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125-679: The Senate of Canada ( Quebec French : Sénat du Canada ) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada . Together with the Crown and the House of Commons , they compose the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the British House of Lords with members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister . The appointment is made primarily by four divisions, each having twenty-four senators:

250-534: A basilect ), characterized by certain features often perceived as phased out, "old world" or "incorrect" in standard French . Joual , in particular, exhibits strong Norman influences largely owing to Norman immigration during the Ancien Régime (they were perceived as true Catholics and allowed to immigrate to the new world as an example of ideal French settlers). For example the word placoter can mean both to splash around or to chatter which comes from

375-782: A reference case by the federal Cabinet directly to the Supreme Court of Canada , which ruled that women were not "qualified persons" and thus ineligible to sit in the Senate. The five women then appealed to the Judicial Committee of the Imperial Privy Council in London, at that time the court of last resort for Canada within the British Empire and Commonwealth. The Judicial Committee overturned

500-602: A whip designate an individual to serve as a liaison; they have accordingly been compared to technical groups or crossbenchers in other jurisdictions. By contrast, the Conservative group remains affiliated with the federal party with its members attending caucus meetings with its members of the House of Commons; they follow the party whip as a condition of continued affiliation. A majority of sitting senators are women. As of September 7, 2023, there are 51 women in

625-594: A Committee of the Whole for a number of purposes, including to consider legislation or to hear testimony from individuals. Nominees to be officers of Parliament often appear before Committee of the Whole to answer questions with respect to their qualifications prior to their appointment. The Senate also has several standing committees, each of which has responsibility for a particular area of government (for example, finance or transport). These committees consider legislation and conduct special studies on issues referred to them by

750-619: A Senate appointment at any time, or nominate someone they believe meets the merit criteria. The original Senate chamber was lost to the fire that consumed the Parliament Buildings in 1916. The Senate then sat in the mineral room of what is today the Canadian Museum of Nature until 1922, when it relocated to Parliament Hill . With the Centre Block undergoing renovations, temporary chambers have been constructed in

875-459: A bill are usually accepted by the Commons. The Senate tends to be less partisan and confrontational than the Commons and is more likely to come to a consensus on issues. It also often has more opportunity to study proposed bills in detail either as a whole or in committees. This careful review process is why the Senate is still today called the chamber of "sober second thought", though the term has

1000-499: A candidate for Canadian Senator. He rejected her on the grounds that women were not "persons". In response to a petition signed by nearly 500,000 Canadians that asked that she be appointed to the Senate, Borden stated that he was willing to do so, but could not on the basis of an 1876 British common law ruling that stated that "women were eligible for pains and penalties, but not rights and privileges". Some years later, Emily Murphy asked four other prominent Albertan women to join her in

1125-634: A comparison can be made, the differences between both varieties are analogous to those between American and British English even if differences in phonology and prosody for the latter are greater. Quebec's culture has only recently gained exposure in Europe, especially since the Quiet Revolution ( Révolution tranquille ). The difference in dialects and culture is large enough that speakers of Quebec French overwhelmingly prefer their own local television dramas or sitcoms to shows from Europe or

1250-526: A full non-breaking space is not used before the semicolon , exclamation mark , or question mark . Instead, a thin space (which according to Le Ramat de la typographie normally measures a quarter of an em ) is used; this thin space can be omitted in word-processing situations where the thin space is assumed to be unavailable, or when careful typography is not required. A notable difference in grammar which received considerable attention in France during

1375-543: A horse or a carriage), the Québécois variety in its informal register tends to use embarquer and débarquer , a result of Quebec's navigational heritage. With the onset of British rule in 1760 , the French of Canada became isolated from that of Europe. This led to a retention of older pronunciations, such as moé for moi ( audio comparison ) and expressions that later died out in France. In 1774,

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1500-608: A net value of at least $ 4,000, and must live in the Province for which they are appointed. Section 23 uses the pronoun "He" to describe these qualifications, which contributed to the argument that only men could be appointed to the Senate. Section 24 then provides: Summons of Senator 24. The Governor General shall from Time to Time, in the Queen's Name, by Instrument under the Great Seal of Canada, summon qualified Persons to

1625-553: A petition to the federal government on the issue of women's status. On August 27, 1927, the four other women ( Irene Marryat Parlby , Nellie Mooney McClung , Louise Crummy McKinney , and Henrietta Muir Edwards ) joined her for tea at her house. The five women, later to be known as the Famous Five (or the Valiant Five) all signed the petition, asking the federal government to refer two questions relating to women's status to

1750-400: A point of order if a rule (or standing order) has been breached, on which the speaker makes a ruling. However, the speaker's decisions are subject to appeal to the whole Senate. When presiding, the speaker remains impartial, while maintaining membership in a political party. Unlike the speaker of the House of Commons , the speaker of the Senate does not hold a casting vote, but, instead, retains

1875-461: A political party and there has been no government caucus in the Senate. On December 6, 2016, for the first time in Canadian history the number of senators without a partisan affiliation exceeded that of the largest parliamentary group of senators with a partisan affiliation, and on October 17, 2017, the largest parliamentary group became one composed of senators unaffiliated with a political party. By

2000-407: A population of about five million, sends six senators to Ottawa, whereas Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, both with populations under one million, are entitled to 10 senators each. Only Quebec has a share of senators approximate to its share of the total population. Senators must possess land worth at least $ 4,000 and have residency in the province or territory for which they are appointed. In the past,

2125-555: A rule introduced to ensure senators were not beholden to economic vagaries and turmoil. There is a mandatory retirement age of 75. A sitting senator is disqualified from holding office if they: Each province and territory is entitled to its number of Senate seats specified in section 22. That section divides most of the provinces of Canada geographically among four regions, with one province and all three territories remaining outside any division. The divisions have equal representation of 24 senators each: Western Canada , Ontario, Quebec, and

2250-451: A senator-in-waiting in 1998 and 2004, and appointed to the Senate in 2007 on the recommendation of Prime Minister Stephen Harper ; and the third was Betty Unger , elected in 2004 and appointed in 2012. The base annual salary of a senator was $ 150,600 in 2019, although members may receive additional salaries in right of other offices they hold (for instance, the title of Speaker). Most senators rank immediately above Members of Parliament in

2375-487: A short list of recommended candidates to the Prime Minister, who is not bound to accept them. Some provinces refused to participate, stating that it would make the situation worse by lending the Senate some legitimacy. From the beginning of the new appointments process in 2016 until April 2023, 66 new senators, all selected under this procedure, were appointed to fill vacancies. All Canadians may now apply directly for

2500-491: A slightly different meaning from what it did when used by John A. Macdonald. The format of the Senate allows it to make many small improvements to legislation before its final reading. The Senate, at times, is more active at reviewing, amending, and even rejecting legislation. In the first 60 years after Confederation, approximately 180 bills were passed by the House of Commons and sent to the Senate that subsequently did not receive Royal Assent, either because they were rejected by

2625-662: A strong influence on Quebec French. The phonological features traditionally distinguishing informal Quebec French and formal European French have gradually acquired varying sociolinguistic status, so that certain traits of Quebec French are perceived neutrally or positively by Quebecers, while others are perceived negatively. Sociolinguistic studies conducted in the 1960s and 1970s showed that Quebecers generally rated speakers of European French heard in recordings higher than speakers of Quebec French in many positive traits, including expected intelligence, education, ambition, friendliness and physical strength. The researchers were surprised by

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2750-581: Is abolition". He declined to say how long he would allow vacancies to accumulate. Under the Constitution Act, 1867 , senators are appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister. If no such advice is forthcoming, according to constitutional scholar Adam Dodek , in "extreme cases, there is no question that the Governor General would be forced to exercise such power [of appointment] without advice". On December 5, 2015,

2875-512: Is certainly not their desire—to cut down the provisions of the Act by a narrow and technical construction, but rather to give it a large and liberal interpretation so that the Dominion to a great extent, but within certain fixed limits, may be mistress in her own house, as the provinces to a great extent, but within certain fixed limits, are mistresses in theirs. From this the approach became known as

3000-784: Is found to be distinct from those of other varieties of French: Some recent Quebec French lexical innovations have spread, at least partially, to other varieties of French, for example: On Twitter, supporters of the Quebec separatist party Bloc Québécois used hashtags that align with the syntactic pattern found in hashtags used in French political discourse , rather than adopting the hashtags commonly used by other Canadian parties with similar political positions. For phonological comparisons of Quebec French, Belgian French , Meridional French , and Metropolitan French , see French phonology . These examples are intended not exhaustive but illustrate

3125-685: Is now on the campus of the University of Alberta. A statue of the Famous Five was unveiled in Calgary in 1999, and a replica placed on Parliament Hill in 2000. According to a publication of Library and Archives Canada, "The work depicts them as they might have appeared on hearing the news of the Privy Council's ruling. Standing behind an empty chair, Emily Murphy, with a triumphant gesture beckons to visitors, men and women equally, to have

3250-404: Is theoretically equal; the approval of each is necessary for a bill's passage. In practice, however, the House of Commons is the dominant chamber of parliament, with the Senate very rarely exercising its powers in a manner that opposes the will of the democratically elected chamber. Although the Senate has not vetoed a bill from the House of Commons since 1939, minor changes proposed by the Senate to

3375-706: The Académie française , but are commonly used in Canada and Switzerland. There are other, sporadic spelling differences. For example, the Office québécois de la langue française formerly recommended the spelling tofou for what is in France tofu "tofu". This recommendation was repealed in 2013. In grammar, the adjective inuit "Inuit" is invariable in France but, according to official recommendations in Quebec, has regular feminine and plural forms. Grammatical differences between informal spoken Quebec French and

3500-465: The Divorce Act in 1968, there was no divorce legislation in either Quebec or Newfoundland . The only way for couples to get divorced in these provinces was to apply to Parliament for a private bill of divorce. These bills were primarily handled by the Senate, where a special committee would undertake an investigation of a request for a divorce. If the committee found that the request had merit,

3625-588: The Persons Case ( French : l'Affaire « personne » ), is a Canadian constitutional case that decided in 1929 that women were eligible to sit in the Senate of Canada . The legal case was put forward by the Government of Canada on the lobbying of a group of women known as The Famous Five — Henrietta Edwards , Nellie McClung , Louise McKinney , Emily Murphy and Irene Parlby . The case began as

3750-521: The living tree doctrine which requires "large and liberal" interpretation. Although the ruling was of crucial importance for Canadian women in the long term, it did not result in Emily Murphy being appointed to the Senate. It was only a year later, on February 15, 1930, however, that the first woman, Cairine Reay Wilson , was appointed to the Senate. Nearly 80 years later, in October 2009,

3875-429: The living tree doctrine . This is a doctrine of constitutional interpretation that says that a constitution is organic and must be read in a broad and liberal manner so as to adapt it to changing times. In 1916, Emily Murphy , a well-known activist for women's rights, and a group of other women attempted to attend a trial of Alberta women accused of prostitution. She and the rest of the group of women were ejected from

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4000-515: The 1989 Alberta Senate nominee election were non-binding. Following the Canadian Senate expenses scandal Prime Minister Stephen Harper declared a moratorium on further appointments. Harper had advocated for an elected Senate for decades, but his proposals were blocked by a 2014 Supreme Court ruling that requires a constitutional amendment approved by a minimum of seven provinces, whose populations together accounted for at least half of

4125-614: The Canadian federal election of 1988 ) and the Goods and Services Tax . In the 1990s, the Senate rejected four pieces of legislation: a bill passed by the Commons restricting abortion (C-43), a proposal to streamline federal agencies (C-93), a bill to redevelop the Lester B. Pearson Airport (C-28), and a bill on profiting from authorship as it relates to crime (C-220). From 2000 to 2013, the Senate rejected 75 bills in total. In December 2010,

4250-467: The Maritimes . The Western division comprises British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, each having 6 seats. The Maritimes division comprises New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, who each have 10 seats, and Prince Edward Island, which has 4 seats. Newfoundland and Labrador is represented by six senators. The Northwest Territories , Yukon and Nunavut have one senator each. Quebec senators are

4375-608: The New England textile mills and the northern lumber camps. As a result, Quebec French began to borrow from both Canadian and American English to fill accidental gaps in the lexical fields of government, law, manufacturing, business and trade. From the Quiet Revolution to the passing of the Charter of the French Language , the French language in Quebec saw a period of validation in its varieties associated with

4500-917: The Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the British North America Act 1867 (now entitled the Constitution Act, 1867 ), uniting the Province of Canada (as two separate provinces, Quebec and Ontario ), Nova Scotia and New Brunswick into a single federal Dominion . The Canadian parliament was based on the Westminster system (that is, the model of the Parliament of the United Kingdom). Canada's first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald , described

4625-889: The Quebec Act guaranteed French settlers as British subjects rights to French law , the Roman Catholic faith and the French language to appease them at a moment when the English-speaking colonies to the south were on the verge of revolting in the American Revolution . In the period between the Act of Union of 1840 and 1960, roughly 900,000 French Canadians left Canada to emigrate to the United States to seek employment. The ones that returned, brought with them new words taken from their experiences in

4750-428: The Quiet Revolution and the rise of Western alienation . The first change to the Senate was in 1965, when a mandatory retirement age of 75 years was set. Appointments made before then were for life. In the 1970s, the emphasis was on increased provincial involvement in the senators' appointments. Since the '70s, there have been at least 28 major proposals for constitutional Senate reform, and all have failed, including

4875-413: The Senate of Canada Building , where the Senate began meeting in 2019. There are chairs and desks on both sides of the chamber, divided by a centre aisle. A public gallery is above the chamber. The dais of the speaker is at one end of the chamber, and includes the new royal thrones , made in part from English walnut from Windsor Great Park . Outside of Parliament Hill, most senators have offices in

5000-606: The Supreme Court of Canada . The two questions were: I. Is power vested in the Governor-General in Council of Canada, or the Parliament of Canada, or either of them, to appoint a female to the Senate of Canada? II. Is it constitutionally possible for the Parliament of Canada under the provisions of the British North America Act, or otherwise, to make provision for the appointment of a female to

5125-609: The Victoria Building across Wellington Street. Senators are appointed by the governor general via the recommendation of the prime minister. Traditionally, members of the prime minister's party were chosen. The constitution requires that a person be a subject of the King, between 30 and 75 years of age and a resident of the province or territory for which they are appointed, to become a senator. Senators must also own property worth at least $ 4,000 above their debts and liabilities,

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5250-717: The order of precedence , although the speaker is ranked just above the speaker of the House of Commons and both are a few ranks higher than the remaining senators. While for much of the Senate's history, most senators were affiliated with the same federal political parties that seek seats in elections to the House of Commons, this has changed in the 21st century and the large majority of current senators have no formal partisan affiliations. From 1867 to 2015, prime ministers normally chose members of their own parties to be senators, though they sometimes nominated non-affiliated senators or members of opposing parties. Since November 4, 2015, all newly appointed Senators have not been affiliated with

5375-521: The syntax used in spoken Quebec French and that of other regional dialects of French . However, the characteristic differences of Quebec French syntax are not considered standard despite their high-frequency in everyday, relaxed speech. One far-reaching difference is the weakening of the syntactic role of the specifiers (both verbal and nominal), which results in many syntactic changes: Other notable syntactic changes in Quebec French include

5500-678: The 1970s, the official position on Québécois language has shifted dramatically. An oft-cited turning point was the 1977 declaration of the Association québécoise des professeurs de français defining thus the language to be taught in classrooms: "Standard Quebec French [ le français standard d'ici , literally, "the Standard French of here"] is the socially favoured variety of French which the majority of Francophone Québécois tend to use in situations of formal communication." Ostiguy and Tousignant doubt whether Quebecers today would still have

5625-604: The 1987 Meech Lake Accord , and the 1992 Charlottetown Accord . Starting in the 1980s, proposals were put forward to elect senators. After Parliament enacted the National Energy Program Western Canadians called for a Triple-E (elected, equal, and effective) senate. In 1982 the Senate was given a qualified veto over certain constitutional amendments. In 1987 Alberta legislated for the Alberta Senate nominee elections . Results of

5750-430: The 1990s is the feminine form of many professions that traditionally did not have a feminine form. In Quebec, one writes nearly universally une chercheuse or une chercheure "a researcher", whereas in France, un chercheur and, more recently, un chercheur and une chercheuse are used. Feminine forms in -eur e as in ingénieu re are still strongly criticized in France by institutions like

5875-426: The House of Commons and remain in office only so long as they retain the confidence of that chamber. Parliament is composed of the two houses together with the " Crown-in-Parliament " (i.e. the monarch , represented by the governor general as viceroy ). The approval of both houses is necessary for legislation to become law, and thus the Senate can reject bills passed by the House of Commons. Between 1867 and 1987,

6000-432: The House of Commons is the lower house, this does not imply the former is more powerful than the latter. It merely entails that its members and officers outrank the members and officers of the Commons in the order of precedence for the purposes of protocol. In fact, the opposite is true; as a matter of practice and custom, the House of Commons is the dominant chamber. The prime minister and Cabinet are responsible solely to

6125-523: The House of Commons. Because the Senate's schedule for debate is more flexible than that of the House of Commons, the government will sometimes introduce particularly complex legislation in the Senate first. In conformity with the British model, the Senate is not permitted to originate bills imposing taxes or appropriating public funds. Unlike in Britain but similar to the United States, this restriction on

6250-657: The Imperial Parliament, or does power lie with the Parliament of Canada, or the Senate of Canada? After further correspondence with the Deputy Minister and consultation with their lawyer, however, Emily Murphy advised the Deputy Minister that they accept the single question posed by the Cabinet. The Supreme Court of Canada heard the case on March 14, 1928, and issued its decision on April 24, 1928. Francis Alexander Anglin , Chief Justice of Canada, wrote

6375-597: The Maritime division, the Quebec division, the Ontario division, and the Western division. Newfoundland and Labrador is not part of any division, and has six senators. Each of the three territories has one senator, bringing the total to 105 senators. Senate appointments were originally for life; since 1965, they have been subject to a mandatory retirement age of 75. Although the Senate is the upper house of parliament and

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6500-603: The Norman French word clapoter which means the same thing. Its equivalent in Acadian French is called Chiac . The origins of Quebec French lie in the 17th- and 18th-century regional varieties (dialects) of early modern French, also known as Classical French , and of other langues d'oïl (especially Poitevin dialect , Saintongeais dialect and Norman ) that French colonists brought to New France . Quebec French either evolved from this language base and

6625-399: The Senate and may hold hearings, collect evidence, and report their findings to the Senate. Standing committees consist of between nine and fifteen members each and elect their own chairmen. Special committees are appointed by the Senate on an ad hoc basis to consider a particular issue. The number of members for a special committee varies, but, the partisan composition would roughly reflect

6750-510: The Senate as a body of "sober second thought" that would curb the "democratic excesses" of the elected House of Commons and provide regional representation. He believed that if the House of Commons properly represented the population, the upper chamber should represent the regions. It was not meant to be more than a revising body or a brake on the House of Commons. Therefore, it was deliberately made an appointed house, since an elected Senate might prove too popular and too powerful and be able to block

6875-544: The Senate by the Governor General; or, in other words—Are women eligible for appointment to the Senate of Canada? The Court's unanimous answer to that question was: The formal judgment of the court was as follows:— "Understood to mean 'Are women eligible for appointment to the Senate of Canada', the question is answered in the negative." At that time, however, the Supreme Court was not the final arbiter of constitutional questions in Canada. The five women then took

7000-466: The Senate committees is the Committee of the Whole, which, as the name suggests, consists of all senators. The Committee of the Whole meets in the chamber of the Senate, but proceeds under slightly modified rules of debate. (For example, there is no limit on the number of speeches a senator may make on a particular motion.) The presiding officer is known as the chairman. The Senate may resolve itself into

7125-472: The Senate currently has fewer than 105 members again, with 9 vacancies as of December 29, 2023 . The presiding officer of the Senate is the speaker , who is appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister. The speaker is assisted by a speaker pro tempore ("Current Speaker"), who is elected by the Senate at the beginning of each parliamentary session. If the Speaker is unable to attend,

7250-423: The Senate of Canada? In Canada, the federal government has the power to refer questions to the Supreme Court of Canada to clarify legal and constitutional issues. Ernest Lapointe , who was Minister of Justice in the government of William Lyon Mackenzie King , reviewed the petition and recommended to the federal Cabinet that the questions be narrowed down from two to one, relating to the appointment of women to

7375-452: The Senate or were passed by the Senate with amendments that were not accepted by the Commons. In contrast, fewer than one-quarter of that number of bills were lost for similar reasons in the sixty-year period from 1928 to 1987. The late 1980s and early 1990s was a period of contention. During this period, the Senate opposed legislation on issues such as the 1988 free trade bill with the US (forcing

7500-408: The Senate out of 94 sitting members (54.4%). The Senate has generally had a higher level of female representation than the House of Commons throughout history. The number of female senators equalled males for the first time ever on November 11, 2020, and surpassed males for the first time on October 2, 2022. There is some debate as to whether there is any requirement for the prime minister to advise

7625-463: The Senate rejected Bill C-311 , involving greenhouse gas regulation that would have committed Canada to a 25 per cent reduction in emissions by 2020 and an 80 per cent reduction by 2050. The bill was passed by all the parties except the Conservatives in the House of Commons and was rejected by the majority Conservatives in the Senate on a vote of 43 to 32. Historically, before the passage of

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7750-415: The Senate rejected fewer than two bills per year, but this has increased in more recent years. Although legislation can normally be introduced in either chamber, the majority of government bills originate in the House of Commons, with the Senate acting as the chamber of "sober second thought" (as it was called by John A. Macdonald , Canada's first prime minister). The Senate came into existence in 1867, when

7875-641: The Senate voted to name the Five, posthumously, Canada's first "honorary senators". An annual award, the Governor General's Awards in Commemoration of the Persons Case , was created in 1979 and continues to be presented to five individuals each year to honour distinguished achievements that advance the equality of girls and women in Canada. Emily Murphy's house where the tea party occurred

8000-517: The Senate who are not members include the clerk, the deputy clerk, the law clerk, and several other clerks. These officers advise the speaker and members on the rules and procedure of the Senate. Another officer is the Usher of the Black Rod , whose duties include the maintenance of order and security within the Senate chamber. The Usher of the Black Rod bears a ceremonial black ebony staff, from which

8125-414: The Senate's internal economy committee required all senators to provide documents proving their residency in the provinces. There exists a constitutional provision—section 26 of the Constitution Act, 1867 —under which the sovereign may approve the appointment of four or eight extra senators, equally divided among the four regions. The approval is given by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister, and

8250-408: The Senate. On April 12, 2016, seven new senators were sworn in, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 's hand-picked Representative of the Government in the Senate , Peter Harder . A series of additional appointments were announced for October and November 2016 that would fill all vacancies. Once these senators were summoned, the independent non-aligned senators became more numerous than either of

8375-457: The Senate; and, subject to the Provisions of this Act, every Person so summoned shall become and be a Member of the Senate and a Senator. The question for the Court was whether women could be "qualified persons" under s. 24 and thus eligible to be appointed to the Senate. Ultimately, all five Justices held that the meaning of "qualified persons" did not include women. The Court interpreted the phrase "qualified person" based on their understanding of

8500-444: The Standing Joint Committee on the Scrutiny of Regulations, which considers delegated legislation, and the Standing Joint Committee on the Library of Parliament, which advises the two speakers on the management of the library. Parliament may also establish special joint committees on an ad hoc basis to consider issues of particular interest or importance. Although legislation may be introduced in either chamber, most bills originate in

8625-441: The Supreme Court of Canada noted: There can be no doubt that the word "persons" when standing alone prima facie includes women. (Per Loreburn L.C., Nairn v. University of St. Andrews ). It connotes human beings—the criminal and the insane equally with the good and the wise citizen, the minor as well as the adult. Hence the propriety of the restriction placed upon it by the immediately preceding word "qualified" in ss. 24 and 26 and

8750-420: The Supreme Court to determine whether women were eligible to become senators. In the Persons Case , the court unanimously held that women could not become senators since they were not "qualified persons". On appeal, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ruled that women were persons, and four months later, Cairine Wilson was appointed to the senate. In the 1960s, discussion of reform appeared along with

8875-406: The Supreme Court's decision. (The case name lists Edwards as the lead appellant, as her name came first alphabetically.) The Persons Case was a landmark case in two respects. The case established that Canadian women were eligible to be appointed senators and also established that the Canadian constitution should be interpreted in a way that was more consistent with the needs of society. Some saw

9000-643: The US of a number of British programmes being shown with subtitles (notably from Scotland). Historically speaking, the closest relative of Quebec French is the 17th and 18th-century koiné of Paris . Formal Quebec French uses essentially the same orthography and grammar as the French of France, with few exceptions, and exhibits moderate lexical differences. Differences in grammar and lexicon become more marked as language becomes more informal. While phonetic differences also decrease with greater formality, Quebec and European accents are readily distinguishable in all registers . Over time, European French has exerted

9125-401: The United States. Conversely, certain singers from Quebec have become very famous even in France, notably Félix Leclerc , Gilles Vigneault , Kate and Anna McGarrigle , Céline Dion , and Garou . Some television series from Quebec such as Têtes à claques and L'Été indien are also known in France. The number of such shows from France shown on Quebec television is about the same as

9250-400: The appointment of senators to fill existing vacancies in 2014, arguing that the failure to do so violates the Constitution Act, 1867 . On July 24, 2015, Harper announced that he would not be advising the governor general to fill the 22 vacancies in the Senate, preferring that the provinces "come up with a plan of comprehensive reform or to conclude that the only way to deal with the status quo

9375-535: The case on appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, at that time the court of last resort for the British Empire. Since their names were listed on the appeal documents in alphabetical order, Henrietta Muir Edwards was listed as the first appellant, leading to the case being entered as Edwards v Canada (Attorney General) . However, it is more generally known as the Persons Case , from

9500-430: The class of "qualified persons" under section 24 of the Constitution Act, 1867 . A common misinterpretation of the case is that the Supreme Court held that women are not persons. For example, the website of Status of Women Canada, a federal government organization, states, "After five weeks of debate and argument the Supreme Court of Canada decided that the word 'person' did not include women." The majority judgment of

9625-527: The complex influence that European French has had on Quebec French pronunciation and the range of sociolinguistic statuses that individual phonetic variables can possess. Like other varieties, Quebec French is characterized by increasingly wide gaps between its formal and informal forms. Notable differences include the generalized use of on (informal for nous ), the use of single negations as opposed to double negations: J'ai pas (informal) vs Je n'ai pas (formal) etc. There are increasing differences between

9750-411: The core principles of constitutional law in Canada. The British North America Act planted in Canada a living tree capable of growth and expansion within its natural limits. The object of the Act was to grant a Constitution to Canada. Like all written constitutions it has been subject to development through usage and convention ... Their Lordships do not conceive it to be the duty of this Board—it

9875-561: The eligibility of women for the senate as "radical change"; others saw it as a restoration of the original framing of the English constitutional documents, including the Bill of Rights 1689 , which uses only the term "person", not the term "man" (or "woman" for that matter). Some others have interpreted the Privy Council rule as causing a change in the Canadian judicial approach to the Canadian constitution, an approach that has come to be known as

10000-404: The end of the 43rd Parliament , only 20 per cent of senators were affiliated with a political party, all members of the Conservative caucus. Senators are organized into one of four recognized parliamentary groups (or caucuses), or are described as non-affiliated if they are members of none. Three of the parliamentary groups have weak to nonexistent patterns of party discipline and in lieu of

10125-488: The extraordinarily negative discourse about it between 1940 and 1960. It is instead in the loss of social position suffered by a large proportion of Francophones since the end of the 19th century that one must seek the principal source of this degrading perception." Ouaouaron , the Canadian French word for bullfrog , a frog species native to North America, originates from an Iroquois word. Maringouin ,

10250-436: The federal Senate of Canada under section 24 of the British North America Act, 1867 (now known as the Constitution Act, 1867 ). On October 19, 1927, the Cabinet submitted this question for clarification to the Supreme Court of Canada: Does the word "Persons" in section 24 of the British North America Act, 1867 , include female persons? Emily Murphy, speaking for the five petitioners, originally objected to this change in

10375-425: The flora and fauna such as atoca ( cranberry ) and achigan ( largemouth bass ), from First Nations languages . The importance of the rivers and ocean as the main routes of transportation also left its imprint on Quebec French. Whereas European varieties of French use the verbs monter and descendre for "to get in" and "to get out" of a vehicle (lit. "to mount" and "to dismount", as one does with

10500-648: The following five categories. The influences on Quebec French from English and Native American can be reflected in any of these five: The following tables give examples of each of the first four categories, along with the Metropolitan French equivalent and an English gloss. Contextual differences, along with individual explanations, are then discussed. Examples of lexically specific items: Examples of semantic differences: Examples of grammatical differences: Examples multi-word or fixed expressions unique to Quebec: Some Quebec French lexical items have

10625-461: The following: However, these features are common to all the basilectal varieties of français populaire descended from the 17th century koiné of Paris. In their syntax and morphology , Quebec French verbs differ very little from the verbs of other regional dialects of French, both formal and informal. The distinctive characteristics of Quebec French verbs are restricted mainly to: Persons Case Edwards v Canada (AG) , also known as

10750-623: The formal language abound. Some of these, such as omission of the negative particle ne , are also present in the informal language of speakers of standard European French, while other features, such as use of the interrogative particle -tu , are either peculiar to Quebec or Canadian French or restricted to nonstandard varieties of European French. While the overwhelming majority of lexical items in Quebec French exist in other dialects of French, many words and expressions are unique to Quebec, much like some are specific to American and British varieties of English. The differences can be classified into

10875-545: The governor general is instructed to issue the necessary letters patent. This provision has been used only once: in 1990, when Prime Minister Brian Mulroney sought to ensure the passage of a bill creating the Goods and Services Tax (GST). The appointment of eight additional senators allowed a slight majority for the Progressive Conservative Party. There was one unsuccessful attempt to use Section 26, by Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie in 1874. It

11000-671: The governor general to appoint new senators to fill vacancies as they arise. In 2014, Leader of the Opposition Tom Mulcair argued that there is no constitutional requirement to fill vacancies. Constitutional scholar Peter Hogg has commented that the courts "might be tempted to grant a remedy" if the refusal to recommend appointments caused the Senate to be diminished to such a degree that it could not do its work or serve its constitutional function. Vancouver lawyer Aniz Alani filed an application for judicial review of Prime Minister Stephen Harper 's apparent refusal to advise

11125-455: The greater friendliness rating for Europeans, since one of the primary reasons usually advanced to explain the retention of low-status language varieties is social solidarity with members of one's linguistic group. François Labelle cites the efforts at that time by the Office québécois de la langue française "to impose a French as standard as possible" as one of the reasons for the negative view Quebecers had of their language variety. Since

11250-585: The informal spoken language, but that notion is often exaggerated. The Québécois have been found to show a stronger aversion to the use of anglicisms in formal contexts than do European francophones, largely because of what the influence of English on their language is held to reveal about the historically superior position of anglophones in Canadian society. According to Cajolet-Laganière and Martel, out of 4,216 "criticized borrowings from English" in Quebec French that they were able to identify, some 93% have "extremely low frequency" and 60% are obsolete. Despite this,

11375-555: The integrity of Quebec French, while Metropolitan French on the other hand does not have that same protective attitude and in recent decades has been more influenced by English, causing Quebec French not to borrow recent English loanwords that are now used in Metropolitan French. There is a continuum of intelligibility between Quebec and European French; the two are most intelligible in their more standardized forms and pose more difficulties in their dialectal forms. If

11500-511: The intent when the formula was struck was to achieve a balance of regional interests and to provide a house of "sober second thought" to check the power of the lower house when necessary. Therefore, the most populous province (Ontario) and two western provinces that were low-population at their accession to the federation and that are within a region are under-represented, while the Maritimes are over-represented. For example, British Columbia, with

11625-425: The intention of the drafters of the Constitution Act, 1867 , despite acknowledging that the role of women in society had changed since that date. In 1867, women could not sit in Parliament. Thus, if there were to be an exception to the practice from that period, it would have to be explicitly legislated. The majority decision held that the common law incapacity of women to exercise public functions excluded women from

11750-512: The magistrate. On her first day on the job, however, her authority to preside as a judge was challenged by a lawyer on the basis that women were not considered to be "persons" under the British North America Act . In 1917, the Supreme Court of Alberta ruled that women were persons. Some time later, Emily Murphy tested the issue in the rest of Canada by allowing her name to be put forward to Prime Minister Robert Borden as

11875-426: The majority judgment, with Lamont J. and Smith J. concurring. Mignault J. and Duff J. wrote separate concurring opinions. Anglin C.J.C. began by reviewing the provisions relating to the appointment of Senators under the Constitution Act, 1867 . Section 23 of the Act sets out the qualifications for a Senator. Senators must be at least thirty years old, must be a British subject, must own real and personal property with

12000-546: The marriage would be dissolved by an Act of Parliament . A similar situation existed in Ontario before 1930. This function has not been exercised since 1968 as the Divorce Act provided a uniform statutory basis across Canada accessed through the court system. Quebec French language Canadian French is a common umbrella term to describe all varieties of French used in Canada, including Quebec French. Formerly it

12125-605: The national population. In 2014, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau expelled all senators from the Liberal caucus and, as prime minister in 2016, created the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointment, both of which were attempts to make the Senate less partisan without requiring constitutional change. Members of the board include members from each jurisdiction where there is a vacancy. The board provides

12250-408: The new Liberal government announced a new merit-based appointment process, using specific new criteria as to eligibility for the Senate. Independent applicants, not affiliated with any political party, will be approved by a new five-member advisory board (to be in place by year end), a reform that was intended to begin eliminating the partisan nature of the Senate. At the time, there were 22 vacancies in

12375-459: The number of British shows on American television even though French news channels like France 24 and a francophone channel based in France, TV5 Québec Canada , are broadcast in Quebec. Nevertheless, Metropolitan French series such as The Adventures of Tintin and Les Gens de Mogador are broadcast and known in Quebec. In certain cases, on French TV, subtitles can be added when barbarisms, rural speech and slang are used, not unlike cases in

12500-415: The only ones to be assigned to specific districts within their province . This rule was adopted to ensure that both French- and English-speakers from Quebec were represented appropriately in the Senate. Like most other upper houses worldwide, the Canadian formula does not use representation by population as a primary criterion for member selection, since this is already done for the House of Commons. Rather,

12625-655: The party caucuses for the first time in the Senate's history. The independent senator group also grew to include over half the total number of senators. On December 12, 2018, the four remaining vacancies were filled in Nova Scotia, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Ontario. With these appointments, the Senate had a full complement of senators for the first time in over eight years. Since December 2018, additional senators have retired, resigned or died so

12750-493: The perception of exaggerated anglicism use in Quebec French could be attributed, in part, simply to the fact that the anglicisms used are different, and thus more noticeable by European speakers. French spoken with a large number of anglicisms may be disparagingly termed franglais . According to Chantal Bouchard, "While the language spoken in Quebec did indeed gradually accumulate borrowings from English [between 1850 and 1960], it did not change to such an extent as to justify

12875-402: The power of the Senate is not merely a matter of convention but is explicitly stated in the Constitution Act, 1867 . In addition, the House of Commons may, in effect, override the Senate's refusal to approve an amendment to the Canadian constitution; however, they must wait at least 180 days before exercising this override. Other than these two exceptions, the power of the two Houses of Parliament

13000-541: The prevalence of anglicisms in Quebec French has often been exaggerated. Various anglicisms commonly used in European French informal language are mostly not used by Quebec French speakers. While words such as shopping, parking, escalator, ticket, email and week-end are commonly spoken in Europe, Quebec tends to favour French equivalents, namely: magasinage, stationnement, escalier roulant, billet, courriel and fin de semaine , respectively. As such,

13125-462: The province's Senate seats. These elections, however, are not held pursuant to any federal constitutional or legal provision; thus, the prime minister is not required to recommend the nominees for appointment. Only three senators-in-waiting have been appointed to the Senate: the first was Stan Waters , who was appointed in 1990 on the recommendation of Brian Mulroney; the second was Bert Brown , elected

13250-446: The question now submitted by His Excellency to the court deals with the word "Persons," section 24 of the B.N.A. Act speaks only of "qualified Persons"; and the other sections empowering the Governor General to make appointments to the Senate (26 and 32) speak, respectively, of "qualified Persons" and of "fit and qualified Persons." The question which we have to consider, therefore, is whether "female persons" are qualified to be summoned to

13375-639: The residency requirement has often been interpreted liberally, with virtually any holding that met the property qualification, including primary residences, second residences, summer homes, investment properties, and undeveloped lots, having been deemed to meet the residency requirement; as long as the senator listed a qualifying property as a residence, no further efforts have typically been undertaken to verify whether they actually resided there in any meaningful way. Residency has come under increased scrutiny, particularly as several senators have faced allegations of irregularities in their housing expense claims. In 2013,

13500-399: The right to vote in the same manner as any other. As of the 44th Parliament , Senator Raymonde Gagné presides as Speaker of the Senate. The senator responsible for steering legislation through the Senate is the representative of the Government in the Senate , who is a senator selected by the prime minister and whose role is to introduce legislation on behalf of the government. The position

13625-422: The same general meaning in Metropolitan French but are used in different contexts. English translations are given in parentheses. In addition, Quebec French has its own set of swear words, or sacres , distinct from other varieties of French. One characteristic of major sociological importance distinguishing Quebec from European French is the relatively greater number of borrowings from English, especially in

13750-491: The same negative attitudes towards their own variety of French that they did in the 1970s. They argue that negative social attitudes have focused instead on a subset of the characteristics of Quebec French relative to European French, and particularly some traits of informal Quebec French. Some characteristics of European French are even judged negatively when imitated by Quebecers. Quebec French has some typographical differences from European French. For example, in Quebec French

13875-459: The speaker pro tempore presides instead. Furthermore, the Parliament of Canada Act authorizes the speaker to appoint another senator to temporarily serve. Muriel McQueen Fergusson was the Parliament of Canada's first female speaker, holding the office from 1972 to 1974. The speaker presides over sittings of the Senate and controls debates by calling on members to speak. Senators may raise

14000-564: The strength of the parties in the whole Senate. These committees have been struck to study bills (e.g., the Special Senate Committee on Bill C-36 (the Anti-terrorism Act ), 2001) or particular issues of concern (e.g., the Special Senate Committee on Illegal Drugs). Other committees include joint committees, which include both members of the House of Commons and senators. There are currently two joint committees:

14125-416: The subject matter. The landmark ruling was handed down on October 18, 1929. The Lord Chancellor , Lord Sankey , writing for the committee, found that the meaning of "qualified persons" could be read broadly to include women, reversing the decision of the Supreme Court. He wrote that "[t]he exclusion of women from all public offices is a relic of days more barbarous than ours", and that "to those who ask why

14250-570: The title "black rod" arises. This position is roughly analogous to that of the sergeant-at-arms in the House of Commons , but the Usher's duties are more ceremonial in nature. The responsibility for security and the infrastructure lie with the director general of Parliamentary Precinct Services. The Parliament of Canada uses committees for a variety of purposes. Committees consider bills in detail and can make amendments. Other committees scrutinize various government agencies and ministries. The largest of

14375-495: The trial on the grounds that the testimony was "not fit for mixed company". Emily Murphy was outraged and appealed to Charles Wilson Cross , the Attorney General of Alberta, arguing, "If the evidence is not fit to be heard in mixed company, then ... the government ... [must] set up a special court presided over by women, to try other women." Much to her surprise, the minister not only agreed, but appointed her as

14500-580: The will of the House of Commons. In 2008 the Canadian Heraldic Authority granted the Senate, as an institution, a coat of arms composed of a depiction of the chamber's mace (representing the monarch's authority in the upper chamber) behind the escutcheon of the Arms of Canada . Discussion of Senate reform dates back to at least 1874, but to date there has been little meaningful change. In 1927, The Famous Five Canadian women asked

14625-535: The word ["person"] should include females, the obvious answer is why should it not". Finally, he wrote: [T]heir Lordships have come to the conclusion that the word "persons" in sec. 24 includes members both of the male and female sex and that, therefore, ... women are eligible to be summoned to and become members of the Senate of Canada, and they will humbly advise His Majesty accordingly. To arrive at his conclusion, Sankey proposed an entirely new approach to constitutional interpretation that has since become one of

14750-417: The word for mosquito, also originates from an aboriginal language, Tupi-guarani , spoken by aboriginals on the northern coasts of Brazil. It is thought that early French colonists adopted this word in the late 1600s after exchanges with explorers returning from South America. Atoca , a synonym for Cranberry , also originates from Iroquois. The following are areas in which the lexicon of Quebec French

14875-445: The wording of the question, which she described in a letter to the Deputy Minister of Justice as "a matter of amazement and perturbation to us". On behalf of the petitioners, she asked that the Government withdraw the single question and refer the original two questions to the Supreme Court, along with a new, third question: 3. If any statute be necessary to qualify a female to sit in the Senate of Canada, must this statute be enacted by

15000-511: The words "fit and qualified" in s. 32, which exclude the criminal and the lunatic or imbecile as well as the minor, who is explicitly disqualified by s. 23(1). Does this requirement of qualification also exclude women? The Court did not respond directly to the question as posed by the federal Cabinet. Instead, the Court gave its own interpretation of the question in a discussion of precedents regarding public office: It should be observed that, while

15125-403: The working class while the percentage of literate and university-educated francophones grew. Laws concerning the status of French were passed both on the federal and provincial levels. The Office québécois de la langue française was established to play an essential role of support in language planning . Protective laws also arose in response to the distaste towards anglicisms for preserving

15250-567: Was created in 2016 to replace the former position of leader of the Government in the Senate. The opposition equivalent is the leader of the Opposition in the Senate is selected by the leader of the Official Opposition . However, if the Official Opposition in the Commons is a different party than the Official Opposition in the Senate (as was the case from 2011 to 2015), then the Senate party chooses its own leader. Officers of

15375-498: Was denied by Queen Victoria , on the advice of the British Cabinet. The clause does not result in a permanent increase in the number of Senate seats, however. Instead, an attrition process is applied by which senators leaving office through normal means are not replaced until after their province has returned to its normal number of seats. Since 1989, the voters of Alberta have elected "senators-in-waiting" , or nominees for

15500-547: Was shaped by the following influences (arranged according to historical period) or was imported from Paris and other urban centres of France as a koiné , or common language shared by the people speaking it. Unlike the language of France in the 17th and 18th centuries, French in New France was fairly well unified. It also began to borrow words and gather importations (see loan word ), especially place names such as Québec , Canada and Hochelaga , and words to describe

15625-511: Was used to refer solely to Quebec French and the closely related dialects spoken in Ontario and Western Canada , in contrast with Acadian French , which is spoken in some areas of eastern Quebec ( Gaspé Peninsula ), New Brunswick , and in other parts of Atlantic Canada , and Métis French , which is found generally across the Prairie provinces . The term joual is commonly used to refer to Quebec working class French (when considered

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