Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) is the title of an elected member of the Legislative Assembly of the Canadian province of

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 ...

. Elsewhere in Canada, the titular designation "Member of Provincial Parliament" has also been used to refer to members of the

Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada The Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada was the lower house of the bicameral structure of provincial government in Lower Canada until 1838. The legislative assembly was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791. The lower house consisted of e ...

from 1791 to 1838, and to members of the

Legislative Assembly of Quebec A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the authority, legal authority to make laws for a Polity, political entity such as a Sovereign state, country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with th ...

from 1955 to 1968.

Ontario

The titular designation "Member of Provincial Parliament" and the

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

"MPP" were formally adopted by the Ontario legislature on April 7, 1938. Before the adoption of this resolution, members had no fixed designation. Prior to

Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

in 1867, members of the

Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada was the lower house of the Parliament of the Province of Canada. The Province of Canada consisted of the former province of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East (now Quebec), and Upper Canada ...

had been known by various titles, including MPP, MLA and MHA. This confusion persisted after 1867, with members of the Ontario legislature using the title

Member of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...

(MLA) or Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) interchangeably. In 1938, Frederick Fraser Hunter, the member for St. Patrick (in Toronto), introduced a

private member's bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in wh ...

to designate members with the title Member of Parliament (MP), arguing that the titles of MPP or MLA were confusing, inaccurate, and undignified. However, his proposal failed to pass. As an alternative, a resolution was adopted fixing the title as Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP). The text of the resolution passed by the House on that day is as follows:

''On motion of Mr. Hunter, seconded by Mr. Miller'',

''Resolved'', That in all matters of address, titular distinction, formal correspondence, official proceedings and all similar matters having to do with and coming under the jurisdiction of the Legislature of Ontario, the members of the Legislative Assembly shall be entitled to the designation "Member of Provincial Parliament" and its abbreviation "M.P.P."

Quebec

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, ...

, a bill to adopt the titular designation "Member of Provincial Parliament" (''fr:membre du Parlement provincial'') and the initialism "MPP" (''fr:M.P.P.'') was assented on December 15, 1955. Like in Ontario, members had no fixed designation prior to this bill's adoption, although they were usually referred to as "Members of the Legislative Assembly" (MLAs) (''fr:membres de l'Assemblée législative (M.A.L.s)''). The bill to change the titular designation was supported by Quebec premier Maurice Duplessis, who gave a speech in support of it in the legislative assembly. The reasons he gave for this change were the following: # The French acronym for "Member of the Legislative Assembly" (''M.A.L.'') can sometimes be pronounced as "''mal''", which means "evil" in French. # Quebec's legislature has all the fiscal and constitutional prerogatives to be considered a "Parliament", and the new designation would better reflect that. # The new designation would be a return to the original designation used before

confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

. # The Acronym MPP is the same in French and in English. The designation was changed again in 1968 when the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (, ) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; ). The lieutenant governor of Que ...

was renamed. The member's titular designation was "Member of the Quebec Parliament" (MQP, or ''membre du Parlement du Québec (M.P.Q)'') from 1968 to 1971, then "Member of the National Assembly" (MNA, or ''membres de l'Assemblée Nationale (M.A.N.'') from 1971 to 1982. The designation "Member of the National Assembly" is still used in English, but the French titular designation was abolished, and MNAs are now simply referred to as "député", the same title used for federal members of Parliament and for the members of other provincial assemblies.

Other designations

Ontario is currently the only Canadian provincial legislative assembly to employ this designation. Members of other Canadian provincial and territorial assemblies employ the titles: * "Member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

" (MNA) in

, * "Member of the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

" (MHA) in

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

* "

" (MLA) in all other provinces and territories.

References

{{reflist

External links

Legislative Assembly of Ontario

Ontario Legislative Assembly Archives
* Parliamentary titles Politics of Ontario

Ontario

Quebec

Other designations

See also

References

External links