How the National Assembly Works
We are providing information on the workings of the National Assembly to assist people in discussing the results of the Quebec election of October 3. As predicted, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) won a majority of seats that it will use to govern by decree against the interests of workers, the regions and the well-being of the social and natural environment.
In the election only the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) met the threshold for recognition as a parliamentary group. It is not yet known whether Québec Solidaire, which elected 11 MNAs and won 15.42 percent of the vote, will be granted official status by the CAQ.
According to the explanation given by Encyclopedia of Quebec Parliamentarism (National Assembly of Quebec, August 28, 2013):
Any group of at least twelve MNAs elected under the banner of the same political party or any group of MNAs elected under the banner of a political party that obtained at least 20 per cent of the votes in the most recent general election constitutes what is called a parliamentary group.
With the exception of the Speaker of the National Assembly, who is not a member of any parliamentary group, MNAs who do not belong to a group sit as independents. The last independent candidates to be elected were in the general election of June 5, 1966. Since then, all candidates elected in Québec have been elected under the banner of a party.
Distinction Between Parliamentary Groups and Political Parties
The notion of parliamentary group was introduced in the rules of procedure during the 1984 parliamentary reform. It replaced the notion of "recognized party" found in the former rules in force from 1972 to 1984.
Today, the notion of party, although extremely important in the Québec electoral system, is almost completely evacuated in the context of the parliamentary process. Not all parties that have elected candidates can claim the title of parliamentary group. Only a party that has successfully qualified under the rules of parliamentary procedure will be considered to constitute a parliamentary group. MNAs who have not been elected under the banner of such a party may, once they arrive in the Assembly, join a recognized parliamentary group or sit as independent MNAs."
Rights Conferred on Parliamentary Groups
As a leader or member of a parliamentary group, an MNA enjoys certain benefits on certain occasions.
The leaders of parliamentary groups are given more time to debate motions of substance and form, the opening speech, the budget speech and ministerial statements. Special speaking rights are also given to the representative of each parliamentary group during certain very short debates provided for in the Standing Orders. Finally, during restricted debates, the President, following a meeting with the leaders, allocates speaking time among the parliamentary groups, taking into account the presence of independent Members.
The notion of parliamentary group is also an important criterion that the President must take into account in allocating certain instruments of parliamentary control available to opposition Members, such as the business registered by opposition Members, the choice of a subject for interpellation, the allocation of motions of censure and the order of debates at the end of the sitting.
The President must also take into consideration the notion of parliamentary group when allocating questions for oral question and answer period. When the official opposition is the only opposition group, this period is almost entirely devoted to its questions. If there are several opposition groups, the Speaker allocates questions according to their respective numerical importance, while recognizing the leading role of the Official Opposition and taking into account the presence of independent Members.
Other advantages enjoyed by parliamentary groups relate to the composition and chairmanship of parliamentary committees. Finally, importance is given to the notion of parliamentary group for the composition of the Bureau of the National Assembly and the allocation of budgets for research and support purposes.
Precedents: Presence of More than Two Parliamentary Groups
Since the 1984 parliamentary reform, three legislatures, two of which were led by a minority government, have had more than two parliamentary groups.
First, in the 38th Parliament, the Quebec Liberal Party, with 48 MNAs elected under its banner, constituted the parliamentary group forming the government. The Action démocratique du Québec (ADQ), with 41 elected members, became the official opposition, while the Parti québécois, with 36 elected members, formed the second opposition group.
At the beginning of the 39th Parliament, the Action démocratique du Québec had elected seven MNAs and received less than 20 per cent of the votes cast in the last general election, so the six MNAs elected under that banner following the departure of their leader could not meet the conditions for forming a parliamentary group.
On April 21, 2009, at the end of a lengthy parliamentary reform exercise, the MNAs from the ADQ were recognized as a parliamentary group according to the conditions defined in a document tabled and adopted by the Assembly on the same day. Under this document, which was in effect for the duration of the legislature, a parliamentary group was any group of MNAs from a political party that, in the last general election, had won at least five MNAs and 11 per cent of the vote. The ADQ retained this status despite the decision of two of its members to sit as independents.
However, following the merger of the ADQ with a newly formed party, the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ), the four members of the second opposition group, as well as five independent MNAs, notified the Speaker that they now intended to sit as independents under the CAQ banner. In a decision rendered on February 14, 2012, Speaker Jacques Chagnon, after finding that the document recognizing the ADQ as a parliamentary group had lapsed, refused to recognize the status of parliamentary group for the nine members of the CAQ.
In the 40th Parliament (2012-2014) the Parti Québécois, having elected 54 MNAs in the general election, became the parliamentary group forming the government, while the Liberal Party of Quebec, with 50 elected MNAs, became the official opposition and the CAQ, with 19 MNAs, the second opposition group. In addition, the National Assembly had two independent MNAs from Québec Solidaire.
Sources:
Bonsaint, Michel (ed.). La procédure parlementaire du Québec, 3rd ed, Québec, National Assembly, 2012, p. 173-195.
This article was published in
Volume 52 Number 26 - October 5, 2022
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmld2022/Articles/D520262.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca