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The Canadian House of
Commons was deliberately modeled on the British, and
even now, in any matter of procedure not provided for by
its own rules and practices, the rules and practices of
the British House of Commons are followed.
The British House of commons originated
simply as a body of petitioners summoned by the early
Kings of England for no other reason than that they
needed money. The Commons, as these representatives of
the shires and boroughs became known, soon began to
insist that the grant of money depended on redress of
grievances. Although the powers of the Crown have long
been taken over by a government elected by the people,
this principle - the right to discuss grievances and to
insist on remedies before granting supply - is still at
the heart of the parliamentary system. In the Canadian
House of Commons, nowadays, it takes more particularly
the form of what are called "allotted days'> Every
session, twenty-five days are reserved for the
opposition, to move whatever motions it thinks fit; and
on six of the twenty-five it can move motions of want of
confidence in the Government. Opportunities for
expressing want of confidence in the government also
occurs during the debates on the Throne Speech and the
Budget and on other occasions.
Today the House of
Commons is unquestionably the effective source of power
in the parliamentary system. Originally, it had 181
members, each province being represented in proportion
to its population. This is still the basis for the much
larger House which now exists, but it is modified by a
provision in the constitutional provision that no
province can have fewer members in the Commons than in
the Senate, and several other provisions designed to
prevent any province from losing more than a certain
proportion of its seats in the redistribution which must
follow each decennial census. the present House has 306
members, elected by single-member constituencies. the
distribution of seats at the election which will be
taking place on January 23, 2006 are
| Ontario |
106 |
| Quebec |
75 |
| British Columbia |
36 |
| Alberta |
28 |
| Manitoba |
14 |
| Saskatchewan |
14 |
| Nova Scotia |
11 |
| New Brunswick |
10 |
| Prince Edward Island |
4 |
| Newfoundland |
7 |
| Yukon |
1 |
| Northwest Territories |
1 |
| Nunavut |
1 |
All Canadian citizens
of 18 and over are qualified to vote.
The House of Commons is the focal point
of parliamentary activity and public attention, the
grand forum of the nation, where major national and
international issues are debated; where the Prime
Minister and the Leader of the Opposition may be seen in
regular confrontation; where Cabinet Ministers daily
defend the policies and conduct of their departments;
where the nation's business is freely and openly
transacted, all that is said is freely and openly
transacted, all that is said and done being faithfully
recorded.
Parliament makes the laws, and the House of Commons
plays the predominant part in making them. Any member
can introduce bills, except bills involving expenditure
or taxation, which can only be introduced by the
government. Since the responsibilities of government now
extend into almost every sphere of activity, and since
most government action involves spending money (and
raising it by taxes, fees, loans, and so forth), most of
the time of the Hose is reserved for Government bills.
Only a limited number of hours can therefore be allotted
to the consideration of Private Members' bills during a
session and they seldom come to a vote.
Every bill must pass both Houses and
receive Royal Assent before it becomes law. Assent is
signified by the Governor General or his Deputy (a judge
of the Supreme Court of Canada). It is inconceivable in
these days that it would ever be refused.
By law a general
election must be held at least once every five years.
However, Parliament may be dissolved and an election
called before the statutory period has elapsed, and this
is what normally happens. The power to dissolve
Parliament s a royal prerogative exercised by the
Governor-General, normally on the advice of the Prime
Minister. |
