41st Canadian Parliament

41st Parliament of Canada Majority parliament   June 2, 2011 – present
Parliament leaders
Prime Minister	Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper
	February 6, 2006 – present
Leader of the Opposition	Hon. Jack Layton
	May 2, 2011 - August 22, 2011
	Nycole Turmel (acting)
	August 22, 2011 - present
Party standings in the Commons
Government	Conservative Party
Opposition	New Democratic Party
Third Party	Liberal Party
Fourth Party	Bloc Québécois*
Fifth Party	Green Party*
* Party does not hold official party status.
House of Commons
Seating arrangements of the House of Commons
Speaker of the Commons	Hon. Andrew Scheer
	June 2, 2011 - present
Government House Leader	Hon. Peter Van Loan
	May 18, 2011 - present
Opposition House Leader	Thomas Mulcair
	May 26, 2011 - present
Senate
Seating arrangements of the Senate
Speaker of the Senate	Hon. Noël A. Kinsella
	February 8, 2006 – present
Government Senate Leader	Hon. Marjory LeBreton
	February 6, 2006 – present
Opposition Senate Leader	Hon. Jim Cowan
	November 3, 2008 – present
Sessions
1st Session June 2, 2011 –
Ministries
28th Canadian Ministry Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper February 6, 2006 – present Parliamentarians Members 308 of 308 Senators 100 of 105 <40th 42nd>

The 41st Canadian Parliament is the current Parliament of Canada, with the membership of its House of Commons having been determined by the results of the 2011 federal election held on May 2, 2011. Parliament convened on June 2, 2011 with the election of Andrew Scheer as Speaker, followed the next day with the Speech from the Throne.

Party standings

Canada

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The party standings as of the election and as of October 31, 2011 were as follows:

Standings in the 41st Canadian Parliament

Affiliation		House Members		Senate Members
		2011 Election Results	As of August 22, 2011	On Election Day 2011	As of October 17, 2011
	Conservative	166	166	52	54
	New Democratic Party	103	102	0	0
	Liberal	34	34	46	43
	Bloc Québécois	4	4	0	0
	Green	1	1	0	0
	Progressive Conservative	0	0	2	1
	Independent	0	0	2	2
Total members		308	307	102	100
	vacant	0	1	3	5
Total seats		308		105

Major bills and motions

In the parliament's first session, the House of Commons met for 14 days in June, between the end of election and before the summer recess, and 6 bills were given royal assent, all on June 26. The 2011 Canadian federal budget (Bills C-8 C-9 Appropriation Act No.s 1 & 2, 2011-12) were introduced on June 22 and received royal assent four days later. While only the Conservatives voted in favour of the appropriation acts, the Bloc Quebecois and Green Party joined them in voting in favour of the budget implementation bill Supporting Vulnerable Seniors and Strengthening Canada's Economy Act (Bill C-3) which enacted several spending measures promised in the budget, such as increasing the Guaranteed Income Supplements for seniors. The Fair and Efficient Criminal Trials Act (Bill C-2) authorizing federal judges to hear all pretrial motions at once during mega-trials, was introduced on June 13 and was supported by the Conservative, New Democratic and Liberal parties.

When the parliament re-convened in September, the Minister of Justice introduced the Safe Streets and Communities Act, an omnibus bill of nine separate measures. Among the measures include replacing the pardon system with 'record suspensions', mandatory minimum sentences for certain sexual offences and mandatory minimum penalties for certain drug offences, making it illegal to make sexually explicit information available to a child, increasing prison sentences for marijuana offences, reducing the ability of judges to sentence certain offenders to house arrest, allowing immigration officers to deny work permits to foreigners who are at risk of being sexually exploited, and enabling Canadians to sue state sponsors of terrorism for losses due to an act of terrorism.

On September 29 the Minister of Industry introduced the Copyright Modernization Act (Bill C-11) — the same bill that was introduced in the 3rd session of the previous parliament and referred to the 'Legislative Committee on Bill C-32'. The bill is first major copyright reform since 1997 and brings Canadian copyright laws in line with modern digital rights management However, the proposed law was criticized as "irredeemably flawed" due to a contradiction between consumer rights and digital locks, American interference, a requirement for students to destroy copyrighted digital content after a course ends, and makes notice and notice mandatory for all ISPs, including disclosing the identity and activity of customers suspected of copyright infringement.

The Minister of Agriculture introduced the Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act (Bill C-18) which removes the requirement for wheat and barley producers to sell their produce to the Canadian Wheat Board and appoints a new board of directors must must either privatize or dismantle the wheat board. The bill was studied by the 'Legislative Committee on Bill C-18' chaired by Wetaskiwin MP Blaine Calkins. The bill was subject to a lawsuit by the wheat board's existing board of directors claiming that the government cannot change the mandate of the wheat board without the consent of its members and a counter-suit which sought to prevent the board of directors from using wheat board revenue for legal action against the government.

Senate appointments and cabinet shuffles

On May 18, 2011, two weeks after the election, Prime-Minister Harper made appointments to the Senate and the 28th Canadian Ministry. To the Senate Harper appointed Fabian Manning, Larry Smith, and Josée Verner, all of whom were defeated Conservative Party candidates in the general election. Manning and Smith had resigned from the Senate to run in the election and they became the first Senators to be reappointed to the Senate since John Carling in April 1896.

Harper largely kept the same cabinet as before the election, but had lost five ministers to retirement or defeat. In the May 18 cabinet shuffle he promoted Steven Blaney, Ed Fast, Joe Oliver, Peter Penashue to ministerial positions, as well as promoting Denis Lebel and Julian Fantino from Minister of State roles to ministerial positions. He also promoted Bernard Valcourt, Tim Uppal, Alice Wong, Bal Gosal, and Maxime Bernier to Minister of State roles, replacing the two who had been promoted to Minister, one who had been defeated in the election, and Rob Merrifield and Rob Moore who were demoted.

Members

For full lists of members of the 41st Parliament of Canada, see List of House members of the 41st Parliament of Canada and List of senators in the 41st Parliament of Canada.

Committees

House

Standing and sub-committees

• Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development
• Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics
• Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food
• Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage
• Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration
• Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development
• Standing Committee on Finance
• Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans
• Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development
  • Foreign Affairs and International Development Subcommittee on International Human Rights
• Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates
• Standing Committee on Health
• Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities
• Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology
• Standing Committee on International Trade
• Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights
• Standing Committee on National Defence
• Standing Committee on Natural Resources
• Standing Committee on Official Languages
• Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs
• Standing Committee on Public Accounts
• Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security
• Standing Committee on Status of Women
• Transport, Infrastructure and Communities
• Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs

Senate

Standing and sub-committees

• Standing Committee on Aboriginal Peoples
• Standing Committee on Agriculture and Forestry
• Standing Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce
• Standing Committee on Conflict of Interest for Senators
• Standing Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources
• Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans
• Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade
• Standing Committee on Human Rights
• Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration
• Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs
• Standing Committee on National Finance
• Standing Committee on National Security and Defence
  • Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs
• Standing Committee on Official Languages
• Standing Committee on Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament
• Selection Committee
• Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology
• Standing Committee on Transport and Communications

Joint Committees

• Standing Joint Committee on the Library of Parliament
• Standing Joint Committee on Scrutiny of Regulations

Officeholders

Main article: 2011 Canadian incumbents

Speakers

• Speaker of the Canadian Senate: Hon. Noël Kinsella, Conservative Senator for New Brunswick.
• Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons: Hon. Andrew Scheer, Conservative member for Regina—Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan

Other Chair occupants

Senate

• Speaker pro tempore of the Canadian Senate: Hon. Donald H. Oliver, Conservative Senator for Nova Scotia

House of Commons

• House of Commons Deputy Speaker and Chair of Committees of the Whole: Denise Savoie, NDP member for Victoria, British Columbia
• Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole: Barry Devolin, Conservative member for Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, Ontario
• Assistant Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole: Bruce Stanton, Conservative member for Simcoe North, Ontario

Leaders

• Prime Minister of Canada: Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper (Conservative)
• Leader of the Opposition:
  1. Hon. Jack Layton (May 2, 2011 - August 22, 2011)
  2. Nycole Turmel (August 22, 2011 - present) (acting Opposition Leader since August 22, 2011, acting NDP leader since July 28, 2011)
• Liberal Party of Canada: Hon. Bob Rae (interim)
• Bloc Québécois parliamentary leader: Louis Plamondon (acting)
• Green Party of Canada leader: Elizabeth May

Floor leaders

Senate

• Leader of the Government in the Senate: Hon. Marjory LeBreton
• Leader of the Opposition in the Senate: Hon. Jim Cowan

House of Commons

• Government House Leader: Hon. Peter Van Loan
• Opposition House Leader: Tom Mulcair
• Liberal House Leader: Marc Garneau
• Bloc Québécois House Leader: Louis Plamondon (acting)

Whips

Senate

• Government Whip in the Senate: Hon. Consiglio Di Nino
• Deputy Government Whip in the Senate: Hon. Stephen Greene
• Opposition Whip in the Senate: Hon. Jim Munson
• Deputy Opposition Whip in the Senate: Hon. Libbe Hubley

House of Commons

• Chief Government Whip: Hon. Gordon O'Connor
• Deputy Government Whip: Harold Albrecht
• Official Opposition Whip: Chris Charlton
• Liberal Whip: Judy Foote

Shadow cabinets

• Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet of the 41st Parliament of Canada
• Liberal Shadow Cabinet of the 41st Parliament of Canada
• Bloc Québécois Shadow Cabinet of the 41st Parliament of Canada

External links

• 41st Canadian Parliament
• Parliament of Canada website