41st Canadian Parliament

The 41st Canadian Parliament was in session from June 2, 2011 to August 2, 2015, with the membership of its House of Commons having been determined by the results of the 2011 federal election held on May 2, 2011. Parliament convened on June 2, 2011, with the election of Andrew Scheer as Speaker, followed the next day with the Speech from the Throne. There were two sessions in this Parliament. On August 2, 2015, Prime Minister Stephen Harper asked the Governor General to dissolve Parliament and issue the writ of election, leading to an 11-week election campaign period for the 2015 federal election. Significant legislation adopted during the 41st Parliament included the Copyright Modernization Act, the Safe Streets and Communities Act, the Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act, the Jobs and Growth Act and the Fair Elections Act.

41st Parliament of Canada
Majority parliament
2 June 2011 – 2 August 2015
Parliament leaders
Prime
Minister		Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper
February 6, 2006 – November 4, 2015
Cabinet28th Canadian Ministry
Leader of the
Opposition		Hon. Jack Layton
May 2, 2011 – August 22, 2011 (His death)
Nycole Turmel
August 23, 2011 – March 23, 2012
Hon. Thomas Mulcair
March 24, 2012 – November 4, 2015
Party caucuses
GovernmentConservative Party
OppositionNew Democratic Party
Senate Opp.Senate Liberal Caucus*
RecognizedLiberal Party
UnrecognizedBloc Québécois
Green Party
Strength in Democracy
Progressive Conservative*
* Only in the Senate.
House of Commons

Seating arrangements of the House of Commons
Speaker of the
Commons		Hon. Andrew Scheer
June 2, 2011 – December 2, 2015
Government
House Leader		Hon. Peter Van Loan
May 18, 2011 – November 4, 2015
Opposition
House Leader		Hon. Thomas Mulcair
June 2, 2011 – October 14, 2011
Joe Comartin
October 14, 2011 – April 19, 2012
Nathan Cullen
April 20, 2012 – March 19, 2014
Peter Julian
March 20, 2014 – November 18, 2015
Members308 MP seats
List of members
Senate

Seating arrangements of the Senate
Speaker of the
Senate		Hon. Noël A. Kinsella
February 8, 2006 – November 27, 2014
Hon. Pierre Claude Nolin
November 27, 2014 – April 23, 2015
Hon. Leo Housakos
April 24, 2015 - August 2, 2015
Government
Senate Leader		Hon. Marjory LeBreton
February 6, 2006 – July 14, 2013
Claude Carignan
August 30, 2013 – November 4, 2015
Opposition
Senate Leader		Hon. Jim Cowan
November 3, 2008 – November 4, 2015
Senators105 senator seats
List of senators
Sovereign
MonarchElizabeth II
February 6, 1952 – 8 September 2022
Governor
General		Rt. Hon. David Johnston
October 1, 2010 – October 2, 2017
Sessions
1st session
June 2, 2011 – September 13, 2013
2nd session
October 16, 2013 – August 2, 2015
← 40th → 42nd

Party standings
Politics of Canada
Government (structure)
The Crown
Executive (King-in-Council)
Legislative (King-in-Parliament)
Judicial (King-on-the-Bench)
Elections
Local government
Foreign relations
Crown and Indigenous peoples
Related topics
Standings in the 41st Canadian Parliament
Affiliation House members Senate members
2011 election
results		 At dissolution On election
day 2011[1]		 At dissolution
Conservative 166 159 52 47
New Democratic 103 95 0 0
Liberal 34 36 46 0
Bloc Québécois 4 2 0 0
Green 1 2 0 0
Strength in Democracy — 2 — 0
Independent 0 8[note 1] 2[2] 6[3]
Independent Conservative 0 0[4] 0 0
Senate Progressive Conservative Caucus 0 0 2[5] 0
Senate Liberal Caucus — 0 — 29
Independent Progressive Conservative 0 0 0 1[6]
Total members 308 304 103 83
Vacant 0 4 3 22
Total seats 308 103

Major bills and motions

First session

The parliament's first session ran between June 2, 2011, and September 13, 2013, and saw 83 bills adopted. In June 2011, immediately following the election the first six bills were given royal assent. These were the enabling legislation for the 2011 Canadian federal budget,[7] the Canada Post back-to-work legislation titled Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act (Bill C-6),[8][9] and the Fair and Efficient Criminal Trials Act (Bill C-2) authorizing federal judges to hear all pretrial motions at once during mega-trials.[10]

When the parliament re-convened in September 2011, the Minister of Justice introduced the Safe Streets and Communities Act (Bill C-10),[11] an omnibus bill of nine separate measures. Among the measures include replacing the pardon system with 'record suspensions', mandatory minimum sentences and/or penalties for certain drug and sexual offences, increasing prison sentences for marijuana offences, making it illegal to make sexually explicit information available to a child, reducing the ability of judges to sentence certain offenders to house arrest, allowing immigration officers to deny work permits to foreigners who are at risk of being sexually exploited, and enabling Canadians to sue state sponsors of terrorism for losses due to an act of terrorism.[12][13] The bill was reviewed by the 'House Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights' throughout October and November, chaired by Oxford MP Dave MacKenzie and passed by the House of Commons on December 5, 2011, on a 157 to 127 vote, with only the Conservative Party voting in favour. The senate made six amendments and it was given royal assent on March 13, 2012.

On September 29 the Minister of Industry introduced the Copyright Modernization Act (Bill C-11])[14] — the same bill that was introduced in the 3rd session of the previous parliament and referred to the 'Legislative Committee on Bill C-32'. The bill is first major copyright reform since 1997 and brings Canadian copyright laws in line with modern digital rights management[15][16] The act enables copyright holders to sue operators of peer-to-peer file sharing sites, makes circumventing technological protection measures (e.g. digital locks, encryption, etc.) illegal except when in the public interest, makes it illegal to remove rights management information (e.g. digital watermarks), extends moral rights for performers, makes legal the practise of copying for the purpose of backup, format shifting (CD to mp3), time shifting (recording to watch later), and expands fair dealing to include use in education, parody, and satire.[17] However, the proposed law was criticized as "irredeemably flawed"[18] due to a contradiction between consumer rights and digital locks, American interference, a requirement for students to destroy copyrighted digital content after a course ends, and makes notice and notice mandatory for all ISPs, including disclosing the identity and activity of customers suspected of copyright infringement.[18] The bill finally passed the House of Commons on June 18 and given royal assent on June 29.

The Minister of Agriculture introduced the Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act (Bill C-18)[19] which repealed the Canadian Wheat Board Act, eliminating the requirement for farmers to sell wheat and barley produce to the Canadian Wheat Board. The new act also appoints a new board of directors that must either privatize or dismantle the wheat board.[20] The bill was studied by the 'Legislative Committee on Bill C-18' chaired by Wetaskiwin MP Blaine Calkins between October 31 and November 4. The bill was subject to a lawsuit by the wheat board's existing board of directors claiming that the government cannot change the mandate of the wheat board without the consent of its members[21] and a counter-suit which sought to prevent the board of directors from using wheat board revenue for legal action against the government.[22] A federal trial court decided that for the bill to be legal the government required the consent of the affected farmers, via a vote or plebiscite, as provided for in the 1998 Canadian Wheat Board Act, although that case is in appeal as of December 2011.[23] Nevertheless, on November 28, the bill was passed by the House of Commons, with only the Conservative Party voting in favour. The bill was reviewed by the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry in December and passed by the Senate on December 15, 2011. Despite the ruling of the judicial branch, Governor General David Johnston gave royal assent to the bill on the same day.[24]

The Minister of Public Safety introduced the Ending the Long-gun Registry Act (Bill C-19)[25] which amends the Criminal Code and the Firearms Act to remove the requirement to register firearms that are neither prohibited nor restricted and requires that the existing records relating to non-restricted firearms in the Canadian Firearms Registry be destroyed.[26] The registration of long guns had been a divisive issue since its inception in 1995.[27] The bill was introduced on October 25 and reviewed by the 'House Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security' throughout November, chaired by Crowfoot MP Kevin Sorenson. With no amendments made to the bill in committee, it was passed on February 15 by the House of Commons on a 159 to 130 vote, with only two opposition MPs voting in favour.[28] The bill was passed by the senate on April 5, 2012, and given royal assent the next day.

The Minister of Public Safety also introduced the Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act (Bill C-30)[29] which proposed to amend the Criminal Code to grant law enforcement agencies new powers, such as online surveillance or warrantless wiretapping, to combat criminal activity on the internet. The bill has met with criticism from privacy groups, opposition MPs and the public over charges that the law would infringe on the privacy rights of Canadian citizens.[30] Toews responded to the opposition by stating, addressing a Liberal MP, "He can either stand with us or stand with the child pornographers"[31] which was received negatively. The bill was introduced on February 14, 2012, and declared dead a year later when the Response to the Supreme Court of Canada Decision in R. v. Tse Act (Bill C-55)[32] was introduced which also makes provisions for online surveillance and warrantless wiretapping.

Senate leader Majorly LeBreton introduced the Safe Food for Canadians Act (Bill S-11)[33] which was part of a response to tainted meat being discovered coming from the XL Foods processing plant in September 2012. The act made numerous changes to the food regulatory system, including requiring better tracking of products, providing food inspectors more authority and increasing penalties for violations.[34]

The Minister of Justice introduced the Not Criminally Responsible Reform Act (Bill C-54)[35] on February 8, 2013. The legislation proposes to create a "high risk" designation for people found guilty of a crime but not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder and enshrines in law that the safety of the public is paramount in deciding whether and how such a person can re-enter society.[36]

Omnibus bills

On April 26, 2012, the Minister of Finance introduced the Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act (Bill C-38),[37] an omnibus bill that amends over 50 laws. The bill makes numerous amendments to the environmental assessment process, including increasing the threshold for which reviews are required, limiting the scope of the reviews, shortening review times, moving environmental reviews of pipeline projects to the National Energy Board and nuclear projects to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, enabling the delegation of reviews to provincial agencies, limiting reviews of fish habitats to only the fish used for commercial, recreation or first nations purposes, making reviews of migratory birds optional (at the discretion of cabinet), and limits public participation to only those individuals who directly impacted by a proposal or are specifically sought by the review agency for their specialized knowledge.[38] The omnibus bill would also repeal the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act and the Fair Wages and Hours of Labour Act, eliminates the National Council of Welfare, and the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, the regulatory agency Assisted Human Reproduction Canada, the Public Appointments Commission, the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy, and the Canadian Artists and Producers Professional Relations Tribunal, as well as eliminates the office of the inspector general at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and certain reviews by Auditor General.[39] It creates a new department called Shared Services Canada and replaces the Employment Insurance Board of Referees with the Social Security Tribunal. The bill also provides for moving the Old Age Security pension threshold from 65 to 67 years old, and provides for the deprecation of the penny and social insurance number cards.[39] The government was criticized for limiting debate on the 420-page bill to only seven days.[40] The bill was passed by the House of Commons on June 18 and the Senate on June 29 and given royal assent on the same day.

The second omnibus bill was the Jobs and Growth Act (Bill C-45),[41] introduced on October 18, 2012, by the Minister of Finance and adopted on December 14. The 443-page bill makes 65 amendments to 24 laws.[42] Among the financial measures in the bill were the elimination of the Overseas Employment Tax Credit and corporate tax credits for mining exploration and development; moving the Atlantic Investment Tax Credit away from oil, gas, and mining towards electricity generation; making provisions for Pooled Registered Pension Plans; various amendments to Registered Disability Savings Plans, Retirement Compensation Arrangements, Employees Profit Sharing Plans, and thin capitalisation rules; reducing the Scientific Research and Experimental Development Tax Credit Program; adding a requirement that employers report as part of an employee's income any contributions to a group sickness or accident insurance plan; increasing the salaries of federal judges and making the income of the Governor General subject to income taxes.[43] Non-financial measures added into the bill included a renaming of the Navigable Waters Protection Act to Navigation Protection Act and reduces its scope from all navigable waters to only 159 rivers and lakes, plus three oceans; creates the Bridge to Strengthen Trade Act which exempts a proposed new bridge between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan from the Environmental Assessment Act, Fisheries Act, and the new Navigation Protection Act;[44] eliminates the Merchant Seamen Compensation Board, the Hazardous Materials Information Review Commission, and the Canada Employment Insurance Financing Board.[45] The portion of the bill that dealt with political pensions was taken out after first reading and re-introduced as the Pension Reform Act (Bill C-46).[46]

Fifteen private member bills had received royal assent. Six private member bills were adopted in 2012:

In 2013, another nine private member bills were adopted:

  • Gord Brown's An Act to amend the Canada National Parks Act (St. Lawrence Islands National Park of Canada) (Bill C-370)[52] changes the name of St. Lawrence Islands National Park to Thousand Islands National Park
  • Roxanne James's An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (vexatious complainants) (Bill C-293)[53] allows Commissioner of the Correctional Service to dismiss complaints believed to be frivolous made by offenders
  • Larry Miller's Transboundary Waters Protection Act (Bill C-383)[54] limits the bulk removal of water from the Canadian side of transboundary bodies of water
  • Merv Tweed's An Act to amend the Canada Post Corporation Act (library materials) (Bill C-383)[55] allows Canada Post to provide reduced postage rates for mailing library materials
  • Blake Richards's Preventing Persons from Concealing Their Identity during Riots and Unlawful Assemblies Act (Bill C-309)[56] makes concealing identity (e.g. wearing a mask) during an unlawful assembly a criminal offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment
  • Dick Harris's An Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act (incarceration) (Bill C-316)[57] removes time spent in prison from qualifying and benefit periods for employment insurance
  • Brian Storseth's An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act (protecting freedom) (Bill C-304)[58] repealed section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act which had prohibited dissemination of hate speech by telephone or internet
  • David Wilks's An Act to amend the Criminal Code (kidnapping of young person) (Bill C-299)[59] creates mandatory sentencing for an offender convicted of kidnapping a person under 16 years old
  • Alexandrine Latendresse's Language Skills Act (Bill C-419)[60] requires that holders of certain appointed public offices must be fluent in both English and French.

Second session

The second session ran between October 16, 2013, and August 2, 2015, and saw 86 bills receive royal assent. The Prohibiting Cluster Munitions Act implemented Canada's commitments made under the Convention on Cluster Munitions. The Canadian Museum of History Act changed the name and purpose of the Canadian Museum of Civilization to the Canadian Museum of History. The Combating Counterfeit Products Act created a new criminal offence for possessing or exporting of counterfeit goods and allows customs officers to detain goods that they suspect infringe copyright or trade-marks.[61] The Red Tape Reduction Act required that a federal government regulation be eliminated for every new regulation created affecting a business.[62] The Minister of Aboriginal Affairs introduced the First Nations Elections Act which created an alternative electoral system, to the system under the Indian Act, that First Nations may opt in to elect chiefs and councils.

The Minister of Justice sponsored seven bills. The Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act made revenge porn illegal.[63] The Tackling Contraband Tobacco Act created a new criminal offence for selling, distributing or delivering contraband tobacco products. The Not Criminally Responsible Reform Act makes those found guilty of an offense but not criminally responsible be deemed high risk offenders.[64] The Tougher Penalties for Child Predators Act increases mandatory minimum penalties and maximum penalties for sexual offences against children and creates a publicly accessible database of them, as well as requires reporting to police, border guards and officials in destination countries, of international travel.[65] The Victims Bill of Rights Act creates the "Canadian Victims Bill of Rights" and provides for a right to present a victim impact statement, a right to the protection of identity, a right to participate in the criminal justice process and a right to seek restitution.[66] The Justice for Animals in Service Act makes it a criminal offense to kill or injure a law enforcement animal or a military animal while the animal is carrying out its duty.[67] The Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act, which makes purchasing sexual services and communicating in public places or online for the purpose of selling sexual services criminal offenses, was adopted in response to a Supreme Court decision that found the existing laws against prostitution in Canada were unconstitutional.[68]

The Minister of Public Safety sponsored four bills. The Protection of Canada from Terrorists Act allows Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) to act outside Canadian borders, share information with foreign intelligence agencies and guarantee anonymity to informants.[69] The Anti-terrorism Act, 2015 makes promoting terrorism a criminal offense, allows for preventative arrests, allows for easier information sharing, inclusive of confidential data, between federal organizations for the purpose of detecting threats, and providing new powers to CSIS.[70] The Common Sense Firearms Licensing Act simplifies firearms licensing, provides a six-month amnesty for renewing a licence, eases rules on transporting restricted guns, provides the cabinet power to classify guns, and creates new limits to the power of the chief firearms officer.[71] The Drug-Free Prisons Act gives the Parole Board of Canada permission to cancel parole after a positive drug test.

The Minister of Health's Respect for Communities Act requires extensive consultation and letters of approvals to allow supervised injection site like Insite.[72] The Protecting Canadians from Unsafe Drugs Act allows the Minister of Health to require studies regarding the effects of a therapeutic product (except natural health products, require a label changes, and require healthcare institutions to report adverse drug reactions and medical device incidents.

The Minister of Transport introduced the Safeguarding Canada's Seas and Skies Act implemented the International Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage in Connection with the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea, extends civil and criminal immunity to oil spill response operations, and adds new reporting requirements to oil handling facilities. The same minister also introduce the Safe and Accountable Rail Act establishes minimum liability insurance levels for railway companies and creates a new compensation fund financed by shippers for use to cover damages from railway accidents.[73] The Minister of Natural Resources's Energy Safety and Security Act and Pipeline Safety Act increases the no fault liability for companies involved in oil and gas pipelines and offshore oil facilities to $1-billion and unlimited liability if found at fault, as well as implements parts of the Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage.[74]

Nineteen private member bills were adopted in the second session.

  • Cheryl Gallant's Disability Tax Credit Promoters Restrictions Act (Bill C-462)[75] prevents tax consultants from charging fees to claim the Disability Tax Credit on behalf of someone.[76]
  • David Tilson's An Act to amend the Criminal Code (mischief relating to war memorials) (Bill C-217)[77] makes committing mischief in relation to a war memorial or cenotaph a criminal offense.
  • Parm Gill's An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the National Defence Act (criminal organization recruitment) (Bill C-394)[78] makes recruiting, soliciting, encouraging, coercing or inviting a person to join a criminal organization a criminal offense.
  • Mark Warawa's An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (restrictions on offenders) (Bill C-489)[79] allows courts to require offender to stay 2 kilometres from a victim's residence as a condition of probation and from communicating with the victim or a witness.
  • Earl Dreeshen's An Act to amend the Criminal Code (personating peace officer or public officer) (Bill C-444)[80] makes personating a police officer or a public officer while committing a crime be deemed an aggravation
  • Rick Norlock's National Hunting, Trapping and Fishing Heritage Day Act (Bill C-501)[81] makes the third Saturday in September National Hunting, Trapping and Fishing Heritage Day.
  • Dave MacKenzie's An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (escorted temporary absence) (Bill C-483)[82] transfers the authority, from Correctional Service of Canada to the Parole Board of Canada, to grant or cancel escorted temporary absences of prisoners convicted of first- or second-degree murder.

Canadian Ministry

With the 28th Canadian Ministry continuing, Harper largely kept the same cabinet as before the election with Jim Flaherty as Minister of Finance, Peter MacKay as Minister of National Defence, Vic Toews as Minister of Public Safety, Leona Aglukkaq as Minister of Health, and Gerry Ritz as the Minister of Agriculture. Five ministers were lost in the election to retirement or defeat. In the 18 May cabinet shuffle Harper promoted Steven Blaney, Ed Fast, Joe Oliver, Peter Penashue to ministerial positions, as well as promoting Denis Lebel and Julian Fantino from Minister of State roles to ministerial positions. He also promoted Bernard Valcourt, Tim Uppal, Alice Wong, Bal Gosal, and Maxime Bernier to Minister of State roles, replacing the two who had been promoted to Minister, one who had been defeated in the election, and Rob Merrifield and Rob Moore who were demoted.[83] Upon the retirement of Bev Oda in July 2012, Harper promoted Julian Fantino to replace her as Minister for International Cooperation, with Bernard Valcourt replacing Fantino as Associate Minister.

In preparing for the second session, Harper shuffled his cabinet in July 2013. Kellie Leitch, Chris Alexander, Shelly Glover and Kerry-Lynne Findlay were promoted to ministerial positions. Vic Toews, Keith Ashfield, Peter Kent and Gordon O'Connor were removed from cabinet. Michelle Rempel, Pierre Poilievre, Greg Rickford, Candice Bergen and Rob Moore were promoted from Parliamentary Secretaries to Ministers of State. Kevin Sorenson was added to cabinet as a Minister of State. John Duncan resigned as Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development a couple months previously but was added back into cabinet as a Minister of State. In the shuffle Leona Aglukkaq became the new Minister of Environment, Rona Ambrose the new Minister of Health, Rob Nicholson the new Minister of National Defence, Gail Shea the new Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, and Peter MacKay the new Minister of Justice and Attorney-General.[84]

Senate
Main article: List of senators in the 41st Parliament of Canada

In total during the 41st Parliament, Prime-Minister Harper appointed 21 senators, all of whom caucused with the Conservative Party. On May 18, 2011, two weeks after the election, Harper appointed Fabian Manning, Larry Smith, and Josée Verner, all of whom were defeated Conservative Party candidates in the general election. Manning and Smith had resigned from the Senate to run in the election and they became the first Senators to be reappointed to the Senate since John Carling in April 1896.[85] On January 6, 2012, Harper appointed seven new Senators, all Conservative Party members: Alberta Senator-in-waiting Betty Unger, former police chief in the city of Ottawa Vernon White, former MP Norman Doyle, the 2011 Conservative Party nominee in Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot Jean-Guy Dagenais, as well as JoAnne Buth, Ghislain Maltais, and Asha Seth.[86][87] A third batch of senators were appointed on September 6, 2012. They included the first Vietnamese-Canadian, Thanh Hai Ngo, and the first Filipino-Canadian, Tobias C. Enverga, to be appointed as senators, as well as Diane Bellemare of Montreal, Tom McInnis of Halifax, and Paul McIntyre.[88] In early 2013, Harper appointed a final batch, including Denise Batters, David Wells of St. John's, Victor Oh of Mississauga, Lynn Beyak of Dryden, Ontario,[89] plus Alberta Senators-in-waiting Doug Black and Scott Tannas.

Of those who left the Senate during the 41st Parliament, 22 had reached the mandatory retirement age, including 12 Conservative Party members and one of the two remaining Progressive Conservatives. Three senators (Fred Dickson, Doug Finley, and Pierre Claude Nolin) died while in office. Of the remaining, 13 voluntarily resigned for various reasons, including 7 who had caucused with the Liberal Party and 6 with the Conservative Party. The Senate suspended three members (Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau) for the remainder of the 41st Parliament after allegations of misuse of expense accounts was presented — evidence of misspending was also presented against Mac Harb but he voluntarily resigned before Senate could consider disciplinary measures.[90] A comprehensive audit of all senator expenses was released in June 2015 which identified 21 senators who claimed and were paid for invalid expenses, amounting to $978,627. In addition to Duffy, Wallin, Brazeau and Harb, the audit recommended criminal investigations be conducted into the expense claims of 9 other senators who had served during the 41st Parliament.[91]

In January 2014, the Liberal Party removed its senate members from its national party caucus. From then on, the members and the new senate caucus were referred to as "Independent Liberal" and referred to themselves as the "Senate Liberal Caucus", though they were no longer formally affiliated with the Liberal Party of Canada.[92]

Members
Main articles: List of House members of the 41st Parliament of Canada and List of senators in the 41st Parliament of Canada

Committees

House

Senate

Joint committees

Officeholders

The current[93] and former officers of Parliament during the 41st Parliament are set out below.

Speakers

Other chair occupants

Senate

House of Commons

Leaders

Floor leaders

Senate

House of Commons

Whips

Senate

House of Commons

Shadow cabinets

Changes to party standings
See also: By-elections to the 41st Canadian Parliament

The following by-elections have been held during the 41st Canadian Parliament:

By-electionDateIncumbentPartyWinnerPartyCauseRetained
Yellowhead November 17, 2014 Rob Merrifield Conservative Jim Eglinski Conservative Resigned to accept appointment as Alberta's envoy to the United States. Yes
Whitby—Oshawa November 17, 2014 Jim Flaherty Conservative Pat Perkins Conservative Death (heart attack) Yes
Scarborough—
Agincourt		 June 30, 2014 Jim Karygiannis Liberal Arnold Chan Liberal Resigned to run for Toronto City Council. Yes
Trinity—Spadina June 30, 2014 Olivia Chow New Democratic Adam Vaughan Liberal Resigned to run for Mayor of Toronto. No
Fort McMurray—
Athabasca		 June 30, 2014 Brian Jean Conservative David Yurdiga Conservative Resigned to return to private life. Yes
Macleod June 30, 2014 Ted Menzies Conservative John Barlow Conservative Resigned to accept a position in the private sector. Yes
Brandon—Souris November 25, 2013 Merv Tweed Conservative Larry Maguire Conservative Resigned to join private sector. Yes
Toronto Centre November 25, 2013 Bob Rae Liberal Chrystia Freeland Liberal Resigned to become First Nations negotiator in Ontario. Yes
Provencher November 25, 2013 Vic Toews Conservative Ted Falk Conservative Resigned to spend more time with his family and join the private sector. Yes
Bourassa November 25, 2013 Denis Coderre Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg Liberal Resigned to run for Mayor of Montreal. Yes
Labrador May 13, 2013 Peter Penashue Conservative Yvonne Jones Liberal Resigned to run again in a by-election following election spending concerns. No
Victoria November 26, 2012 Denise Savoie New Democratic Murray Rankin New Democratic Resignation due to illness Yes
Durham November 26, 2012 Bev Oda Conservative Erin O'Toole Conservative Resignation Yes
Calgary Centre November 26, 2012 Lee Richardson Conservative Joan Crockatt Conservative Resigned to work in the office of the Premier of Alberta. Yes
Toronto—Danforth March 19, 2012 Jack Layton New Democratic Craig Scott New Democratic Death (cancer) Yes

The party standings in the House of Commons have changed as follows:

May 2, 2011 – January 17, 2014
Number of members
per party by date		 2011 2012 2013
May 2 Aug 22 Dec 5 Jan 10 Mar 19 Apr 23 May 30 Jul 31 Aug 31 Nov 26 Feb 27 Mar 14 May 13 Jun 2 Jun 5 Jun 6 Jul 9 Jul 31 Aug 31 Sep 12 Sep 26 Nov 6 Nov 25 Dec 13
Conservative 166 165 164 163 165 164 163 164 163 162 161 160 162
New Democratic 103 102 101 102 101 100 101 100
Liberal 34 35 36 35 34 36
Bloc Québécois 4 5 4
Green 1 2
Independent 0 1 2 3 2
Independent Conservative 0 1 0 1
  Total members 308 307 308 307 306 305 308 307 308 307 306 305 304 303 307
Vacant 0 1 0 1 2 3 0 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 1
  Government majority 24 25 23 22 21 20 21 22 21 20 21 19 21 20 21 20 18 17
January 17, 2014 – present
Number of members
per party by date		 2014 2015
Jan 17 Mar 12 Apr 1 Apr 10 Jun 6 Jun 30 Aug 12 Aug 20 Aug 25 Sep 17 Oct 21 Nov 5 Nov 17 Jan 5 Feb 9 Mar 16 Mar 31 May 13
Conservative 161 160 162 161 163 162 161 160 159
New Democratic 100 99 98 97 96 95
Liberal 36 35 37 35 36
Bloc Québécois 4 3 2
Green 2
Strength in Democracy 0 2
Independent 2 3 4 5 6 5 7 8
Independent Conservative 1 0
  Total members 306 305 304 303 307 306 305 307 306 305 304
Vacant 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 1 2 3 4
  Government majority 16 17 18 17 16 17 19 20 18 17 15 14

The party standings in the Senate have changed during the 41st Canadian Parliament as follows:

May 2, 2011 – May 9, 2013
Number of members
per party by date		 2011 2012 2013
May 2 May 13 May 25 Jun 13 Sep 7 Sep 21 Sep 26 Oct 17 Dec 2 Dec 17 Jan 6 Jan 17 Feb 6 Feb 9 Feb 20 Jun 18 Jun 30 Jul 21 Sep 6 Sep 17 Sep 23 Oct 19 Nov 6 Jan 10 Jan 18 Jan 25 Feb 7 Feb 11 Mar 16 Mar 22 Mar 25
Conservative 52 54 55 54 59 60 59 58 59 58 57 62 61 60 65 64 63 62 63
Liberal 46 45 44 43 42 41 40 39 38 37 36
Independent 2 3
Senate Progressive Conservative Caucus 2 1 0
  Independent Progressive Conservative 0 1
  Total members 102 101 103 104 103 102 101 100 99 98 103 104 103 102 103 102 101 100 105 104 103 102 101 100 99 104 103 102 103
Vacant 3 4 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 2 1 2 3 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 2
  Government majority 2 3 5 6 7 6 7 8 9 10 15 16 15 14 15 16 15 14 19 20 19 20 19 20 21 26 24 23 22 23
May 9, 2013 – present
Number of members
per party by date		 2013 2014 2015
May 9 May 11 May 16 May 17 Aug 2 Aug 26 Nov 16 Nov 21 Nov 30 Jan 29 Jun 15 Jun 17 Jun 30 Jul 17 Jul 25 Aug 10 Nov 27 Dec 2 Dec 15 Jan 31 Apr 17 Apr 23 Jun 15 Jun 17 Jun 20 Jul 4
Conservative 63 62 61 60 59 57 56 55 54 53 52 51 50 49 48 47
Liberal 35 33 32 0
Senate Liberal Caucus 0 32 31 32 31 30 29
Independent 4 5 6 5 6 5 4 5 6
  Independent Progressive Conservative 1
  Total members 103 102 100 99 98 96 95 94 93 92 91 90 89 88 87 86 85 84 83
Vacant 2 3 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
  Government majority 23 22 20 18 20 21 20 18 17 18 17 18 17 16 17 16 17 18 16 15 13 12 11

Notes
  1. Scott Andrews, André Bellavance, Sana Hassainia, Maria Mourani, Massimo Pacetti, Manon Perreault, Brent Rathgeber, James Lunney

References
  1. Members of the Canadian Senate are appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister and remain senators until the age of 75, even if the House of Commons has been dissolved or an election has been called.
  2. Anne Cools, Jean-Claude Rivest
  3. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu, Patrick Brazeau, Anne Cools, Mike Duffy, Don Meredith, Pamela Wallin
  4. Two members, Peter Goldring and Dean Del Mastro, were listed as Independent Conservatives during the 41st Canadian Parliament
  5. Elaine McCoy, Lowell Murray
  6. Elaine McCoy
  7. "Federal budget passes House of Commons vote". CBC News. June 13, 2011. Retrieved November 6, 2011.
  8. "Government Bill (House of Commons) C-6 (41-1) - Royal Assent - Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act - Parliament of Canada". www.parl.ca.
  9. "Canada Post back-to-work bill clears House". CBC News. June 25, 2011. Retrieved November 6, 2011.
  10. Leblanc, Daniel; Jane Taber (June 13, 2011). "Opposition support for Tory trial bill is an exception". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
  11. "Government Bill (House of Commons) C-10 (41-1) - Royal Assent - Safe Streets and Communities Act - Parliament of Canada". www.parl.ca.
  12. Chase, Steven (September 20, 2011). "Weighty Tory crime bill targets drugs, sex offenders, 'out-of-control' youth". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved September 22, 2011.
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