Everything about Quebec National Assembly totally explained
The
National Assembly of Quebec (
French:
Assemblée nationale du Québec) is the name for the legislative body of the province of
Quebec,
Canada which was defined in the
Canadian constitution as the
Legislative Assembly of Quebec (French:
Assemblée législative du Québec). This
legislative assembly operates in a fashion similar to those of other
British-style parliamentary systems. Since the abolition in
1968 of the
Legislative Council (French:
Conseil législatif), hitherto the
upper house of the Quebec legislature, the
lower house known as the
Legislative Assembly of Quebec has had exclusive power to enact laws in the provincial jurisdictions defined in the
Constitution of Canada. It was renamed the "National Assembly of Quebec" following the abolition of the upper house, though the original appellation is also in current use.
(External Link
) The current
President of the National Assembly of Quebec is
Liberal Member of the National Assembly (MNA)
Michel Bissonnet.
History
The Legislative Assembly was created in
Lower Canada by the
Constitutional Act of
1791. It was abolished from
1841 to
1867 under the
1840 Act of Union which merged
Upper Canada and Lower Canada into a single colony named the
Province of Canada.
The 1867
British North America Act, which created the
Canadian confederation, split the Province of Canada into the provinces of Quebec and
Ontario. The Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada was thus restored as the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec.
The original Quebec legislature was
bicameral, consisting of the
Legislative Council and 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". Before 1968, there had been various unsuccessful attempts at abolishing the Legislative Council, which was analogous to the
Senate of Canada.
In
1978, television cameras were brought in for the first time to televise parliamentary debates. The colour of the walls was changed to suit the needs of television and the
salon vert (green hall) became the
salon bleu (blue hall).
Parliament Building
» Main article: Parliament Building
The present
Parliament Building was designed by architect
Eugène-Étienne Taché and has been the home of the legislature since
1886. It is a unique construction in North America, with a
Second Empire style of architecture. Its façade features a pantheon representing important events and people in the history of Quebec.
This building replaced the old Parliament at Parc Montmorency, destroyed in a fire in 1883.
Elections
General elections are held every five years or fewer. Any person holding Canadian citizenship and who has resided in Quebec for at least six months qualifies to have his or her name entered on the electoral list.
Normally, the leader of the political party with the largest number of elected candidates is asked by the
Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec to form the government as
Premier. (In French, it's rendered as
Premier Ministre. The term "Prime Minister" is commonly used by the government as a literal translation of the French term.).
Quebec's territory is divided into 125 electoral districts (
ridings). In each electoral division, the candidate who receives the most votes is elected and becomes a Member of the National Assembly (MNA). This is known as 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,
1970, and
1973 elections.
Quebec elections also tend to be volatile since the 1970s, producing a large turnover in Assembly 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 saw the demise of the
Union Nationale and rise of the
Parti Québécois which managed to take power in
1976. The
1985 and
1994 elections saw the Liberals gain and lose power in landslide elections.
Current members
» See: 38th National Assembly of Quebec.
Most recent election
Proceedings
One of the Members of the National Assembly is chosen as the
President of the Assembly (a post called
Speaker in most other
Westminster System assemblies) by the Premier with the support of the
Leader of the Opposition. 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 a member of the other side, he or she's to speak through the President of the Assembly. The President is usually a member of the governing party, although there's no requirement for this.
The proceedings of the National Assembly are broadcast across Quebec on the
cable television network
Canal de l'Assemblée nationale.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Quebec National Assembly'.
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