How Canadians Govern Themselves - Parlement du Canada

How Canadians Govern ThemselvesPhoto: courtesy of Government HouseRideau Hall is the residence of the Governor General.What Goes On in Parliament44bills it will introduce to deal with thatcondition. The Members of the Houseof Commons then return to their ownchamber, where, normally, the PrimeMinister immediately introduces a BillRespecting the Administration of Oathsof Office. This is a dummy bill, neverheard of again till the opening of thenext session. It is introduced to reassertthe House of Commons’ right to discussany business it sees fit before consideringthe Speech from the Throne.This right was first asserted by theEnglish House of Commons more than300 years ago, and is reasserted thereevery session by a similar pro formabill.This formal reassertion of an ancientright of the Commons has been of verygreat practical use in Canada more thanonce. In 1950, for example, a nation-widerailway strike demanded immediateaction by Parliament. So the momentthe House came back from the SenateChamber, the Prime Minister introducedBill C-1, but this time no dummy; thistime a bill to end the strike and send therailway workers back to work, and itwas put through all its stages, passedby both Houses, and received RoyalAssent before either House consideredthe Speech from the Throne at all. Hadit not been for the traditional assertionof the right of the Commons to doanything it saw fit before consideringthe speech, this essential emergencylegislation would have been seriouslydelayed.The address in reply to the Speech fromthe Throne is, however, normally thefirst real business of each session (a“sitting” of the House usually lasts aday; a “session” lasts for months, oreven years, though there must be at