38th Canadian Parliament

The 38th Canadian Parliament was in session from October 4, 2004, until November 29, 2005. The membership was set by the 2004 federal election on June 28, 2004, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections, but due to the seat distribution, those few changes significantly affected the distribution of power. It was dissolved prior to the 2006 election.

38th Canadian Parliament
minority parliament
October 4, 2004 – November 29, 2005
Parliament leaders
Prime Minister	Rt. Hon. Paul Martin December 12, 2003 – February 6, 2006
Cabinet	27th Canadian Ministry
Leader of the Opposition	Hon. Stephen Harper March 20, 2004 (2004-03-20) – February 6, 2006 (2006-02-06)
Party caucuses
Government	Liberal Party
Opposition	Conservative Party
Recognized	Bloc Québécois
	New Democratic Party
Unrecognized	Progressive Conservative*
* Only in the Senate.
House of Commons
Seating arrangements of the House of Commons
Speaker of the Commons	Hon. Peter Milliken January 29, 2001 (2001-01-29) – June 2, 2011 (2011-06-02)
Government House Leader	Hon. Tony Valeri October 4, 2004 (2004-10-04) – November 29, 2005 (2005-11-29)
Opposition House Leader	Hon. John Douglas Reynolds October 4, 2004 (2004-10-04) – January 27, 2005 (2005-01-27)
	Jay D. Hill January 30, 2005 (2005-01-30) – November 29, 2005 (2005-11-29)
Members	308 seats MP seats List of members
Senate
Seating arrangements of the Senate
Speaker of the Senate	Hon. Dan Hays October 4, 2004 (2004-10-04) – February 6, 2006 (2006-02-06)
Government Senate Leader	Hon. Jacob Austin October 4, 2004 (2004-10-04) – February 6, 2006 (2006-02-06)
Opposition Senate Leader	Hon. Noël Kinsella October 4, 2004 (2004-10-04) – February 6, 2006 (2006-02-06)
Senators	105 seats senator seats List of senators
Sovereign
Monarch	HM Elizabeth II 6 February 1952 – 8 September 2022
Governor General	HE Rt. Hon. Adrienne Clarkson October 7, 1999 (1999-10-07) – September 27, 2005 (2005-09-27)
	HE Rt. Hon. Michaëlle Jean September 27, 2005 (2005-09-27) – October 1, 2010 (2010-10-01)
Sessions
1st session October 4, 2004 (2004-10-04) – November 29, 2005 (2005-11-29)
← 37th → 39th

It was controlled by a Liberal Party minority under Prime Minister Paul Martin and the 27th Canadian Ministry. The Official Opposition was the Conservative Party, led by Stephen Harper.

The Speaker was Peter Milliken. See also List of Canadian federal electoral districts for a list of the ridings in this parliament.

There was one session of the 38th Parliament:

Session	Start	End
1st	October 4, 2004	November 29, 2005

The parliament was dissolved following a vote of non-confidence passed on 28 November by the opposition Conservatives, supported by the New Democratic Party and Bloc Québécois. Consequently, a federal election was held on 23 January 2006 to choose the next parliament.

Party standings

The party standings as of the election and as of dissolution were as follows:

Affiliation		House members		Senate members
		2004 election results	At dissolution	On election day 2004[1]	At dissolution
	Liberal	135	133	64	67
	Conservative	99	98	25	23
	Bloc Québécois	54	53	0	0
	New Democratic	19	18	0	1
	Independent	1	4	4	5
	Senate PC	0	0	3	5
Total members		308	306	96	101
	Vacant	0	2	9	4
Total seats		308		105

Bills of the 38th Parliament

Important bills of the 38th parliament included:

• Bill C-32 – the Department of Foreign Affairs Act to split DFAIT in two departments, was a surprise defeat for the government
• Bill C-38 – the Civil Marriage Act, legalized Same-sex marriage across Canada.
• Bill C-43 – the Canadian federal budget, 2005
• Bill C-48 – an NDP add-on to the 2005 budget

Complete list of bills

Members

Main articles: List of House members of the 38th Parliament of Canada and List of senators in the 38th Parliament of Canada

MPs who changed political parties

In early 2005 Ontario Member of Parliament (MP) Belinda Stronach crossed the floor to the Liberal Party after running for Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, and coming in second to Stephen Harper. She ended her public relationship with Conservative MP Peter MacKay.

Officeholders

Speakers

• Hon. Peter Milliken (the Liberal member for Kingston and the Islands) was re-elected Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada by acclamation on October 4, 2004.^[2]
• Hon. Daniel Hays (a Liberal Senator for Alberta) was the Speaker of the Senate .^[3]

Other chair occupants

House of Commons

• Deputy Speaker and Chair of Committees of the Whole – Hon Chuck Strahl (the Conservative Member for Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon).^[4]
• Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole – Marcel Proulx (the Liberal Member for Hull—Aylmer).^[5]
• Assistant Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole – Jean Augustine (the Liberal Member for Etobicoke—Lakeshore).^[6]

Senate

• Hon. Shirley Maheu was the Speaker pro tempore of the Senate of Canada, (a Liberal Senator for Quebec).^[7]

Leaders

• Prime Minister of Canada: Rt. Hon. Paul Martin (Liberal)
• Leader of the Opposition: Hon. Stephen Harper (Conservative)
• Bloc Québécois leader: Gilles Duceppe
• New Democratic Party leader: Hon. Jack Layton

Further information: 28th Canadian Ministry, Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet of the 39th Parliament of Canada, Bloc Québécois Shadow Cabinet of the 39th Parliament of Canada, and New Democratic Party Shadow Cabinet of the 39th Parliament of Canada

Floor leaders

The following were the parties' floor leaders during the 39th Parliament:^[8]

House of Commons

• Government House Leader: Hon. Tony Valeri
• Opposition House Leader:
  1. Hon. John Douglas Reynolds (to January 27, 2005)
  2. Jay D. Hill (from January 30, 2005)
• Bloc Québécois House leader: Michel Gauthier
• New Democratic Party House leader: Libby Davies

Senate

• Leader of the Government in the Senate: Hon. Jacob Austin
• Leader of the Opposition in the Senate: Hon. Noël Kinsella

Whips

The party whips in this party were as follows:^[9][10]

House of Commons

• Chief Government Whip: Hon. Karen Redman
• Official Opposition Whip:
  1. Jay D. Hill (to January 27, 2005)
  2. Hon. Robert Douglas Nicholson (from January 28, 2005)
• Bloc Québécois Whip: Michel Guimond
• New Democratic Party Whip: Yvon Godin

Senate

• Government Whip: Hon. Rose-Marie Losier-Cool
• Opposition Whip: Hon. Marjory LeBreton

By-elections

Main article: By-elections to the 38th Canadian Parliament

By-election	Date	Incumbent	Party		Winner	Party		Cause	Retained
Labrador	May 24, 2005	Lawrence D. O'Brien		Liberal	Todd Russell		Liberal	Death (cancer)	Yes

See also

• List of Canadian federal electoral districts
• List of Canadian federal parliaments
• 38th Canadian House of Commons seating plan