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Revision as of 22:59, 25 March 2004

In Quebec's British-style parliamentary system, the National Assembly is where the provincial legislative power resides. Since the abolition of the Legislative Council in 1968, the National Assembly of Quebec has all powers to vote laws in the provincial jurisdictions defined in the Constitution of Canada.

History

The Legislative Assembly was created in Lower Canada with 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. With the 1867 British North America Act, the Legislative Assembly was restored to former Lower Canada, today the Province of Quebec. The Quebec legislature was bicameral, consisting of the Legislative Council and a 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 color of the walls was changed to suit the needs of television and the salon vert (green hall) became the salon bleu (blue hall).

Architecture

Built in Quebec City between 1877 and 1886, the present Hôtel du Parlement (Parliament building) was designed by architect Eugène-Étienne Taché. It is a unique construction in America with a Second Empire style of architecture. It features a pantheon representing important events and people in the history of Quebec.

Elections

General elections are held at least every 5 years. Any person holding a Canadian citizenship and has been residing in Quebec for at least 6 months qualifies to have his or name entered on the electoral list.

Quebec's territory is divided into 125 electoral districts. In each electoral division, the candidate who receives the most votes in elected and becomes a Member of the National Assembly. This is known as the first-past-the-post voting system.

The leader of the political party with the highest number of elected candidates becomes the Premier. The Premier is asked to form the government.

Current members

At the present, the 125 seats of the National Assembly are distributed as follows:

Proceedings

One of the members of the National Assembly is chosen as the Speaker (in Quebec the President of the Assembly) by the Premier with the support of the Leader of the Opposition. The President of the Assembly is a way 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 has to speak through the President of the Assembly.

See also

• List of Quebec general elections
• List of Quebec premiers
• List of Quebec leaders of the Opposition
• Politics of Quebec
• Timeline of Quebec history

External links

• National Assembly historical data