Party Whip (Canada)

Party Whip (Canada)

In Canada the Party Whip is the member of a political party in the Canadian House of Commons, the Canadian Senate or a provincial legislature charged with ensuring party discipline among members of the caucus. The whip is also responsible for assigning offices and scheduling speakers from his or her party for various bills, motions and other proceedings in the House.

The party whip works to ensure that the number of MPs in the House or at committee meetings is adequate to win a vote if one is called. When a vote is called in the House, division bells ring until the whips for each party are satisfied that there are sufficient numbers of members of their own party present for the vote to proceed.

The whip's role is especially important when there is a minority government or if the government has a slim majority, as the absence of a handful of MPs during a confidence vote can result in the defeat of the government. Party discipline is strict in Canada and MPs are expected to vote with the rest of their party in all but designated free votes.

In Canada, as in the United Kingdom and other countries using the Westminster system, there are three categories of whip that are issued on particular bills. These whips are issued to MPs in the form of a letter outlining Parliamentary schedule, with the sentence "Your attendance is absolutely essential" next to each debate in which there will be a vote, underlined one, two or three times according to the severity of the whip:

  • A Single Line Whip is a guide to what the party's policy would indicate, and notification of when the vote is expected to take place; this is non-binding for attendance or voting.
  • A Two Line Whip, sometimes known as double line whip, is an instruction to attend and vote in a particular way, but without sanction; partially binding for voting, attendance required unless prior permission given by the whip.
  • A Three Line Whip is a strict instruction to attend and vote in a particular way, breach of which could have serious consequences; binding for both attendance and voting. Non-attendance permission can be given by the whip but a serious reason is needed. Breach of a three-line whip can lead to expulsion from the parliamentary political group in extreme circumstances and may lead to expulsion from the party. Consequently, three-line whips are generally only issued on key issues, such as votes of confidence and supply. The nature of three line whips and the potential punishments for revolt varies dramatically among parties and legislatures.

James E. Walker, Chief Government Whip from 1963 to 1966, commented: "Once you get beyond the taxicab radius of Ottawa, nobody seems to have heard of a Whip. For that matter, nobody in Ottawa, three blocks from the Hill, has ever heard of the Whip either!"[1]

The position of Chief Government Whip is not a cabinet-level office, however, the Whip may receive a concurrent appointment such as minister without portfolio or Minister of State and sit in cabinet by virtue of that position.

For a time, the Reform Party of Canada publicly styled their parliamentary whip with the title of "Caucus Coordinator" rather than Whip.

Current Whips in the Canadian House of Commons:

Current Whips in the Senate

  • Government Whip in the Senate: Consiglio Di Nino
  • Deputy Government Whip in the Senate: Stephen Greene
  • Opposition Whip in the Senate: Jim Munson
  • Deputy Opposition Whip in the Senate: Elizabeth Hubley

External links

Reference

  1. ^ James E. Walker, "The Functions of the Whip in Canada", Parliamentarian, Vol. 52, No. 4 (October 1971), p. 260.

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Rhinoceros Party of Canada — The Parti Rhinocéros, commonly known as the Rhinoceros Party in English, was a registered political party in Canada from the 1960s to the 1990s. Operating within the Canadian tradition of political satire, the Rhinoceros Party s basic credo,… …   Wikipedia

  • List of ex-officio delegates to the Liberal Party of Canada leadership convention, 2006 — The Liberal Party of Canada allows a number of individuals to automatically become delegates to their conventions. The following is a list of such delegates to the 2006 Liberal leadership convention. The list includes both ex officio and at large …   Wikipedia

  • Progressive Party of Canada — Die Progressive Partei Kanadas (engl.: Progressive Party of Canada; frz.: Parti progressiste du Canada) war eine politische Partei in Kanada, die in den 1920er und 1930er Jahren existierte. Nachdem die während des Ersten Weltkriegs gebildete… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Whip (politics) — A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party s enforcers , who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote… …   Wikipedia

  • Chief Government Whip (Canada) — In Canada the Chief Government Whip is the member of the Canadian House of Commons charged with ensuring party discipline among members of the caucus of the party forming the government. The whip is also responsible for assigning offices and… …   Wikipedia

  • Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (Canada) — Canada s Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet are members of the main Opposition party responsible for holding Ministers to account and for developing and disseminating the party s policy positions. Following the 41st Canadian general election,… …   Wikipedia

  • Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet of the 40th Parliament of Canada — Canada This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Canada   …   Wikipedia

  • Cabinet of Canada — Canada This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Canada   …   Wikipedia

  • Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet of the 39th Parliament of Canada — Canada This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Canada   …   Wikipedia

  • Chief Whip — The Chief Whip is a political office in some legislatures assigned to an elected member whose task is to administer the whipping system that ensures that members of the party attend and vote as the party leadership desires. Contents 1 United… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”