Leader of the Official Opposition

The Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition is the leader of the party with the second greatest number of seats in the House of Commons. Their task is to keep the government of the day responsible by asking questions of cabinet members of their latest program initiatives. The Leader of the Official Opposition is 8th on the Canadian Order of Precedence.

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Duties

The party with the greatest number of elected representatives outside the governing party becomes Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. This party takes the lead in holding the Government accountable for its policies and actions. The leader of this party becomes the Leader of the Official Opposition, sitting directly across from the Prime Minister in the House of Commons. The duty of the Official Opposition and other opposition parties is to "oppose," criticizing government policies and suggesting improvements, and presenting an alternative to the current Government's policy agenda.

Opposition members have various opportunities to influence the formulation of laws and policies including the daily Question Period in the House of Commons. The opposition is allocated 20 "Opposition Days" or "Supply Days" each calendar year, during which it can propose a motion for debate in the House of Commons and criticize the Government on issues of broad national policy. Members of opposition parties also serve on parliamentary committees in both the Senate and the House of Commons.

Twice at the provincial level, there has been no official opposition. The elections in Prince Edward Island in 1935 and New Brunswick in 1987 brought only one party to their respective legislatures. This situation has never occurred in the House of Commons.

Michael Ignatieff

Michael is an author, scholar, journalist, and lifelong Liberal. He was elected as a Member of Parliament for Etobicoke-Lakeshore in 2006, re-elected in 2008, and currently serves as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. He is one of Canada’s leading voices on the world stage in the field of human rights, democracy and international affairs.

Michael Ignatieff

Over the course of his career, Michael taught at Cambridge University in Britain, l’École des Hautes Études in Paris, and Harvard University, where for five years he served as Director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy. During this time, Michael also contributed to the World Economic Forum and served on several international commissions considering the future of NATO, humanitarian law, citizenship and minority rights.

In 2001, under the initiative of Jean Chrétien and Lloyd Axworthy, he was appointed as a Canadian commissioner on the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, a groundbreaking effort to help guide a United Nations response to humanitarian crises seen in Kosovo, Rwanda and Darfur. In 2005, Michael returned to the University of Toronto and was appointed a Senior Fellow of the Munk Centre for International Studies.

Michael has written 16 books, including two of his best known works, The Rights Revolution, where he passionately explores Canada’s contribution to the progress of individual rights and freedoms around the world, and Blood and Belonging, which was inspired by his CBC film of the same name. He is the recipient of eleven honourary degrees, a Gemini Award from the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, the Governor-General Award for non-fiction, and was recognized as the Parliamentarian of the Year in 2007.

Michael is married to Zsuzsanna Zsohar and has two children, Theo and Sophie.

SOURCES: Library of Parliament and Liberal Party of Canada.