada's 343 federal electoral districts (commonly referred to as '' ridings'' in Canadian English) as defined by the ''2023 Representation Order''. Canadian federal electoral districts are constituencies that elect memb ...

for a list of the ridings in this parliament. There was one session of the 38th Parliament: The parliament was dissolved following a

vote of non-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 ...

passed on 28 November by the opposition Conservatives, supported by the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

and

Bloc Québécois The Bloc Québécois (, , BQ) is a centre-left politics, centre-left and list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism, Quebecois nationalism, social democracy, and the promotion o ...

. Consequently, a federal election was held on 23 January 2006 to choose the next parliament.

Party standings

The party standings as of the election and as of dissolution were as follows:

Bills of the 38th Parliament

Important

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pl ...

s of the 38th parliament included: *Bill C-32 – the Department of Foreign Affairs Act to split DFAIT in two departments, was a surprise defeat for the government *Bill C-38 – the ''

Civil Marriage Act The ''Civil Marriage Act'' () is a federal statute legalizing same-sex marriage across Canada. At the time it became law, same-sex marriage had already been legalized by court decisions in all Canadian jurisdictions except Alberta, Prince Edw ...

'', legalized

Same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

across Canada. *Bill C-43 – the

Canadian federal budget, 2005 The 2005 Canadian federal budget was the budget of the Government of Canada under prime minister Paul Martin's 38th Canadian Parliament for the 2005–06 fiscal year. It was presented on February 23, 2005, by Canadian Minister of Finance, Financ ...

*Bill C-48 – an NDP add-on to the 2005 budget
Complete list of bills

Members

MPs who changed political parties

In early 2005

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Member of Parliament (MP) Belinda Stronach

crossed the floor In some parliamentary systems (e.g., in Canada and the United Kingdom), politicians are said to cross the floor if they formally change their political affiliation to a political party different from the one they were initially elected under. I ...

to the

after running for

Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada This is a list of federal leaders after Confederation who were members of federal conservative parties. Tory leaders since Confederation This is a list of leaders of the Conservative Party of Canada (historical) (1867–1942), Progressive Conse ...

, and coming in second to

. She ended her public relationship with Conservative MP

Peter MacKay Peter Gordon MacKay (born September 27, 1965), a Canadian lawyer and politician, served as Member of Parliament (Canada), Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2015 and as Minister of Justice (Canada), Minister of Justice and Attorney General (20 ...

Officeholders

Speakers

*Hon.

(the Liberal member for Kingston and the Islands) was re-elected

Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada The speaker of the House of Commons () is the presiding officer of the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. A member of Parliament (MP), a speaker is elected at the beginning of each new parliament by fellow MPs. The speaker's role in pre ...

by acclamation on October 4, 2004. *Hon. Daniel Hays (a Liberal Senator for

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

) was the Speaker of the Senate .

Other chair occupants

House of Commons * Deputy Speaker and Chair of Committees of the Whole – Hon

Chuck Strahl Charles Richard Strahl (February 25, 1957 – August 13, 2024) was a Canadian businessman and politician. He was a Member of Parliament from 1993 to 2011. First elected for the Reform Party, he was the leader of the Democratic Representative C ...

(the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Member for Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon). * Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole –

Marcel Proulx Marcel Proulx (; born 6 March 1946 in L'Orignal, Ontario, L'Orignal, Ontario) is a retired Canadian politician. Proulx is a former member of the Liberal Party of Canada in the House of Commons of Canada, having represented the riding of Hull� ...

(the Liberal Member for Hull—Aylmer). * Assistant Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole –

Jean Augustine Jean Augustine (born September 9, 1937) is a Grenada-born Canadian politician. She was the first Black Canadian woman to serve as a federal Minister of the Crown and Member of Parliament. Prior to entering politics in 1993, Jean Augustine h ...

(the Liberal Member for Etobicoke—Lakeshore).
Senate * Hon. Shirley Maheu was the Speaker ''pro tempore'' of the Senate of Canada, (a Liberal Senator for

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Leaders

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 ...

: Rt. Hon.

(Liberal) *

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

: Hon.

(Conservative) *Bloc Québécois leader:

Gilles Duceppe Gilles Duceppe (; born July 22, 1947) is a Canadian retired politician, proponent of the Quebec sovereignty movement and former leader of the federal political party, Bloc Québécois. He was a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Ca ...

*New Democratic Party leader: Hon.

Jack Layton John Gilbert Layton (July 18, 1950 – August 22, 2011) was a Canadian politician and academic who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011 and leader of the Official Opposition in 2011. He previously sat on T ...

Floor leaders

The following were the parties' floor leaders during the 39th Parliament: House of Commons *

Government House Leader The Government House Leader, officially known as the leader of the Government in the House of Commons of Canada (), is the Cabinet minister responsible for planning and managing the government's legislative program in the House of Commons of ...

: Hon.

Tony Valeri Tony Valeri (born August 11, 1957) is a former Canadian politician. Valeri was the Government House Leader in Paul Martin's government from 2004 until 2006. He was narrowly defeated by New Democratic (NDP) candidate Wayne Marston in the 20 ...

Opposition House Leader The Opposition House Leader (), officially known as leader of the Official Opposition in the House of Commons of Canada, is a member of the Official Opposition, not to be confused with the Leader of the Official Opposition, but is generally a ...

: *#Hon. John Douglas Reynolds (to January 27, 2005) *# Jay D. Hill (from January 30, 2005) *Bloc Québécois House leader: Michel Gauthier *New Democratic Party House leader:

Libby Davies Libby Davies (born February 27, 1953) is a Canadian politician from British Columbia. She was the member of Parliament for Vancouver East from 1997 to 2015, House leader for the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011, and deputy leade ...

Senate * Leader of the Government in the Senate: Hon. Jacob Austin * Leader of the Opposition in the Senate: Hon. Noël Kinsella

Whips

The party whips in this party were as follows: House of Commons * Chief Government Whip: Hon. Karen Redman *Official Opposition Whip: *# Jay D. Hill (to January 27, 2005) *#Hon. Robert Douglas Nicholson (from January 28, 2005) *Bloc Québécois Whip: Michel Guimond *New Democratic Party Whip:

Yvon Godin Yvon Godin (born May 12, 1955) is a Canadian politician. Godin was a New Democratic Party (NDP) Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of Canada, representing the riding of Acadie—Bathurst from 1997 until his retirement in 2015. ...

Senate *Government Whip: Hon.

Rose-Marie Losier-Cool Rose-Marie Losier-Cool (born June 18, 1937) is a retired Canadian Senator for New Brunswick. A member of New Brunswick's Acadian community, Losier-Cool worked as a teacher for thirty-three years, two decades of which were spent at ''École seco ...

*Opposition Whip: Hon. Marjory LeBreton

By-elections

References

* * * * * * * * *

External links

Members of the House of Commons

Write to Members of Parliament

Succession

{{Canadian federal election, 2006A 2004 establishments in Canada 2005 disestablishments in Canada Paul Martin