The 42nd Canadian Parliament is the current Parliament of Canada, with the membership of its Lower House, the House of Commons of Canada, having been determined by the results of the 2015 federal election held on October 19, 2015, and with at least seven new appointees to its Upper House, the Senate of Canada, on the Constitutional advice of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Governor General David Johnston. Parliament officially resumed on December 3, 2015 with the election of a new Speaker, Geoff Regan, followed by a Speech from the Throne the following day. The current Speaker of the Senate of Canada is George Furey, who was appointed Speaker of the Canadian Senate on the Constitutional advice of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, to replace Leo Housakos, on December 3, 2015.
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Party standings
Maps 42nd Canadian Parliament
Legislation
Among the more significant pieces of legislation adopted in the first session was the government's response to Carter v Canada (Attorney General). Bill C-14 inserted the term "medical assistance in dying" into the Criminal Code, and made provisions for adult Canadians to engage in the practice. Introduced by the Minister of Justice, Bill C-14 was passed with a free vote for both Liberal and Conservative party members. The Minister of Justice also introduced Bill C-16 which added "gender identity or expression" to the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination in the Canadian Human Rights Act and the list of characteristics of identifiable groups protected from hate propaganda in the Criminal Code - only 40 members opposed the bill, all from the Conservative Party who were granted a free vote.
Bill C-37, sponsored by the Minister of Health and opposed only by the Conservative Party, removed some of the obstacles to supervised injection sites that the previous parliament's Respect for Communities Act had put in place and the bill adopted provisions, mostly centered on the opioid epidemic, to begin implementing the new Canadian Drugs and Substances Strategy, which replaced the previous government's National Anti-Drug Strategy. The Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship's Bill C-6 amended or repealed parts of the previous parliament's Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act including the ability to revoke citizenship based on national security, the requirement that applicants for citizenship aged 14 to 18 and 55 to 64 to prove adequate knowledge Canada and of an official language, the residency requirement increase from 3 years to 4 years, the disallowance of time spent as temporary resident as contributing to the residency requirement, and the condition of citizenship that the applicant must intend to reside in Canada. Bill C-6 kept, but modified or expanded, Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act's prohibition that time spent imprisoned does not contribute to the residency requirement, that an imprisoned applicant may not be granted citizenship, and that citizenship applicants must file tax returns during their residency requirement. Both the Liberal and Conservative parties supported the adoption of Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation Act (Bill C-30) and all parties voted in favour of the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (Bill C-31).
Regarding financial measures, Bill C-2 lowered federal tax paid on income between $45,283 and $90,563 from 22% to 20.5% and introduced a new top tax bracket that applies a rate of 33% to a person's income in excess of $200,000. The bill also re-instated the $5,500 annual limit to Tax-Free Savings Account contributions which the previous parliament had raised to $10,000. Bill C-26 amended the Canada Pension Plan to create the Additional Canada Pension Plan Account and to increase the maximum level of pensionable earnings.
The 2016 budget (Bill C-15) repealed the Family Tax Cut (income splitting) Credit, Education Tax Credit, Textbook Tax Credit, Children's Arts Tax Credit, Child Fitness Tax Credit, and replaced the Canada Child Tax Benefit and Universal Child Care Benefit with the Canada Child Benefit. Eligibility for the Old Age Security pension and Guaranteed Income Supplement was rolled back to 65 years old; the previous parliament had increased it to 67. The rates for Northern Residents Deduction were increased, the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit was extended by one year, and employment insurance benefits were temporarily extended for high unemployment areas.
Both Bill C-11, which implemented the Marrakesh Treaty to allow reproductions of copyrighted material for the benefit of individuals who are blind or visually impaired, and Bill C-13, which implemented the WTO's Bali Package, were adopted with unanimous consent. The Minister of Transport introduced Bill C-10which amended the Air Canada Public Participation Act to expand where Air Canada's maintenance centres may be located to the general provinces of Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, rather than the specific cities of Winnipeg, Mississauga and Montreal, as well as clarifying what constitutes 'maintenance'.
Among the senate bills that were adopted, the National Seal Products Day Act (Bill S-208) made May 20 of each year National Seal Products Day. The Genetic Non-Discrimination Act (Bill S-201) was adopted with the Conservative Party, NDP and Green Party in favour; Liberal Party members were granted a free vote though the prime-minister urged members to oppose the bill, as presented, based on concerns of inconsistency with the constitution. The act makes it a criminal offence to require an individual to undergo a genetic test, or to disclose the results of such a test, as a condition of providing goods or services, with exceptions for health care practitioners and researchers.
Three private member bills had received royal assent with all party support:
- Ron McKinnon's Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act (Bil C-224) amended the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to provide immunity from drug possession charges when seeking help to address an overdose,
- Rob Nicholson's National Strategy for Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias Act (Bill C-233) requires the implementation of a national strategy for the health care of persons afflicted with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia,
- Darren Fisher's National Strategy for Safe and Environmentally Sound Disposal of Lamps Containing Mercury Act (Bill C-238) requires implementation of a national strategy for the disposal tube and compact fluorescent light bulbs.
Canadian Ministry
The 29th Canadian Ministry began with the 42nd Parliament and was sworn in by Gov. Gen. David Johnston on November 4, 2015. It was the first Cabinet of Canada to feature an equal number of men and women. Prime Minister Trudeau appointed Bill Morneau to be Minister of Finance, Jody Wilson-Raybould as Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Jane Philpott as Minister of Health, Catherine McKenna as Minister of Environment and Climate Change, and Harjit Sajjan as Minister of National Defence. With the January 10, 2017, resignations of Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion and Immigration Minister John McCallum, Trudeau moved Chrystia Freeland from Minister of International Trade to Foreign Affairs and promoted François-Philippe Champagne to International Trade, and Ahmed Hussen to Immigration. In that same cabinet shuffle MaryAnn Mihychuk was removed from cabinet and Karina Gould promoted to cabinet, with Patty Hajdu replacing Mihychuk as Minister of Employment, Workforce, and Labour, Maryam Monsef replacing Hajdu as Minister of Status of Women, and Gould becoming Minister of Democratic Institutions.
Members
- For full lists of members of the 42nd Parliament of Canada, see List of House members of the 42nd Parliament of Canada and List of senators in the 42nd Parliament of Canada.
Officeholders
The current officers of Parliament during the 42nd Parliament are set out below.
Speakers
- Speaker of the Senate: Hon. George Furey, Non-affiliated Senator for Newfoundland & Labrador. (Dec 3, 2015 - Present)
- Speaker of the House of Commons: Hon. Geoff Regan, Liberal Member for Halifax West, NS. (Dec 3, 2015 - Present)
Other Chair occupants
Senate
- Speaker pro tempore of the Canadian Senate: Hon. Nicole Eaton, Conservative Senator for Ontario (Dec 9, 2015 - Present)
House of Commons
- Deputy Speaker and Chair of Committees of the Whole: Bruce Stanton, Conservative member for Simcoe North, Ontario
- Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole: Carol Hughes, NDP member for Algoma--Manitoulin--Kapuskasing, Ontario
- Assistant Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole: Anthony Rota, Liberal member for Nipissing--Timiskaming, Ontario
Party Leaders
- Prime Minister of Canada: Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau (Liberal)
- Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition: (Conservative)
- Hon. Rona Ambrose (interim, November 5, 2015 - May 27, 2017)
- Hon. Andrew Scheer (May 27, 2017 - present)
- Leader of the New Democratic Party:
- Hon. Thomas Mulcair (until October 1, 2017)
- Jagmeet Singh (since October 1, 2017) (from outside of the House)
- Guy Caron (Parliamentary leader since October 4, 2017)
- Leader of the Bloc Québécois:
- Rhéal Fortin (interim, October 22, 2015 - March 18, 2017)
- Martine Ouellet (March 18, 2017 - present) (from outside of the House)
- Leader of the Green Party: Elizabeth May
Floor leaders
Senate
- Representative of the Government in the Senate: Hon. Peter Harder (Non-affiliated)
- Leader of the Opposition in the Senate: (Conservative)
- Hon. Claude Carignan (until March 31, 2017)
- Hon. Larry Smith (from April 1, 2017)
- Facilitator of the Independent Senators Group:
- Elaine McCoy (September 27, 2016 - September 25, 2017)
- Yuen Pau Woo (September 25, 2017 - present)
- Leader of the Senate Liberal Caucus:
- Hon. Jim Cowan (January 29, 2014 - June 15, 2016)
- Hon. Joseph A. Day (June 15, 2016 - present)
House of Commons
- Government House Leader:
- Hon. Dominic LeBlanc (November 4, 2015 - August 19, 2016)
- Hon. Bardish Chagger (August 19, 2016 - present)
- Opposition House Leader:
- Hon. Andrew Scheer (November 18, 2015 - September 15, 2016)
- Hon. Candice Bergen (September 15, 2016 - present)
- NDP House Leader:
- Peter Julian (November 18, 2015 - October 19, 2016)
- Murray Rankin (October 19, 2016 - present)
- Bloc Québécois House Leader: Luc Thériault
Whips
Senate
- Chief Government Liaison: Hon. Grant Mitchell
- Deputy Government Liaison: Hon. Nick Sibbeston
- Chief Opposition Whip: Hon. Don Plett
- Deputy Opposition Whip: Hon. David Wells
- Senate Liberal Whip:
- Hon. Jim Munson (until September 28, 2016)
- Hon. Percy Downe (September 28, 2016 - Present)
- Deputy Senate Liberal Whip: Hon. Libbe Hubley
House of Commons
- Chief Government Whip:
- Hon. Andrew Leslie (November 4, 2015 - January 18, 2017)
- Hon. Pablo Rodríguez (January 19, 2017 - Present)
- Deputy Government Whip:
- Hon. Ginette Petitpas Taylor (November 4, 2015 - January 26, 2017)
- Filomena Tassi (January 26, 2017 - Present)
- Chief Opposition Whip: Gord Brown
- Deputy Chief Opposition Whip: Dave MacKenzie
- NDP Whip: Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet
- Bloc Québécois Whip: Monique Pauzé
Caucus Chairs
- Liberal Party Caucus Chair: Francis Scarpaleggia
- Conservative Party Caucus Chair: David Sweet
- New Democratic Party Caucus Chair:
- Charlie Angus (until November 23, 2016)
- Ruth Ellen Brosseau (November 23, 2016 - January 24, 2017)
- Daniel Blaikie (January 24, 2017 - Present)
Shadow cabinets
- Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet of the 42nd Parliament of Canada
- New Democratic Party Shadow Cabinet of the 42nd Parliament of Canada
- Bloc Québécois Shadow Cabinet of the 42nd Parliament of Canada
Committees
Standing
Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics
Agriculture and Agri-Food
Canadian Heritage
Citizenship and Immigration
Environment and Sustainable Development
Finance
Fisheries and Oceans
Foreign Affairs and International Development
Government Operations and Estimates
Health
Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities
Indigenous and Northern Affairs
Industry, Science and Technology
International Trade
Justice and Human Rights
National Defence
Natural Resources
Official Languages
Procedure and House Affairs
Public Accounts
Public Safety and National Security
Status of Women
Transport, Infrastructure and Communities
Veterans Affairs
Joint Committee on the Library of Parliament
Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations
Special
Electoral Reform
- Chair: Francis Scarpaleggia
- Vice-chairs: Scott Reid and Nathan Cullen
- John Aldag
- Alexandre Boulerice
- Matt DeCourcey
- Gérard Deltell
- Elizabeth May
- Blake Richards
- Sherry Romanado
- Ruby Sahota
- Luc Thériault
Pay Equity
- Chair: Anita Vandenbeld
- Vice-chairs: Shannon Stubbs and Sheri Benson
- Dan Albas
- Matt DeCourcey
- Julie Dzerowicz
- Marilyn Gladu
- Eva Nassif
- Terry Sheehan
- Sonia Sidhu
Joint Committee on Physician-Assisted Dying
- Chair (elected Jan.18): Rob Oliphant
- Vice-chairs: Michael Cooper and Murray Rankin
- Harold Albrecht
- John Aldag
- René Arseneault
- Guy Caron
- Julie Dabrusin
- Gérard Deltell
- Denis Lemieux
- Brenda Shanahan
Changes to party standings
House of Commons
Membership Changes
The party standings in the House of Commons have changed as follows:
By-elections
The following by-elections have been held during the 42nd Canadian Parliament:
Senate
Affiliation changes
The party standings in the Senate have changed during the 42nd Canadian Parliament as follows:
Vacancies and pending appointments
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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