Official party status

Official party status (aka. recognized party (French: parti reconnu)) is the official recognition that the Parliament of Canada and Canada's provincial legislatures grant to some political parties, qualifying them for certain rights and privileges. The qualifications for receiving official party status, usually based on the number of party members in the legislature, varies from legislature to legislature.

Typically, the most coveted privileges for parties with official status are funding for party research offices and the right to ask questions during Question Period. Other privileges may include: the right to a certain number of members on parliamentary committees, a say in where their members' seats in the legislative chamber and their offices in the legislature building are located, and input on changes to parliamentary rules. Independent members of the legislature, or members of a party without official status, typically get very limited speaking time in the assembly, no research budget, and are allocated seats in the assembly and offices in the least desirable locations.

Federally, the idea of recognizing parties for official status started in 1963.[1] Prior to this, the only opposition recognition was that of the Leader of the Opposition, effectively limiting "official status" to the Government and the largest Opposition party. The Leader of the Opposition would typically receive the most speaking time of any opposition members of the assembly, and would sometimes be invited to try to form a government if the prime minister lost his working majority in the legislature. It was not until 1970 that the Elections Act was amended to allow parties to register and thus have their party name on the ballot.

Most of the rules governing official party status are not laws, but are internal rules governing the legislatures. Therefore, the members of a legislature may, if they choose, pass a motion to dispense with the rules and grant official status to parties that would otherwise fail to qualify. There are many examples of this practice in multiple areas.

Requirements for official party status
Minimum seats required for official party status
AssemblyMinimum seats
House of Commons of Canada12 seats[2]
Senate of Canada9 seats[3]
Legislative Assembly of Alberta4 seats, although status has been granted to parties with only 2 seats a number of times.
Legislative Assembly of British Columbia4 seats, although the current BC Greens caucus of 3 MLAs has been granted Official Party status with reduced funding.[4]
Legislative Assembly of Manitoba4 seats
New Brunswick Legislative Assembly5 seats or 20% of the popular vote in the previous election
Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly2 seats
Nova Scotia House of Assembly2 seats and, with the exception of the official opposition, in the last election the party must have run candidates in three-quarters of the ridings and received at least 10% of the vote.[5]
Legislative Assembly of OntarioCurrently 12 seats, the rule calls for 10% of the total number of seats in the Assembly.[6]
Prince Edward Island Legislative AssemblyThere is no official rule, but precedent shows that only one seat is required.
National Assembly of Quebec12 seats or 20% of the popular vote in the previous election
Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan2 seats

Special cases

House of Commons

Under the Canadian War Service Voting Regulations, 1944[7] membership standings in the House of Commons of eight or more were used to qualify leaders to appoint scrutineers for the special returning offices.

Since the early 1950s,[8] parties other than the government and official opposition had been granted limited rights by a series of rulings in the House of Commons. Following an amendment to the Senate and House of Commons Act in 1963, the leaders of parties with twelve or more recognized members in the House of Commons began to be paid an additional stipend above that paid to all members of the House of Commons.[9] Such recognized partes have also received research funding since 1968.[8]

In 2001, then Speaker Peter Milliken, made a ruling against full party recognition for the Progressive Conservative/Democratic Representative (PC/DR) Coalition which had been formed by 12 members of the recognized PC Party and 8 independent members of the Democratic Representative Caucus. Milliken identified the features of a recognized party as having 12 or more members, appointing slate of House Officers as official spokespeople, and working as a cohesive unit under the same banner but noted the practice related to the recognition of parties rather than parliamentary groups. The Speaker could not grant the PC/DR Coalition full party recognition because the group disavowed the title of being a party.[10]

A party must have at least 12 seats to be recognized as an official party[11] in the House of Commons. Recognition means that the party will get time to ask questions during question period, and money for research and staff (both are proportional to the number of seats.)[12]

Senate

In the Senate, a group must have nine seats to be recognized. If the group was registered by Elections Canada in the last 15 years, it is called a recognized party. Otherwise, it is called a recognized parliamentary group, as is the case of the Independent Senators Group, which has been granted some privileges like those of a party.[13]

Prior to 2017, when the Senate adopted a rules amendments to recognize parliamentary groups not affiliated with a political party,[14][15] the Senate used political party recognition rules first adopted in 2002.[16] The 2002 rules defined a recognized party as having five or more members in the Senate and required that the party be registered by Election Canada at the time of initial recognition. However, once the party was recognized in the Senate, it could retain its status even if it became deregistered, so long as it kept at least five members.[17] In response to a question in an earlier debate about third political party recognition, Jack Austin, at the time the chair of the Senate Rules Committee, stated that the number of five was chosen as a proportional equivalent to the House of Commons 12-member rule.[18]

The second part of the 2002 rule meant that the rump Progressive Conservative caucus in the Senate would have been able to qualify for official status after the rest of that party merged into the Conservative Party except that the initial PC caucus in 2004 after the merger only had three members.[19]

Alberta

In the general elections of 1997, 2001, and 2008, the Alberta New Democratic Party (NDP) failed to win the requisite four seats to gain official party status in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Nevertheless, the governing Progressive Conservatives (PCs) granted party status to the NDP after each election.

British Columbia

After the 2001 general election, new B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell, leader of the British Columbia Liberal Party, was criticized for his decision not to grant the NDP official party status. It was the only opposition party in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia but it had won only two of 79 seats in the last election.

Since the 2013 election, the British Columbian Green Party has held their first seat as their then-member Andrew Weaver was elected in Oak Bay-Gordon Head district. After the 2017 election, they gained two more seats thus overall had three seats when the minimum for official party status was four. However, after the party entered a confidence and supply agreement with the New Democratic Party to allow the NDP to form government, it was granted official party status with reduced funding.[20]

New Brunswick

In New Brunswick, parties require 5 seats or 20% of the popular vote to get official party status. However, parties with one to four seats have been allowed time in Question Period with consent of other parties. The Liberals won all 58 seats in the New Brunswick Legislative Assembly in 1987. The government allowed the Progressive Conservative Party, which finished second place in the election in the number of votes received, to submit written questions to ministers during Question Period.

Ontario

Following the 1999 Ontario general election, the Ontario New Democratic Party fell to nine seats in the Ontario Legislative Assembly. The rules at the time of the election called for parties to hold 12 seats to maintain party status. PC Premier Mike Harris, citing the reduction in seats from 130 to 103 (-20.76%), subsequently lowered the required number of seats for official party status from 12 to 8 (33 1/3%). The mathematically corresponding cut would therefore have been from 12 seats to 9 seats (25%, slightly higher than the seat reduction) or 10 seats (16 2/3%, slightly lower). In the 2019 fall economic statement, the Ford government changed the rules to 10% of the total number of seats in the Assembly, so it is currently set at 12.

In the 2003 election, the New Democrats won only seven seats in the Ontario Legislative Assembly. The new Liberal government refused to accord official party status to the NDP, with Premier Dalton McGuinty instead offering the NDP additional funding in return for accepting their status as independents; NDP leader Howard Hampton refused and disrupted the throne speech in protest.[21] MPP Marilyn Churley threatened to change her surname legally to "Churley-NDP" so that the Speaker would be forced to say NDP when recognizing her in the House (a non-official party loses the right to have its members addressed in the Legislature by party affiliation). The PCs' Bill Murdoch also considered joining the NDP caucus to help them make official status.[22] Andrea Horwath's by-election win in May 2004 regained official party status for the NDP.[23]

After Churley resigned to run in the 2006 federal election, bringing the party to only seven members again, the government decided to allow the NDP to retain official status pending the results of the by-election to replace her, which the NDP won.

In the 2018 Ontario general election, the Liberals dropped from a majority government of 55 seats to 7 seats, one seat fewer than official party status. The Green Party of Ontario also elected its first member in the 2018 election and similarly lacks official party status.

Quebec

In 1989, the Equality Party won four seats in the National Assembly of Quebec (eight seats short of the total needed for official status). Although it did not receive official party status, its members were granted some of the privileges of an official party: their seats in the Assembly were placed together, as were their offices in the Parliament Building. They were also granted a limited number of opportunities to ask questions during Question Period. The party had no success in subsequent elections, and stopped organizing after the 2003 Quebec election. This precedent was followed when Action démocratique du Québec elected four members in 2003 and seven members in 2008. However, when the seven former ADQ members joined with two former Parti Québécois members in January 2012 to form Coalition Avenir Québec, the governing Liberals and opposition Parti Québécois refused to grant any status to the new party, requiring all nine members to sit as independents.

In the 2018 Quebec general election, the Official Opposition party Parti Québécois (PQ) fell from 28 to 10 seats, thus falling below the threshold of official party status.[24][25] Québec solidaire (QS) rose from 3 to 10 seats but did not reach the threshold of 12 to gain official party status. However, before the National Assembly convened, all political parties agreed to give the PQ and QS the status of official parties in the assembly.[26][27]

Registered party

Official party status is not to be confused with being a registered party. A political party (even if it has no parliamentary seats) may register with Elections Canada or a provincial chief electoral officer. Doing so allows the political party to run candidates for office during elections, have their candidates' party affiliation identified on the ballot, issue tax receipts for donations, and spend money on advertising and campaigning during election campaigns. In return, the party must obey campaign spending and donation limits, disclose the source of large donations, and obey various election laws.

See also

References
  1. http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/LOP/ResearchPublications/bp243-e.htm
  2. [https://election.ctvnews.ca/bloc-quebecois-to-regain-party-status-in-decisive-resurgence-1.4648955 CTV NEWS: Bloc Quebecois to regain party status in decisive resurgence (21 Oct. 2019)
  3. Rules of the Senate, November 2017, Appendix I.
  4. http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/b-c-greens-achieves-party-status-but-it-comes-with-less-funding-1.23064883
  5. House of Assembly Act, RSNS 1989, c 1 (1992 Supp) s 2(1)(c).
  6. Legislative Assembly Act, RSO 1990, c L10, s 62(5), http://canlii.ca/t/53hkk.
  7. "An act to provide regulations enabling Canadian War Service electors to exercise their franchise, and Canadian prisoners of war to vote by proxy, at any general election held during the present war, also to provide amendments to The Dominion Elections Act, 1938, consequential to such regulations, or made necessary by the advent of said war". Acts of the Parliament of Canada (19th Parliament, 5th Session, Chapter 1-52), 1944-1945. Ottawa : Brown Chamberlin, Law Printer to the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty. 24 July 1944. p. 131. Retrieved 26 July 2020. The Chief Electoral Officer shall, whenever necessary for the purpose of these Regulations, appoint six scrutineers for duty in the office of each special returning officer. Two of such six scrutineers shall be nominated by the Leader of the Government, two by the Leader of the Opposition and two on the joint recommendation of the Leaders of political groups having a recognized membership in the House of Commons of eight or more.
  8. "The Standing Committee on Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament, 37th Parliament, 1st Session, Seventh Report". Senate of Canada. November 6, 2001. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  9. "An act to amend the Senate and House of Commons Act and the Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act". Acts of the Parliament of Canada (26th Parliament, 1st Session, Chapter 1-42). Ottawa : Queen's Printer. 1963. p. 136. Retrieved 26 July 2020. There shall be paid to each member of the House of Commons, other than the Prime Minister or the member occupying the recognized position of Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons, who is the leader of a party that has a recognized membership of twelve or more persons in the House of Commons, an allowance at the rate of four thousand dollars per annum in addition to the sessional allowance payable to such member.
  10. "House of Commons Procedure and Practice, Second Edition". Parliament of Canada. 2009. Parliamentary Institutions, Political Parties (Footnote 181). Retrieved 26 July 2020. In a ruling on the status in the House of the Progressive Conservative/Democratic Representative Coalition (PC/DR), Speaker Milliken listed the identifying features of a party or a recognized party: there are at least 12 Members in the group; they appoint a slate of House Officers as their official spokespersons; they work as a cohesive unit; and they serve under the same banner. However, this practice relates not to the recognition of groups but to that of parties. In this case, the PC/DR Coalition had 20 Members: there were 12 Members of the recognized Progressive Conservative Party and 8 independent Members who comprised the Democratic Representative Caucus. The Chair was unable to grant full party recognition to the PC/DR Coalition since he could not extend party recognition to a group which disavowed that title and which was clearly an amalgam of a party and a group of independent Members (Debates, September 24, 2001, pp. 5489-92).
  11. "Board of Internal Economy, Members By-Law". Parliament of Canada. 2012. Parliamentary Institutions, Political Parties. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
  12. "House of Commons Procedure and Practice, Second Edition". Parliament of Canada. 2009. Parliamentary Institutions, Political Parties. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  13. "Rules of the Senate, Appendix I: Terminology". Senate of Canada. Recognized party or recognized parliamentary group. Retrieved 26 July 2020. A recognized party in the Senate is composed of at least nine senators who are members of the same political party, which is registered under the Canada Elections Act, or has been registered under the Act within the past 15 years. A recognized parliamentary group in the Senate is one to which at least nine senators belong and which is formed for parliamentary purposes. A senator may belong to either one recognized party or one recognized parliamentary group. Each recognized party or recognized group has a leader or facilitator in the Senate.
  14. "Debates of the Senate (Hansard): 1st Session, 42nd Parliament (Volume 150, Issue 120)". Senate of Canada. 11 May 2017. Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament: Seventh Report of Committee Adopted. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  15. "Standing Committee on Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament: Seventh Report, Amendments to the Rules — Recognized parties and recognized parliamentary groups". Senate of Canada. 9 May 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  16. "Debates of the Senate (Hansard): 1st Session, 37th Parliament (Volume 139, Issue 122)". Senate of Canada. 11 June 2002. Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament: Twelfth Report of Committee Adopted. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  17. "Standing Committee on Privileges, Standing Rules and Orders: Twelfth Report, Update to the Rules of the Senate regarding third parties". Senate of Canada. 26 March 2002. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  18. "Debates of the Senate (Hansard): 1st Session, 37th Parliament (Volume 139, Issue 72)". Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament: Seventh Report of Committee—Debate Adjourned: Senate of Canada. 22 November 2001. Retrieved 27 July 2020. On the second question about the figure of five members, essentially, we followed the leadership of the House of Commons with respect to its ratio. Our report discusses how they came to the figure 12 as the official number for a party. Through serendipity, it turns out, as the report notes, there was a party with 12 elected members, and the other place accommodated that party with official status at that level. They are 301 members and we are 105. The wisdom of the committee was to take a proportional number — and that number is five — and to follow generally the practices of the other place on this particular subject.
  19. "Standings in the Senate". Senate of Canada. 15 April 2004. Archived from the original on 23 April 2004. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  20. http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/b-c-greens-achieves-party-status-but-it-comes-with-less-funding-1.23064883
  22. "Ontario MPPs play party games". CBC News. 10 November 2003. Archived from the original on 21 July 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2008.
  24. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-parti-quebecois-add-10th-seat-at-legislature-after-judicial-recount-in-2/
  25. https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/recount-gives-gaspe-to-pq-sparking-probe-of-quebec-election-ballot-count
  26. Presse Canadienne (November 22, 2018). "PQ and QS to get official party status in National Assembly". Monteral Gazette. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
  27. "Parties reach agreement in principle to give PQ and QS official party status". CTV news Monteral. November 22, 2018. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
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