Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster -based parliamentary system . This article uses the term government as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning the administration or the cabinet rather than the state . In some countries, the title of " Official Opposition " is conferred upon the largest political party sitting in opposition in the legislature, with said party's leader being accorded the title " Leader of the Opposition ".
31-602: The Act Respecting the Future of Quebec (also known as " Bill 1 " or the " Sovereignty Bill ") was a bill proposed to the Quebec National Assembly by Premier Jacques Parizeau and his Parti Québécois government in 1995. It proposed to give the National Assembly the power to declare Quebec " sovereign ", with the "exclusive power to pass all its laws, levy all its taxes and conclude all its treaties". It received
62-546: A first reading in the National Assembly but the final version of the bill was never voted on following the defeat of the sovereignty option in the 1995 Quebec referendum . Had it become law, it would have served as the legal basis for the Quebec government to declare Quebec a sovereign country. The bill contained a 1,586-word preamble, evoking the history of Quebec and the right of the Quebec people to choose its destiny. It also contained considerable poetic phrases, such as "We know
93-535: A pantheon representing significant events and people of the history of Quebec. In 1936, Maurice Duplessis hung a crucifix in the Legislative Assembly chamber. It hung there for 83 years, until it was removed on 10 July 2019. Additional buildings were added, adjacent to the Parliament Buildings: General elections are held every four years or less. Since 2014, the legislature has had
124-451: A fixed four-year term, with elections taking place no later than "the first Monday of October of the fourth calendar year following the year that includes the last day of the previous Legislature." However, the lieutenant governor , acting on the advice of the premier , can dissolve the legislature and call an election earlier. Any Canadian citizen at least 18 years old who has been residing in Quebec for at least six months qualifies to be on
155-587: A new Parliament of the Province of Canada , also composed of a Legislative Council and a Legislative Assembly. That Parliament had jurisdiction over the entire province, with members from Lower Canada and Upper Canada in both houses. The Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly known as the British North America Act), created the Dominion of Canada, and also created the provinces of Ontario and Quebec by splitting
186-495: A single faction, reduce their parliamentary opposition to tokenism . In some cases, in more authoritarian countries, tame "opposition" parties are created by the governing groups in order to create an impression of democratic debate. Some legislatures offer opposition parties particular powers. In Canada , the United Kingdom , and New Zealand , 20 days each year are set aside as " Opposition Days " or "Supply Days", during which
217-460: A sovereign country, the bill lays out several key steps in the independence process. It required the Government of Quebec to propose to the rest of Canada a partnership treaty based on a "Tripartite Agreement" signed on 12 June 1995 between Parizeau, Bloc Québécois leader Lucien Bouchard and Action democratique du Quebec leader, Mario Dumont . This agreement outlined a series of proposals that
248-615: A towering central belfry, Quebec City's Parliament Building bears a definite likeness to the Philadelphia City Hall , another Second Empire edifice in North America which was built during the same period. Even though the building's symmetrical layout with a frontal clock tower in the middle is typical of legislative institutions of British heritage, the architectural style is believed to be unique among parliament buildings found in other Canadian provincial capitals. Its façade presents
279-581: Is the legislative body of the province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; French: députés ). The lieutenant governor of Quebec (representing the King of Canada ) 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
310-454: Is the first order of business for a newly elected assembly. It is conducted by secret ballot of all members, with successive rounds of voting if needed before one candidate gains a majority of the votes. The president of the assembly is the arbiter of the parliamentary debates between the members of the government and the members of the Opposition. In order for a member to address the assembly,
341-761: The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) has the most seats in the Assembly. The Constitutional Act 1791 created the Parliament of Lower Canada . It consisted of two chambers, the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly. That parliament and both chambers were abolished in 1841 when the Act of Union 1840 merged Upper Canada and Lower Canada into a single province named the Province of Canada . The Act of Union created
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#1732848583316372-607: The 1970s, producing a large turnover in seats. Consequently, existing political parties often lose more than half their seats with the rise of new or opposition political parties. For instance, the 1970 and 1973 elections saw the demise of the Union Nationale and rise of the Parti Québécois, which took power in 1976 . The 1985 and 1994 elections saw the Liberals gain and lose power in landslide elections. The 2018 elections saw
403-480: The Canadian dollar and continuity of current laws and social benefits. The bill was part of the Quebec government's strategy to increase support for sovereignty prior to the 1995 referendum. The Parti Québécois promised during the 1994 Quebec election to hold a referendum during 1995. However, the Parti Québécois received only 0.35% more votes than the federalist Quebec Liberal Party in that election, and polls at
434-694: The Declaration of Sovereignty of Quebec. It must describe who we are as a people and who we wish to become. As such, it must be a vivid reflection of our values and our hopes, our traditions and our ambitions. This blank page calls out to all of us. We must devise it together, participate and contribute the best of ourselves." In the end, the preamble was written by several prominent pro-sovereignty Quebec writers and poets, including famous Quebec singer Gilles Vigneault , author-playwright Marie Laberge , sociologist Fernand Dumont and constitutional experts Andrée Lajoie and Henri Brun. In addition to declaring Quebec
465-532: The Legislative Assembly. In 1968, Bill 90 was passed by the government of Premier Jean-Jacques Bertrand , abolishing the Legislative Council and renaming the Legislative Assembly the "National Assembly", in line with the more strident nationalism of the Quiet Revolution . Before 1968, there had been various unsuccessful attempts at abolishing the Legislative Council, which was analogous to the Senate of Canada . With
496-670: The October 1995 referendum campaign. The bill was explicitly referred to in the question appearing on the ballot in the 1995 Quebec sovereignty referendum: "Do you agree that Québec should become sovereign after having made a formal offer to Canada for a new economic and political partnership within the scope of the bill respecting the future of Québec and of the agreement signed on 12 June 1995?." Quebec National Assembly Official Opposition Parties with official status Parties without official status The National Assembly of Quebec (French: Assemblée nationale du Québec )
527-451: The adoption of the new name, members of the assembly were now designated Members of the National Assembly (MNA) in English. In French, they are referred to as either membre de l'Assemblée nationale with the initialism M.A.N. or as députés de l'Assemblée nationale du Québec . In 1978, television cameras were brought in for the first time to televise parliamentary debates. The colour of
558-454: The electoral list. Normally, the lieutenant governor invites the leader of the political party with the largest number of elected candidates to form the government as premier ( premier ministre in French; French does not make a distinction between premier and prime minister ). Quebec's territory is divided into 125 electoral districts (ridings). In each riding, the candidate who receives
589-424: The leaders agreed a sovereign Quebec would make to Canada to share power between the two countries, including in the areas of: The Bill provided that negotiations on a partnership treaty could not extend past 30 October 1996 (one year after the 1995 referendum). The Bill also foresaw the drafting of a new Quebec constitution, the continuity of Quebec's current boundaries, the creation of a Quebec citizenship, use of
620-415: The legislature. Previously, there had been no fixed designation, but they had often been referred to as "Members of the Legislative Assembly" (MLAs) ( membres de l'Assemblée législative (M.A.L.s) ), which Premier Maurice Duplessis noted in his speech on the bill, "can sometimes be pronounced as ' mal ', which means 'evil' in French." In 1961, Marie-Claire Kirkland became the first woman elected to
651-480: The likelihood that a sovereign Quebec would retain links with Canada. As part of this strategy, the draft bill was sent to every Quebec household by the Quebec government in advance of the referendum campaign, along with a copy of the Parizeau-Bouchard-Dumont agreement of 12 June 1995. Despite these efforts, polls did not show a significant increase in support for Quebec sovereignty until the final weeks of
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#1732848583316682-450: The member speak through the president. The president is usually a member of the governing party. The proceedings of the National Assembly are broadcast across Quebec on the cable television network Canal de l'Assemblée nationale . Parliamentary opposition In first-past-the-post assemblies, where the tendency to gravitate into two major parties or party groupings operates strongly, government and opposition roles can go to
713-444: The most votes is elected and becomes a member of the National Assembly (MNA). This is the first-past-the-post voting system. It tends to produce strong disparities in the number of seats won compared to the popular vote, perhaps best exemplified by the 1966 (wrong-winner result), 1970 (false-majority result), 1973 , and 1998 election (wrong-winner and false-majority result). Quebec elections have also tended to be volatile since
744-438: The old Province of Canada into two, based on the old boundaries of Lower Canada and Upper Canada. The act created a new bicameral Legislature for the province of Quebec, composed of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly of Quebec. In December 1955, the assembly passed a bill according the title "Member of Provincial Parliament" ( membre du Parlement provincial ) and the initialism "MPP" ( M.P.P. ) to members of
775-484: The post from single-member districts . The National Assembly was formerly the lower house of Quebec's legislature and was then called the Legislative Assembly of Quebec. In 1968, the upper house , the Legislative Council , was abolished and the remaining house was renamed. The office of President of the National Assembly is equivalent to speaker in other legislatures. As of the 2022 Quebec general election ,
806-489: The rise of the Coalition Avenir Québec , which took power for the first time. Cabinet ministers are in bold, party leaders are in italic and the president of the National Assembly is marked with a †. One of the members of the National Assembly is elected as President of the Assembly (a post called speaker in most other Westminster System assemblies). Any member of the assembly is eligible to stand for election, other than party leaders and Cabinet ministers. The election
837-482: The time showed that Quebec independence (at least, without significant economic and political links with Canada) was not supported by the majority of Quebecers. Along with the February 1995 hearings on the future of Quebec and the 12 June 1995 Tripartite agreement between Parizeau, Bouchard and Dumont, the sovereignty bill was designed to both get people interested in discussing Quebec sovereignty and reassure Quebecers about
868-431: The two main groupings serially in alternation. The more proportionally representative a system, the greater the likelihood of multiple political parties appearing in the parliamentary debating chamber . Such systems can foster multiple "opposition" parties which may have little in common and minimal desire to form a united bloc opposed to the government of the day. Some well-organised democracies, dominated long-term by
899-464: The walls was changed to suit the needs of television, and the salon vert (green hall) became the salon bleu (blue hall). In 1984, Canadian Forces corporal Denis Lortie stormed into the Parliament Building and opened fire, killing three government employees and wounding thirteen others. His intended target was Premier René Lévesque and his Parti Québécois government. However, he
930-448: The winter in our souls. We know its blustery days, its solitude, its false eternity and its apparent deaths." It concluded with the phrase, "We, the people of Québec, through our National Assembly, proclaim: Québec is a sovereign country." The original version of the bill had a blank page as its preamble. Jacques Parizeau explained it this way: "[T]he preamble... has intentionally been left unwritten. This preamble will eventually become
961-688: Was around 15 minutes early and the Assembly floor was still mostly empty; no politicians were shot. He surrendered to police hours later. Constructed between 1877 and 1886, the Parliament Building features the Second Empire architectural style that was popular for prestigious buildings both in Europe (especially France where the style originated) and the United States during the latter 19th century. Although somewhat more sober in appearance and lacking