Saturday, November 19, 2011

If a canadian political party wins majority, but their party leader doesn't win his seat?

What if lets say for example the conservative party of Canada wins majority but their party leader, Stephen Harper, doesn't win his seat. Will the party leader still be the prime minister or will they have to choose someone else, or do a re-election?|||Here is the answer straight from the Parliament of Canada website:





"... the prime ministership (premiership), like the parties, is not created by law, though it is recognized by the law. The Prime Minister is normally a Member of the House of Commons (there have been two from the Senate, from 1891 to 1892 and from 1894 to 1896). A non-Member could hold the office but would, by custom, have to get elected to a seat very soon. A Prime Minister may lose his or her seat in an election, but can remain in office as long as the party has sufficient support in the House of Commons to be able to govern, though again, he or she must, by custom, win a seat very promptly. The traditional way of arranging this is to have a Member of the party resign, thereby creating a vacancy, which gives the defeated Prime Minister the opportunity to run in a by-election. (This arrangement is also followed when the Leader of the Opposition or other party leader is not a Member.)"

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