Discussion · Government Orders
Steven MacKinnon Liberal
“We looked through history in Canada and Britain. We could not find any example where a party had most of the seats in Parliament, but did not have a majority on other parliamentary bodies.”
“Mr. Speaker, that is a very good question. We have searched the annals of history, not just in Canada, which, of course, goes back to 1867 and our House of Commons, but indeed in Westminster Parliaments from time immemorial, and we are unable to find an example where members from one party constituted a majority of the seats but did not constitute a majority in the other institutions of that House of Commons or that Parliament.”
Official Hansard
Mr. Speaker, that is a very good question. We have searched the annals of history, not just in Canada, which, of course, goes back to 1867 and our House of Commons, but indeed in Westminster Parliaments from time immemorial, and we are unable to find an example where members from one party constituted a majority of the seats but did not constitute a majority in the other institutions of that House of Commons or that Parliament.