Reading Time: < 1 minuteDisponible en français. Question Period is the parliamentary proceeding that tends to attract the most attention. On each day that the Senate and House of Commons are in session, Question Period gives parliamentarians an opportunity to seek information from the government and to hold it… Read More ›
Reading Time: 6 minutesDisponible en français. Women’s right to full and equal participation in the public and political life of their country is recognized by the 1979 United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The proportion or number… Read More ›
Reading Time: 4 minutesDisponible en français. In today’s complex world, the blurred lines between domestic and foreign policy regularly draw Canadian parliamentarians onto the world stage. Increasingly, they speak directly with their international counterparts on issues of global and national importance. In Canada,… Read More ›
Reading Time: < 1 minuteDisponible en français. Officers of Parliament support both houses in their accountability and scrutiny functions by carrying out independent oversight responsibilities assigned to them by statute. These officers are responsible directly to Parliament rather than to the government or a federal… Read More ›
Reading Time: 2 minutesDisponible en français. Canada’s founding document, the Constitution Act, 1867, established the country as a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy. Executive authority resides with the Sovereign or that person’s representative (i.e., the Governor General of Canada). The Constitution assigns the Governor… 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: < 1 minuteDisponible en français. The COVID-19 pandemic forced many legislatures around the world to adopt or expand their use of digital technologies in order to continue exercising their core functions of legislating, studying issues of public policy, scrutinizing governments and representing… Read More ›
Reading Time: 5 minutesDisponible en français. One hundred years ago, on 6 December 1921, Agnes Campbell Macphail became the first woman elected to the House of Commons and the first woman parliamentarian in the Parliament of Canada. This HillNote provides an overview of selected notable firsts… Read More ›
Reading Time: < 1 minuteDisponible en français. Canada’s founding document, the Constitution Act, 1867, established the country as a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy. Executive authority resides with the Sovereign or that person’s representative (i.e., the Governor General of Canada). The Constitution assigns the Governor General a wide range… Read More ›