Relationship With The Executive
Unlike the House of Commons, the Senate has no effect in the decision to end the term of the prime minister or of the government. Only the Commons may force the prime minister to tender his resignation, or to recommend the dissolution of Parliament and issue of election writs, by passing a motion of no-confidence or by withdrawing supply. Thus, the Senate's oversight of the government is limited.
Most Cabinet ministers are from the House of Commons, rather than the Senate. In particular, every prime minister has been a member of the House of Commons since 1896, with the exception of John Turner, who became prime minister when his party elected him leader, but whose government was defeated in the subsequent election. (Turner was outside Parliament altogether at the time, and was never a Senator.) Typically, the Cabinet includes only one senator: the leader of the government in the Senate. Occasionally, when the governing party does not include any members from a particular region, Senators are appointed to ministerial positions in order to maintain regional balance in the Cabinet. The most recent example of this was on February 6, 2006, when Stephen Harper appointed Michael Fortier to serve as both a senator representing the Montreal region, where the minority government had no elected representation, and the Cabinet position of minister of public works and government services. Michael Fortier resigned his Senate seat to run (unsuccessfully) for a House of Commons seat in the 2008 general election.
Read more about this topic: Senate Of Canada
Famous quotes containing the words relationship with, relationship and/or executive:
“When a mother quarrels with a daughter, she has a double dose of unhappiness—hers from the conflict, and empathy with her daughter’s from the conflict with her. Throughout her life a mother retains this special need to maintain a good relationship with her daughter.”
—Terri Apter (20th century)
“In contrast with envy, which usually occurs between two people and is focused upon another person’s qualities or possessions, jealousy occurs when a third person becomes a threat to a dyad. Jealousy involves the loss or the impending loss of a relationship that one wants to hold onto, a relationship that is vital to personal fulfillment and claimed as one’s own.”
—Carol S. Becker (b. 1942)
“Testimony of all ages forces us to admit that war is among the most dangerous enemies to liberty, and that the executive is the branch most favored by it of all the branches of Power.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)