Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North America—New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and the Province of Canada —united to form a federation, becoming a fully independent country over the next century. Over its history, Canada's international borders have changed several times as it has added territories and provinces, making it the world's second-largest country by area.
Hansard is the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official printer to the Parliament at Westminster.
The Canada Act 1982 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and one of the enactments which make up the Constitution of Canada. It was enacted at the request of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada to patriate Canada's constitution, ending the power of the British Parliament to amend the constitution. The act also formally ended the "request and consent" provisions of the Statute of Westminster 1931 in relation to Canada, whereby the British parliament had a general power to pass laws extending to Canada at its own request.
The National Assembly of Quebec is the legislative body of the province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs. The lieutenant governor of Quebec and the National Assembly compose the Legislature of Quebec, which operates in a fashion similar to those of other Westminster-style parliamentary systems. The assembly has 125 members elected first past the post from single-member districts.
The Executive Council of Alberta is a body of ministers of the Crown in right of Alberta, who along with the lieutenant governor, exercises the powers of the Government of Alberta. Ministers are selected by the premier and typically sit as a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). It is the provincial equivalent to the federal Cabinet of Canada.
The official languages of Canada are English and French, which "have equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all institutions of the Parliament and Government of Canada," according to Canada's constitution. "Official bilingualism" is the term used in Canada to collectively describe the policies, constitutional provisions, and laws that ensure legal equality of English and French in the Parliament and courts of Canada, protect the linguistic rights of English- and French-speaking minorities in different provinces, and ensure a level of government services in both languages across Canada.
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 national legislatures.
The Government of Alberta is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Alberta. In modern Canadian use, the term Government of Alberta refers specifically to the executive—political ministers of the Crown who are appointed on the advice of the premier. Ministers direct the non-partisan civil service, who staff ministries and agencies to deliver government policies, programs, and services. The executive corporately brands itself as the Government of Alberta, or more formally, His Majesty's Government of Alberta.
Nancy Hodges was a Canadian journalist and politician. Over her career, she served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, as the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, and as a member of the Senate of Canada. She was the first woman in the Commonwealth of Nations to become Speaker, and was known as a powerful women's rights activist in the Commonwealth.
A parliamentary authority is a book of rules for conducting business in deliberative assemblies. Several different books have been used by legislative assemblies and by organizations' deliberative bodies.
The Government of Ontario is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Ontario. The term Government of Ontario refers specifically to the executive—political ministers of the Crown, appointed on the advice of the premier, and the non-partisan Ontario Public Service, who staff ministries and agencies to deliver government policies, programs, and services—which corporately brands itself as the Government of Ontario, or more formally, His Majesty's Government of Ontario.
The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), established in 1975, is a "nonpartisan public officials' association composed of sitting state legislators" from the states, territories and commonwealths of the United States.
In countries with a parliamentary system of government, contempt of parliament is the offence of obstructing the legislature in the carrying out of its functions, or in the hindering any legislator in the performance of their duties.
New Brunswick has had, since the Legislative Council was abolished by an act passed on 16 April 1891, a unicameral legislature called the New Brunswick Legislature, consisting of the Lieutenant Governor and the Legislative Assembly with 49 seats. The legislature functions according to the Westminster system of government. Elections are now held at least every five years but may be called at any time by the lieutenant governor on consultation with the premier.
The Province of Manitoba, similar to other Canadian provinces and territories, is governed through a Westminster-based parliamentary system. The Manitoba government's authority to conduct provincial affairs is derived from the Constitution of Canada, which divides legislative powers among the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures. Manitoba operates through three branches of government: the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. The executive branch—the Government of Manitoba—consists of the Executive Council and the Premier, who is the head of government and the President of the Executive Council. The legislative branch—the Manitoba Legislature—is composed of the Lieutenant Governor and the Legislative Assembly, which is composed of the 57 members (MLAs) elected to represent the people of Manitoba, as well as the Speaker, the Clerk, the Officers of the Legislative Assembly, and the employees of the legislative service.
The Government of British Columbia is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The term Government of British Columbia can refer to either the collective set of all three institutions, or more specifically to the executive—ministers of the Crown of the day, and the non-political staff within each provincial department or agency, i.e. the civil services, whom the ministers direct—which corporately brands itself as the Government of British Columbia, or more formally, His Majesty's Government.
Paul A. Calandra is a Canadian politician who has served as a minister in the Ontario provincial cabinet since 2019. Calandra has been the minister of municipal affairs and housing since 2023. He previously served as the minister of long-term care from 2022 to 2023 and Government House Leader from 2019 to 2024. Calandra represents Markham—Stouffville in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.
The Government of Quebec also known as His Majesty's Government for Quebec is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Quebec. The term Government of Quebec is typically used to refer to the executive—ministers of the Crown of the day, and the non-political staff within each provincial department or agency, i.e. the civil services, whom the ministers direct—which corporately brands itself as the Gouvernement du Québec, or more formally, His Majesty's Government.
Kingston and the Islands is a provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1967.
Marie-France Lalonde is a Franco-Ontarian politician in Ontario, Canada who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Orléans as a member of the Liberal Party of Canada since 2019. She also served as the Liberal Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for the provincial riding of Orléans from 2014 until 2019, when she resigned her seat to run federally. She then won in her riding with 54 percent of the vote.
