Interesting Facts about Canadian Parliament

Here are some interesting details I learned as a Parliamentary Guide!

1. People

-Agnes Macphail was the first woman to be elected to Canada's House of Commons (1921)

-Cairine Wilson was the first woman to be appointed to Canada's Senate (1930). The Persons' Case of 1929 is one of the major achievements by Canadians for Canadians. The Famous 5 succeeded in having women defined as "persons" and thereby eligible for appointment to the Senate. This victory symbolized the right of women to participate in all facets of life

-William Lyon Mackenzie King was Canada's longest serving Prime Minister- 21 years 

-Sir Wilfrid Laurier was Canada's first Francophone Prime Minister 

-The first Canadian Governor General was Vincent Massey in 1952. Since his appointment, the Governor General has always been a Canadian citizen and we traditionally alternate appointments between Anglophones and Francophones.

-Jeanne Sauve was the first female Cabinet Minister from Quebec, first woman elected as speaker of the House of Commons, and was the first female Governor General. 

2. Place
-Construction of the Parliament buildings began in the 1860s. There was a fire in 1916 which destroyed all of the Centre Block except for the Library of Parliament. The library is extremely different from the rest of the Centre Block and it was completed in 1876.

-There is a Long-Term Vision Plan underway which is updating and restoring the historic parliamentary buildings: the triad of the West Block, Centre Block and East Block, followed by the rehabilitation of the other buildings within the Precinct.

-All 13 provinces and territories are represented in two specific areas of the building: the official entrance to Parliament (the Rotunda), and on the oak doors of the Senate chamber.

3. Process

-Our form of government is called a constitutional monarchy. This means that we have a Head of State and a Head of Government; the roles are separate and distinct. Our Head of State is Queen Elizabeth the 2nd of Canada, her powers are limited and defined by the Constitution and she is represented in Canada by the Governor General. Our Head of Government is our Prime Minister.

-Representation in the House of Commons is by population, each MP represents 110,000 Canadians. Representation in the Senate is by region to ensure that each province and territory is well represented. 

-In 2015 we are adding 30 more seats to our House of Commons- we will then have 338 seats.

-The biggest difference between a province and a territory is that provinces receive their power from the Constitution Act of 1867 and territories have powers delegated to them by the federal government. A change in the division of powers between the federal government and the provinces requires a constitutional amendment whereas a similar change impacting the territories can be performed by Parliament. 

4. Past 

-Canada became a country on July 1, 1867. We had four provinces at that time: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

-The rest of the provinces and territories joined later: Manitoba and the North West Territories (1870), British Columbia (1871), Prince Edward Island (1873), Yukon (1898), Alberta and Saskatchewan (1905), Newfoundland (1949), and Nunavut (1999). 

-The Official Languages Act was created in 1969 by Prime Minister Trudeau. It gives English and French equal status in the government of Canada. This Act provides that Canadians have the right to receive services from federal departments and Crown Corporations in both languages, will be heard before the federal courts in the official language of their choice, and that Parliament will publish regulations in both languages.

5. Miscellaneous 

-Queen Victoria chose Ottawa as the capital of Canada in 1857
-The most expensive book in the Library of Parliament's collection is called "The Birds of America" by John Audubon. It is worth $10-13 million.