National Assembly of Quebec
|
|
The National Assembly of Québec (French: Assemblée nationale du Québec) is the legislative body of the Province of Quebec, Canada. It operates in a fashion similar to that of other British-style parliamentary systems. Since the abolition in 1968 of the Legislative Council (French: Conseil législatif), hitherto the upper house of the Quebec Parliament, the lower house known as National Assembly of Quebec has had exclusive power to enact laws in the provincial jurisdictions defined in the Constitution of Canada. The current President of the National Assembly of Quebec is Liberal Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Michel Bissonnet.
| Contents |
History
The Legislative Assembly was created in Lower Canada by 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. The 1867 British North America Act, which created the Canadian confederation, split the Province of Canada into the provinces of Quebec and Ontario. The Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada was thus restored as the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec.
The original Quebec legislature was bicameral, consisting of the Legislative Council and the 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 colour of the walls was changed to suit the needs of television and the salon vert (green hall) became the salon bleu (blue hall).
Parliament Building
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 North America, with a Second Empire style of architecture. Its façade features a pantheon representing important events and people in the history of Quebec.
Elections
General elections are held at least every five years. Any person holding a Canadian citizenship and who has resided in Quebec for at least six months qualifies to have his or her name entered on the electoral list.
Quebec's territory is divided into 125 electoral districts (ridings). In each electoral division, the candidate who receives the most votes is elected and becomes a Member of the National Assembly (MNA). This is known as the first-past-the-post voting system.
Normally, the leader of the political party with the largest number of elected candidates is asked by the Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec to form the government as Premier, or Prime Minister. (In French, both titles are rendered as Premier Ministre.).
