Reading Time: < 1 minuteDisponible en français. The federal government collects revenues and makes expenditures in all provinces. Per capita federal revenues and spending vary from province to province, depending on the economic and demographic conditions in each province. Sources of federal revenues include personal… Read More ›
Reading Time: 3 minutesDisponible en français. The federal budget outlines the government’s revenue estimates and expenditure priorities for the fiscal year. It is a key component of the parliamentary financial cycle. The outlook for budgetary revenues and expenses can be found in tables… Read More ›
Reading Time: 2 minutesDisponible en français. Canadian electoral law has grown in complexity and it continues to evolve. The administration of elections was haphazard and highly politicized in the early years after Confederation. Since then, two fundamental changes have been made to the Canadian electoral… Read More ›
Reading Time: 2 minutesDisponible en français. After each decennial census – the federally run count of Canada’s total population that occurs every 10 years – the number of members of the House of Commons and the representation of each province are adjusted according… Read More ›
Reading Time: 2 minutesDisponible en français. For about 150 years, the term “omnibus bill” went without a firm definition in the procedural rules of either the Senate or the House of Commons. Often when omnibus bills were introduced, questions arose about their nature,… Read More ›
Reading Time: 6 minutesDisponible en français. Following Royal Assent, a federal bill becomes an Act of Parliament and is printed as a chapter in the Statutes of Canada. However, the provisions in that Act do not produce legal effects until they have come… Read More ›
Reading Time: 5 minutesDisponible en français. In June 2017, the Government of Canada released its most recent defence policy statement: Strong, Secure, Engaged: Canada’s Defence Policy (SSE). SSE outlines Canada’s defence priorities for a 20-year period. In the 2022 federal budget, the government… Read More ›
Reading Time: 5 minutesDisponible en français. In June 2022, the Minister of Public Safety announced that all members of Parliament are to receive mobile duress devices, or “panic buttons.” This was in response to threats and safety concerns that are on the rise for… Read More ›
Reading Time: 5 minutesDisponible en français. On 8 July 2022, a Canadian parliamentarian [in French] was elected president of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF) for a two-year term. The APF is the parliamentary arm of what is referred to as the “institutional… Read More ›
Reading Time: 2 minutesDisponible en français. The distribution of legislative powers among the various levels of government is a key feature of federalism. To guide this distribution, the Constitution Act, 1867 divides legislative powers between the Parliament of Canada and the provincial legislatures. These powers are… Read More ›