House of Commons of Canada - Legislative Functions

Legislative Functions

Although legislation may be introduced in either House, most bills originate in the House of Commons.

Further information: Act of Parliament

In conformity with the British model, the Lower House alone is authorized to originate bills imposing taxes or appropriating public funds. This restriction on the power of the Senate is not merely a matter of convention, but is explicitly stated in the Constitution Act, 1867. Otherwise, the power of the two Houses of Parliament is theoretically equal; the approval of each is necessary for a bill's passage.

In practice, however, the House of Commons is the dominant chamber of Parliament, with the Senate very rarely exercising its powers in a way that opposes the will of the democratically elected chamber. The last major bill defeated in the Senate came in 2010, when a bill passed by the Commons concerning climate change was rejected in the Upper House by a vote.

A clause in the Constitution Act, 1867 permits the Governor General (with the approval of the Queen) to appoint up to eight extra senators to resolve a deadlock between the two houses. The clause was invoked only once, in 1990, when Prime Minister Brian Mulroney advised the appointment of an additional eight senators in order to secure the Upper House's approval for the Goods and Services Tax.

Read more about this topic:  House Of Commons Of Canada

Famous quotes containing the words legislative and/or functions:

    Let reverence for the laws, be breathed by every American mother, to the lisping babe, that prattles on her lap—let it be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges;Mlet it be written in Primers, spelling books, and in Almanacs;Mlet it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice.
    Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)

    One of the most highly valued functions of used parents these days is to be the villains of their children’s lives, the people the child blames for any shortcomings or disappointments. But if your identity comes from your parents’ failings, then you remain forever a member of the child generation, stuck and unable to move on to an adulthood in which you identify yourself in terms of what you do, not what has been done to you.
    Frank Pittman (20th century)