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minority parliament November 4, 2008 – present |
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 Seating arrangements of the House of Commons |
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| Speaker of the Commons |
Hon. Peter Milliken | ||||||||||||||||||
| January 29, 2001–present | |||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister |
Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper | ||||||||||||||||||
| Feb 6, 2006 – present | |||||||||||||||||||
| Leader of the Opposition |
Stéphane Dion | ||||||||||||||||||
| Dec 2, 2006 – Dec 10, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Michael Ignatieff | |||||||||||||||||||
| Dec 10, 2008 – present | |||||||||||||||||||
| Government House Leader |
Hon. Jay Hill | ||||||||||||||||||
| Oct 3, 2008 – present | |||||||||||||||||||
| Opposition House Leader |
Hon. Ralph Goodale | ||||||||||||||||||
| Feb 10, 2006 – present | |||||||||||||||||||
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 Seating arrangements of the Senate |
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| Speaker of the Senate |
Hon. Noël A. Kinsella | ||||||||||||||||||
| Feb 8, 2006 – present | |||||||||||||||||||
| Government Senate Leader |
Hon. Marjory LeBreton | ||||||||||||||||||
| Feb 6, 2006 – present | |||||||||||||||||||
| Opposition Senate Leader |
Hon. Jim Cowan | ||||||||||||||||||
| Nov 3, 2008 – present | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Government | Conservative Party of Canada | ||||||||||||||||||
| Opposition | Liberal Party of Canada | ||||||||||||||||||
| Third Party | Bloc Québécois | ||||||||||||||||||
| Fourth Party | New Democratic Party | ||||||||||||||||||
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The 40th Canadian Parliament is the current Parliament of Canada, with the membership of its House of Commons determined by the results of the 2008 federal election held on October 14, 2008, and it opened on November 18, 2008. It was then prorogued by the Governor General on December 4, 2008, on the request of Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the face of a likely non-confidence motion and a coalition agreement between the NDP and the Liberal Party of Canada with the support of the Bloc Québécois (see 2008–2009 Canadian parliamentary dispute). Of the 308 MPs elected at the October 14, 2008, general election, 64 are new to Parliament and three of those sat in previous Parliaments other than the 39th: John Duncan, Jack Harris and Roger Pomerleau.
The announcement in December 2009, that the Prime Minister would prorogue Parliament until after the Vancouver Olympics in February 2010, has received significant criticism from both media and grassroots efforts[1]. Critics have charged that prorogation threatens the "vitality of our democracy" and the "openness and transparency of our government."[2]
It is worth noting that prorogation has been used with varying frequencies for the past 60 years. The 19th Canadian Parliament had 7 sessions, the 24th Canadian Parliament alternated between an average 6 months in session and 6 months prorogued, while World War Two's 19th Canadian Parliament practiced 12 month sessions, with prorogation every January. Liberal Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau prorogued Parliament every twelve months during the 30th Canadian Parliament.
There have been three sessions of the 40th Parliament so far.
Contents |
| Affiliation | House Members | Senate Members | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 Election Results[3] |
Currently | On Election Day 2008[4] |
Currently | ||
| Conservative | 143 | 145 | 21 | 51 (Feb 28) | |
| Liberal | 77 | 77 | 58 | 48 | |
| Bloc Québécois | 49 | 48 | 0 | 0 | |
| New Democratic Party | 37 | 37 | 0 | 0 | |
| Independent and Non-aligned | 2[5] | 1[5] | 5[6] | 3[6] | |
| Progressive Conservative | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | |
| Independent NDP | 0 | 0 | 1[7] | 0 | |
| Independent Liberal | 0 | 0 | 1[8] | 1[8] | |
| Total members | 308 | 308 | 89 | 105 | |
| vacant | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | |
| Total seats | 308 | 105 | |||
NDP MP Dawn Black resigned her seat of New Westminster—Coquitlam effective April 13, 2009, to run (successfully) in the provincial riding of New Westminster in the 2009 British Columbia general election.[9] The NDP's Fin Donnelly won the seat left vacant by Black in a by-election on November 9, 2009.[10]
Independent MP Bill Casey resigned his seat of Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley effective April 30, 2009, to accept a job as the Nova Scotia Department of Intergovernmental Affairs' senior representative in Ottawa. He was a former Conservative who voted against the 2007 budget, claiming that it broke the Atlantic Accord with his province and Newfoundland and Labrador, and was subsequently expelled from the Conservative caucus.[11] Scott Armstrong, Conservative, won the by-election for this seat on November 9, 2009.[12]
Bloc Québécois MP Paul Crête resigned his seat of Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup on May 21, 2009, to run in a provincial by-election in Rivière-du-Loup. Conservative Bernard Généreux won the November 9, 2009 by-election for this seat.[13]
Bloc Québécois MP Réal Ménard resigned his seat of Hochelaga on September 16, 2009, to run in Montreal's municipal elections.[14] On November 9, 2009, Daniel Paillé won this seat for the Bloc in a by-election.[15]
The first session of the 40th parliament opened on November 18, 2008, after Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservatives won a slightly stronger minority government in the 2008 election. With a new government in session, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty tabled a fiscal update nine days later. Among other things, the update cut government spending, suspended the ability of civil servants to strike, sold off some Crown assets, and eliminated existing political party subsidies. This fiscal update was rejected by the opposition, and became a catalyst for talks of a coalition government. Stéphane Dion of the Liberal Party and Jack Layton of the New Democratic Party, signed an accord stating that in the event that the government lost the confidence of the house, they would form a coalition with the support of Gilles Duceppe and the Bloc Québécois, if asked to do so by the Governor General of Canada Michaëlle Jean. However, Stephen Harper delayed the vote of non-confidence scheduled for December 1, and the Governor General prorogued parliament on Harper's advice on December 4, 2008, until January 26, 2009.
After prorogation, calls came from within the Liberal Party for Dion to resign immediately. Dion initially scheduled his resignation for the party's leadership convention in May 2009, but on December 8, 2008, he announced that he would step down upon the selection of his successor. After the withdrawal of Bob Rae and Dominic LeBlanc from the leadership race, Michael Ignatieff became the only leadership candidate, and therefore was appointed interim leader of the Liberals and the opposition on December 10, 2008.
The Harper government recalled Parliament on January 26, 2009. Its first business in the new session (after the Throne Speech) was to present the federal budget, which included a large deficit. After negotiations with new Opposition leader Michael Ignatieff, the government promised to present regular updates on the stimulus budget, and the Liberals and Conservatives joined to pass the budget and keep the Conservative government in power.
The Conservative government made crime a major focus of the session. The Conservatives reintroduced their former mandatory minimums bill, known as Bill C-15.[16]
Media related to Protests against the prorogation of the 40th Parliament at Wikimedia Commons
On December 30, 2009, Prime Minister Harper announced that he will be proroguing parliament during the 2010 Winter Olympics until March 3, 2010. He telephoned Governor General Michaëlle Jean to, once again, ask her permission to end the parliamentary session. Jean signed the proclamation later that day, granting his request, thus choosing to prorogue Parliament for the second time in her role as Governor General.[17][18] According to Prime Minister Harper's spokesman, he sought his second prorogation to consult with Canadians about the economy.[17] "The move triggered immediate condemnation from opposition MPs who labelled the Conservative government's move an 'almost despotic' attempt to muzzle parliamentarians amid controversy over the Afghan detainees affair."[17] In an interview with CBC News, Prince Edward Island Liberal member of parliament Wayne Easter accused the Prime Minister of "shutting democracy down".[19][20] The second prorogation in a year also received some international criticism as being not very democratic.[21]
Demonstrations took place on January 23, 2010, in over 60 Canadian cities, and at least four cities in other countries. The protests attracted thousands of participants, many who had joined a group on Facebook.[22][23]
The Senate of Canada has seen new members appointed in blocs of 18, 9, and 5; all were appointed to the Conservative caucus. The balance of power shifted for the first time on August 27, 2009, when the Liberal caucus was reduced to holding a plurality of 52 seat. On January 29, 2010, the balance shifted again as five vacancies were filled by appointed Conservatives, giving them a plurality of 51, with the Liberals holding the next-highest number of seats at 49.
The Senate of Canada posthumously awarded the title of Honorary Senator during the 40th Parliament to five pioneering women known as The Famous Five.[24]
| Emily Murphy |
| Henrietta Muir Edwards |
| Nellie McClung |
| Irene Parlby |
| Louise McKinney |
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  | Re-elected Commons Speaker urges better behaviour - Issue Contents - Dec 18, 2006 | Macleans.ca - Canada - Features |
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