Official Opposition (Canada)

Canada

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In Canada, Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition (French: L'Opposition Loyale de Sa Majesté),^[1] commonly known as the Official Opposition, is usually the largest parliamentary opposition party in the House of Commons or a provincial legislative assembly that is not in government, either on its own or as part of a governing coalition. This is usually the second-largest party in a legislative house, although, in certain unusual circumstances, it may be a third or fourth party or even the largest party.

The Official Opposition is viewed as the caucus tasked with keeping the government in check. It is also generally viewed as the alternative government or "government in waiting". The Official Opposition maintains a shadow cabinet, with the Leader of the Official Opposition at its head, of Members of Parliament (MPs) and Senators who often have the same portfolios as actual ministers. The spokesperson for each portfolio is known as an opposition critics. Thus, in the event the government loses the confidence of the House or the Official Opposition party wins a general election, the party is ready to become the government.

The Official Opposition is styled as Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition to demonstrate that, although the group may be against the sitting government, it remains loyal to the Crown (the embodiment of the Canadian state) and thus to Canada.

Advantages

The Leader of the Opposition has an official residence in Ottawa known as Stornoway and the salary and perks of a cabinet minister. Additionally, the Leader and other shadow cabinet members have the privilege of meeting with visiting foreign dignitaries, which is not always granted to members of smaller parties.^[2]

The Official Opposition party has advantages over other opposition parties in the House. They are assigned to speak first after the government, and receive more time in question period than other opposition parties. It also gets more office space, funding for research, and a larger staff than other parties.^[3]

History

After the 1921 election, the Progressive Party, a looseknit largely agrarian "protest" party, won the second largest amount of seats to William Lyon Makenzie King's Liberals, but declined to be the Official Opposition because of their lack of national organization. The third-place Conservative Party, led by Arthur Meighen, thus became the Official Opposition.

As a result of the 1925 election, the Official Opposition was actually the largest party in the House of Commons, the Conservatives. The Liberals, led by Mackenzie King, were able to form a minority government despite the fact that they had a dozen fewer seats than the Conservatives because King's Liberals were able to win the support of the Progressives to remain in government. Similarly, in Ontario, the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party had the largest caucus but were relegated to official opposition not long after the 1985 election, as their minority government was defeated on a motion of non-confidence. The Ontario Liberal Party, the second largest party, governed from 1985 to 1987 with supply provided by the Ontario New Democratic Party.

In 1993, the Reform Party challenged whether the Quebec sovereigntist Bloc Québécois could hold the position of official opposition. The Speaker ruled in favour of the Bloc, as they held two more seats than Reform. During the Bloc's time as the official opposition, Quebec issues on national unity dominated Question Period, often to the irritation of the other opposition parties (indeed, Reform was the only other caucus that met official party status, with the NDP and PC parties falling short of that threshold). However, Reform was considered to be main opposition to the Liberals on all other issues that were not specific to Quebec. In 1995, when Bloc leader Lucien Bouchard's position as Opposition Leader granted him a meeting with visiting US President Bill Clinton, Reform leader Preston Manning was also given a meeting with Clinton in order to diffuse Bouchard's separatist leverage.^[4]

In 1987, the Liberals won every seat in the 51st New Brunswick Legislative Assembly. To ensure the proper functioning of the parliamentary system, Premier Frank McKenna named several members of his own caucus, led by Camille Thériault, to serve as the Official Opposition. The government also allowed the Progressive Conservative Party, which finished second place in the election in the number of votes received, to submit written questions to ministers during Question Period.

The current Official Opposition is the New Democratic Party.

Senate

There is also an Official Opposition in the Canadian Senate. This is the largest party in the Senate that is not in government. As the governing party is determined in the House of Commons, the Official Opposition in the Senate may actually be larger than the government party in the Senate. It is customary, however, for the Senate to pass legislation approved in the House of Commons even if the government has a minority in the Senate. Although the Senate nominally has the power to block most legislation (excepting bills which would trigger a non-confidence motion if defeated in the House, such as money bills), this power is rarely exercised in practice.

The party that forms Official Opposition in the Senate is not necessarily the same party as in the House of Commons, however. From 1993 to 2003, the Official Opposition in the Senate was the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, even though the Bloc Québécois from the Official Opposition in the House from 1993 to 1997, followed by the Reform Party of Canada, and then the Canadian Alliance from 1997 to 2003. This is because the BQ, and Reform Party had no Senators. However, when Senator Gerry St. Germain crossed the floor from the Progressive Conservatives to the Canadian Alliance in 2000, he argued that he should be recognized as Leader of the Opposition in the Senate as the Canadian Alliance formed the Official Opposition in the House of Commons. The Speaker of the Canadian Senate ruled against him, however, as the Progressive Conservatives were the larger opposition party.

Lists of Official Oppositions

	Official Opposition Commons		Official Opposition Senate	Years
	Liberal Party		Liberal Party	1867–1874
	Conservative Party1		Conservative Party1	1874–1878
	Liberal Party		Liberal Party	1878–1896
	Conservative Party		Conservative Party	1896–1911
	Liberal Party		Liberal Party	1911–1921
	Conservative Party2		Conservative Party	1921–1926
	Liberal Party		Liberal Party	1926
	Conservative Party		Conservative Party	1926–1930
	Liberal Party		Liberal Party	1930–1935
	Conservative Party3		Conservative Party	1935–1945
	Progressive Conservative Party3		Progressive Conservative Party3	1945–1957
	Liberal Party		Liberal Party	1957–1963
	Progressive Conservative Party		Progressive Conservative Party	1963–1979
	Liberal Party		Liberal Party	1979–1980
	Progressive Conservative Party		Progressive Conservative Party	1980–1984
	Liberal Party		Liberal Party	1984–1993
	Bloc Québécois		Progressive Conservative Party	1993–1997
	Reform Party			1997–2000
	Canadian Alliance4			2000–2004
	Conservative Party5		Conservative Party5	2004–2006
	Liberal Party		Liberal Party	2006–2011
	New Democratic Party			2011–present

Notes

¹ The Liberal-Conservative Party became the Conservative Party in 1873, however some members still sat and were elected as Liberal-Conservatives after the change.

² From 1921 to 1924, the Progressive Party of Canada had more MPs than the Conservative Party, but it turned down the chance of being Official Opposition, and the position passed to the Tories.

³ The Conservative Party became the Progressive Conservative Party in 1945.

⁴ The Reform Party became the Canadian Alliance in 2000.

⁵ The Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party merged to form the Conservative Party in 2004.

See also

• Leader of the Official Opposition (Canada)
• List of Canadian Leaders of the Opposition in the Senate
• Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (Canada)

References

1. ^ Citizenship and Immigration Canada (2009), Discover Canada, Ottawa: Queen's Printer for Canada, p. 31, ISBN 978-1-100-12739-2, Ci1-11/2009E, http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/pub/discover.pdf 
2. ^ "Liberal Leader gets 30 minutes with Obama". CTV.ca. 19 February 2009. http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20090219/iggy_obama_090219/. Retrieved 9 May 2011. 
3. ^ [1]
4. ^ The Canada Encyclopedia^{[dead link]}

External links

Canadian politics portal

• The Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons: Role, Structure, and Powers | Mapleleafweb.com