The Bloc Québécois is a federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty. The Bloc was formed by Members of Parliament (MPs) who defected from the federal Progressive Conservative Party and Liberal Party during the collapse of the Meech Lake Accord. Founder Lucien Bouchard had been a cabinet minister in the federal Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney.
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, but due to the seat distribution, those few changes significantly affected the distribution of power. It was dissolved prior to the 2006 election.
Stephen Joseph Harper is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, serving as the party's first leader from 2004 to 2015.
Gilles Duceppe is a retired Canadian politician, proponent of the Quebec sovereignty movement and former leader of the Bloc Québécois. He was a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada for over 20 years and was the leader of the sovereigntist Bloc Québécois for 15 years in three stints: 1996, 1997-2011 and in 2015. He was Leader of the Official Opposition in the Parliament of Canada from March 17, 1997, to June 1, 1997. He resigned as party leader after the 2011 election, in which he lost his own seat to New Democratic Party (NDP) candidate Hélène Laverdière and his party suffered a heavy defeat; however, he returned four years later to lead the party into the 2015 election. After being defeated in his own riding by Laverdière again, he resigned once more.
The leader of the Official Opposition, formally known as the leader of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition, is the politician who leads the Official Opposition in Canada, typically the leader of the party possessing the most seats in the House of Commons that is not the governing party or part of the governing coalition.
The 39th Canadian Parliament was in session from April 3, 2006 until September 7, 2008. The membership was set by the 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 election to determine the membership of the 40th Parliament occurring on October 14, 2008.
The 2005 Canadian federal budget was the budget of the Government of Canada for the 2005–2006 fiscal year. It was presented on February 23, 2005, by Finance Minister Ralph Goodale. It was the first Canadian federal budget presented by a minority government since the budget of the Joe Clark Progressive Conservative government in 1979, which was defeated by the opposition parties.
Fabian Manning is a politician in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Manning served as a Progressive Conservative and later as the independent Member of the House of Assembly for the district of Placentia and St. Mary’s from 1999 to 2005. From 2006 to 2008 he was the Conservative Party of Canada Member of Parliament for the riding of Avalon. After his defeat in the 2008 federal election Manning was appointed to the Senate of Canada on January 2, 2009, he resigned his Senate seat on March 28, 2011, to run for election in his former riding of Avalon in the 2011 federal election, but was unsuccessful. Prime Minister Stephen Harper re-appointed Manning to the Senate on May 25, 2011.
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 previous parliament had been dissolved by Governor General Michaëlle Jean on September 7, 2008.
The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by the Governor General on September 7, 2008. The election yielded a minority government under the Conservative Party of Canada, led by the incumbent Prime Minister, Stephen Harper.
The 2008–2009 Canadian parliamentary dispute, during the 40th Canadian Parliament, was triggered by the expressed intention of the opposition parties to defeat the Conservative minority government on a motion of non-confidence six weeks after the federal election of October 14, 2008.
The Climate Change Accountability Act is a Private Member's Bill that was submitted in the 39th, 40th and 41st Canadian Parliaments. It was originally tabled in October 2006 in the House of Commons of Canada as Bill C-377 of the 39th Parliament by Jack Layton, then the leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP). It passed third reading by a vote of 148 to 116 with the support of caucuses of the Liberal Party of Canada, the Bloc Québécois and the NDP. However, Bill C-377 died as it was still before the Senate when Parliament was dissolved for the 2008 Canadian federal election.
Daniel Paillé is a Canadian politician, who represented the riding of Prévost in the National Assembly of Quebec from 1994 to 1996 as a member of the Parti Québécois, and represented the district of Hochelaga in the House of Commons of Canada as a member of the Bloc Québécois. He was elected leader of the Bloc Québécois with 62 percent of the vote on December 11, 2011. Paillé stepped down as leader on December 16, 2013 for health reasons.
On 23 January 2010 there were numerous protests opposing the prorogation of the 40th Canadian Parliament. The prorogation had occurred a month earlier on 30 December 2009 on the constitutional advice of Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper and was officially carried out by Governor General Michaëlle Jean. Protests were held in over 60 cities and towns in Canada, and internationally in New York City, San Francisco, Dallas, London, Oman, Brussels, Amsterdam, The Hague and Costa Rica. The protests and rallies attracted approximately 21,000 participants, including many who had joined a group on Facebook, known as the "Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament" (CAPP). At the 23 January rallies in Ottawa and Toronto, Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff, New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jack Layton, Green Party leader Elizabeth May, and Member of Parliament Bob Rae spoke against the prorogation, while at the rally in Montreal, Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe spoke alongside future NDP leader, Thomas Mulcair, and Liberal MP Marc Garneau. Future Liberal Leader and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was also in attendance at the Montreal Rally.
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.
By-elections to the 37th Canadian Parliament were held to fill vacancies in the House of Commons of Canada between the 2000 federal election and the 2004 federal election. The Liberal Party of Canada led a majority government for the entirety of the 37th Canadian Parliament, with little change from by-elections.
By-elections to the 40th Canadian Parliament were held to fill vacancies in the House of Commons of Canada between the 2008 federal election and the 2011 federal election. The Conservative Party of Canada led a minority government for the entirety of the 40th Canadian Parliament, with little change from by-elections.
This article outlines the events leading up to the 41st Canadian federal election of May 2, 2011, starting with the prior election.
The 41st Canadian Parliament was in session from June 2, 2011 to August 2, 2015, with the membership of its House of Commons having been determined by the results of the 2011 federal election held on May 2, 2011. Parliament convened on June 2, 2011, with the election of Andrew Scheer as Speaker, followed the next day with the Speech from the Throne. There were two sessions in this Parliament. On August 2, 2015, Prime Minister Stephen Harper asked the Governor General to dissolve Parliament and issue the writ of election, leading to an 11-week election campaign period for the 2015 federal election. Significant legislation adopted during the 41st Parliament included the Copyright Modernization Act, the Safe Streets and Communities Act, the Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act, the Jobs and Growth Act and the Fair Elections Act.
The 42nd Canadian Parliament was in session from December 3, 2015, to September 11, 2019, with the membership of its lower chamber, the House of Commons of Canada, having been determined by the results of the 2015 federal election held on October 19, 2015, and thirty new appointees to its Upper House, the Senate of Canada. Parliament officially resumed on December 3, 2015, with the election of a new Speaker, Geoff Regan, followed by a Speech from the Throne the following day. The Speaker of the Senate of Canada was George Furey, who was appointed Speaker of the Canadian Senate on the advice of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, to replace Leo Housakos, on December 3, 2015. On September 11, 2019, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau advised Governor General Julie Payette to dissolve Parliament and issue the writ of election, leading to a 5-week election campaign period for the 2019 federal election. Significant legislation adopted during the 42nd Parliament included the Cannabis Act, the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation Act, the Trans-Pacific Partnership Implementation Act, the Canada Infrastructure Bank Act, the Impact Assessment Act and Canadian Energy Regulator Act, as well as the legalizing of medical assistance in dying and adding gender identity and expression to the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination in the Canadian Human Rights Act.
