The 41st Canadian Parliament was in session from June 2, 2011 to August 2, 2015, with the membership of its House of Commons having been determined by the results of the 2011 federal election held on May 2, 2011. It was dissolved prior to the 2015 federal election.
There were three sessions of the 41st Parliament: SessionStartEnd1stJune 2, 2011September 13, 20132ndOctober 16, 2013August 2, 2015
Overview Parliament convened on June 2, 2011, with the election of Andrew Scheer as Speaker, followed the next day with the Speech from the Throne.
On August 2, 2015, Prime Minister Stephen Harper asked the Governor General to dissolve Parliament and issue the writ of election, leading to an 11-week election campaign period for the 2015 federal election. Significant legislation adopted during the 41st Parliament included the Copyright Modernization Act, the Safe Streets and Communities Act, the Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act, the Jobs and Growth Act and the Fair Elections Act.
Party standings
AffiliationHouse membersSenate members2011 electionresultsAt dissolutionOn electionday 2011Members of the Canadian Senate are appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister and remain senators until the age of 75, even if the House of Commons has been dissolved or an election has been called.At dissolution166159524710395003436460420012002008Scott Andrews, André Bellavance, Sana Hassainia, Maria Mourani, Massimo Pacetti, Manon Perreault, Brent Rathgeber, James Lunney2Anne Cools, Jean-Claude Rivest6Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu, Patrick Brazeau, Anne Cools, Mike Duffy, Don Meredith, Pamela Wallin00Two members, Peter Goldring and Dean Del Mastro, were listed as Independent Conservatives during the 41st Canadian Parliament00002Elaine McCoy, Lowell Murray00290001Elaine McCoyTotal members3083041038304322Total seats308103
Major events The orange wave during the 2011 election saw a surge in support for the New Democratic Party. This resulted in them becoming the official opposition for the first time in the country's history, as well as marking the Liberal party's first time not taking first or second place in a Canadian election. Jack Layton was the Leader of the Opposition until his death on August 11, 2011. Nycole Turmel followed as the party's interim leader until Tom Mulcair won the 2012 leadership election.
Legislation and motions
First session The parliament's first session ran between June 2, 2011, and September 13, 2013, and saw 83 bills adopted. In June 2011, immediately following the election the first six bills were given royal assent. These were the enabling legislation for the 2011 Canadian federal budget, the Canada Post back-to-work legislation titled Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act (Bill C-6), and the Fair and Efficient Criminal Trials Act (Bill C-2) authorizing federal judges to hear all pretrial motions at once during mega-trials.
When the parliament re-convened in September 2011, the Minister of Justice introduced the Safe Streets and Communities Act (Bill C-10), an omnibus bill of nine separate measures. Among the measures include replacing the pardon system with 'record suspensions', mandatory minimum sentences and/or penalties for certain drug and sexual offences, increasing prison sentences for marijuana offences, making it illegal to make sexually explicit information available to a child, 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. The bill was reviewed by the 'House Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights' throughout October and November, chaired by Oxford MP Dave MacKenzie and passed by the House of Commons on December 5, 2011, on a 157 to 127 vote, with only the Conservative Party voting in favour. The senate made six amendments and it was given royal assent on March 13, 2012.
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 The act enables copyright holders to sue operators of peer-to-peer file sharing sites, makes circumventing technological protection measures (e.g. digital locks, encryption, etc.) illegal except when in the public interest, makes it illegal to remove rights management information (e.g. digital watermarks), extends moral rights for performers, makes legal the practise of copying for the purpose of backup, format shifting (CD to mp3), time shifting (recording to watch later), and expands fair dealing to include use in education, parody, and satire. 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 bill finally passed the House of Commons on June 18 and given royal assent on June 29.
The Minister of Agriculture introduced the Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act (Bill C-18) which repealed the Canadian Wheat Board Act, eliminating the requirement for farmers to sell wheat and barley produce to the Canadian Wheat Board. The new act also appoints a new board of directors that 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 between October 31 and November 4. 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. A federal trial court decided that for the bill to be legal the government required the consent of the affected farmers, via a vote or plebiscite, as provided for in the 1998 Canadian Wheat Board Act, although that case is in appeal . Nevertheless, on November 28, the bill was passed by the House of Commons, with only the Conservative Party voting in favour. The bill was reviewed by the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry in December and passed by the Senate on December 15, 2011. Despite the ruling of the judicial branch, Governor General David Johnston gave royal assent to the bill on the same day.
The Minister of Public Safety introduced the Ending the Long-gun Registry Act (Bill C-19) which amends the Criminal Code and the Firearms Act to remove the requirement to register firearms that are neither prohibited nor restricted and requires that the existing records relating to non-restricted firearms in the Canadian Firearms Registry be destroyed. The registration of long guns had been a divisive issue since its inception in 1995. The bill was introduced on October 25 and reviewed by the 'House Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security' throughout November, chaired by Crowfoot MP Kevin Sorenson. With no amendments made to the bill in committee, it was passed on February 15 by the House of Commons on a 159 to 130 vote, with only two opposition MPs voting in favour. The bill was passed by the senate on April 5, 2012, and given royal assent the next day.
The Minister of Public Safety also introduced the Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act (Bill C-30) which proposed to amend the Criminal Code to grant law enforcement agencies new powers, such as online surveillance or warrantless wiretapping, to combat criminal activity on the internet. The bill has met with criticism from privacy groups, opposition MPs and the public over charges that the law would infringe on the privacy rights of Canadian citizens. Toews responded to the opposition by stating, addressing a Liberal MP, "He can either stand with us or stand with the child pornographers" which was received negatively. The bill was introduced on February 14, 2012, and declared dead a year later when the Response to the Supreme Court of Canada Decision in R. v. Tse Act (Bill C-55) was introduced which also makes provisions for online surveillance and warrantless wiretapping.
Senate leader Majorly LeBreton introduced the Safe Food for Canadians Act (Bill S-11) which was part of a response to tainted meat being discovered coming from the XL Foods processing plant in September 2012. The act made numerous changes to the food regulatory system, including requiring better tracking of products, providing food inspectors more authority and increasing penalties for violations.
The Minister of Justice introduced the Not Criminally Responsible Reform Act (Bill C-54) on February 8, 2013. The legislation proposes to create a "high risk" designation for people found guilty of a crime but not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder and enshrines in law that the safety of the public is paramount in deciding whether and how such a person can re-enter society.
Omnibus bills On April 26, 2012, the Minister of Finance introduced the Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act (Bill C-38), an omnibus bill that amends over 50 laws. The bill makes numerous amendments to the environmental assessment process, including increasing the threshold for which reviews are required, limiting the scope of the reviews, shortening review times, moving environmental reviews of pipeline projects to the National Energy Board and nuclear projects to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, enabling the delegation of reviews to provincial agencies, limiting reviews of fish habitats to only the fish used for commercial, recreation or first nations purposes, making reviews of migratory birds optional (at the discretion of cabinet), and limits public participation to only those individuals who directly impacted by a proposal or are specifically sought by the review agency for their specialized knowledge. The omnibus bill would also repeal the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act and the Fair Wages and Hours of Labour Act, eliminates the National Council of Welfare, and the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, the regulatory agency Assisted Human Reproduction Canada, the Public Appointments Commission, the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy, and the Canadian Artists and Producers Professional Relations Tribunal, as well as eliminates the office of the inspector general at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and certain reviews by Auditor General. It creates a new department called Shared Services Canada and replaces the Employment Insurance Board of Referees with the Social Security Tribunal. The bill also provides for moving the Old Age Security pension threshold from 65 to 67 years old, and provides for the deprecation of the penny and social insurance number cards. The government was criticized for limiting debate on the 420-page bill to only seven days. The bill was passed by the House of Commons on June 18 and the Senate on June 29 and given royal assent on the same day.