As you have probably heard, yesterday the Prime Minister announced that he will be asking the Governor General to prorogue Parliament until October (the original return date of Parliament was September 16th).
Sound familiar? That’s because prorogation also occurred in 2008 and 2010. But what exactly does ‘prorogation’ mean? Good news…we have an answer for that!
Each Parliament (which can last up to 5 years) is made up of one or more sessions, each consisting of a number of separate sittings (meetings), separated by periods of adjournment. Each session, except the final one, ends when Parliament is “prorogued” by the Governor General (on the advice of the Prime Minister). The final session ends with the “dissolution” of Parliament and the calling of a general election.
Prorogation is, in essence, suspending the operations of Parliament. However, it is more than an “adjournment.”
- When Parliament is adjourned (or “recessed”), it can reconvene anytime; when it is prorogued, it can only reconvene when summoned back from the Governor General.
- When Parliament is adjourned, business would just continue until Parliament reconvenes. When Parliament is prorogued, on the other hand, most unfinished business dies and committees cease to function. Parliament then stands prorogued until the opening of the next session on a specified date. This date may be changed by a further proclamation. Government bills that have not received Royal Assent prior to prorogation can be reinstated in the next session only if the House takes a decision to this effect. All items of Private Members’ Business are automatically reinstated. Tabling of documents before the House must await the beginning of the new session. Requests for responses to petitions and for the production of papers remain in effect, as do requests made for government responses to committee reports.
Intrigued? Want to know why this happens? How often it has happened in the past? What it all means? More good news… we have even more answers on our Canadian Legal FAQs website and in a previous issue of LawNow. See for example the following articles :
- The Canadian Crown: The Role of the Governor General by Kenneth Munro
- Prorogation: A Powerful Tool Forged by History by Charles Davison
- Viewpoint: Parliamentary Fairy Tales by Helen Forsey
Even more information can be found in these articles about The Parliamentary Cycle and The Parliament of Canada.