37th Canadian Parliament

37th Parliament of Canada
37th Parliament of Canada
Majority parliament
29 January 2001 – 23 May 2004
Parliament leaders
Prime; Minister	Rt. Hon. Jean Chrétien; 4 Nov 1993 – 12 Dec 2003
	Rt. Hon. Paul Martin; 12 Dec 2003 – 6 Feb 2006
Cabinets	26th Canadian Ministry; 27th Canadian Ministry
Leader of the; Opposition	Hon. Stockwell Day; September 11, 2000 – December 11, 2001
	Hon. John Reynolds; December 12, 2001 – May 20, 2002
	Hon. Stephen Harper; May 21, 2002 – January 8, 2004
	Hon. Grant Hill; January 9, 2004 – March 19, 2004
	Hon. Stephen Harper; March 20, 2004 – February 6, 2006
Party caucuses
Government	Liberal Party
Opposition	Canadian Alliance*
Senate Opp.	Progressive Conservative*
Recognized	Bloc Québécois
	New Democratic Party
Unrecognized	Democratic Representative Caucus
	* Parties merged partway through the Parliament to create the Conservative Party of Canada. Some members retained the designation of Progressive Conservative in the Senate.
House of Commons
	; Seating arrangements of the House of Commons
Speaker of the; Commons	Hon. Peter Milliken; January 29, 2001 – June 2, 2011
Government; House Leader	Don Boudria; June 11, 1997 – January 14, 2002
	Ralph Goodale; January 15, 2002 – May 25, 2002
	Don Boudria; May 26, 2002 – August 11, 2004
	Jacques Saada; August 12, 2004 – August 22, 2004
Opposition; House Leader	Randy White; December 18, 2001 – April 3, 2002
	John Reynolds; April 4, 2002 – December 22, 2003
	Loyola Hearn; December 23, 2003 – March 21, 2004
	John Reynolds; March 22, 2004 – January 27, 2005
Members	301 seats MP seats; List of members
Senate
	; Seating arrangements of the Senate
Speaker of the; Senate	Hon. Daniel Hays; January 26, 2001 – February 7, 2006
Government; Senate Leader	Sharon Carstairs; January 9, 2001 – August 11, 2004
	Jack Austin; August 12, 2004 – February 6, 2006
Opposition; Senate Leader	John Lynch-Staunton; October 25, 1993 – July 16, 2004
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 – February 27, 2005
Sessions
	1st session; January 29, 2001 – September 16, 2002
	2nd session; September 30, 2002 – November 12, 2003
	3rd session; February 2, 2004 – May 23, 2004
← 36th	→ 38th

The 37th Canadian Parliament was in session from January 29, 2001, until May 23, 2004. The membership was set by the 2000 federal election on November 27, 2000, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it was dissolved prior to the 2004 election.

It was controlled by a Liberal Party majority, led first by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and the 26th Canadian Ministry, and then by Prime Minister Paul Martin and the 27th Canadian Ministry. The Official Opposition was formed by first the Canadian Alliance, led by Stockwell Day and then by Stephen Harper, and then by its successor party, the Conservative Party, also led by Harper.

The Speaker was Peter Milliken. See also list of Canadian electoral districts 1996-2003 for a list of the ridings in this parliament.

There were three sessions of the 37th Parliament:

Session	Start	End
1st	January 29, 2001	September 16, 2002
2nd	September 30, 2002	November 12, 2003
3rd	February 2, 2004	May 23, 2004

Party standings

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

Affiliation		House members		Senate members
Affiliation		2000 election results	At dissolution	On election day 2000^[1]	At dissolution
	Liberal	172	168	55	65
	Alliance	66	—	1	—
	Bloc Québécois	38	33	0	0
	New Democratic	13	14	0	0
	Progressive Conservative	12	—	35	—
	Conservative	—	72	—	24
	Independent	0	10	5	5
	Senate Progressive Conservative Caucus	—	0	—	3
Total members		301	297	96	97
	Vacant	0	4	9	8
Total seats		301		105

In 2001, 13 MPs opposed to the leadership of Stockwell Day left the Canadian Alliance and formed the Democratic Representative Caucus. Chuck Strahl was chosen leader of the caucus, which subsequently entered into a coalition agreement with the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. In 2002, after Day had lost the leadership of his party to Stephen Harper, all but one DRC MP rejoined the Canadian Alliance.

Bills

Important bills of the 37th parliament include:

Assisted Human Reproduction Act
Canadian federal budget, 2001
Canadian federal budget, 2003
Canadian federal budget, 2004
Bill C-250, declared attacks based on sexual orientation to be hate crimes.
Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
Youth Criminal Justice Act
Pledge to Africa Act
Anti-Terrorism Act

Members

By-elections

By-election	Date	Incumbent		Winner		Cause	Retained
Lévis-et-Chutes-de-la-Chaudière	June 16, 2003	Antoine Dubé	Bloc Québécois	Christian Jobin	Liberal	Resigned to enter provincial politics	No
Témiscamingue	June 16, 2003	Pierre Brien	Bloc Québécois	Gilbert Barrette	Liberal	Resigned to enter provincial politics	No
Perth—Middlesex	May 21, 2003	John Richardson	Liberal	Gary Schellenberger	Progressive Conservative	Resigned	No
Berthier—Montcalm	December 9, 2002	Michel Bellehumeur	Bloc Québécois	Roger Gaudet	Bloc Québécois	Resigned	Yes
Lac-Saint-Jean—Saguenay	December 9, 2002	Stéphan Tremblay	Bloc Québécois	Sébastien Gagnon	Bloc Québécois	Resigned to enter provincial politics	Yes
Calgary Southwest	May 13, 2002	Preston Manning	Canadian Alliance	Stephen Harper	Canadian Alliance	Resigned	Yes
Saint Boniface	May 13, 2002	Ron Duhamel	Liberal	Raymond Simard	Liberal	Appointed to the Senate	Yes
Bonavista—Trinity—Conception	May 13, 2002	Brian Tobin	Liberal	John Efford	Liberal	Resigned	Yes
Gander—Grand Falls	May 13, 2002	George Baker	Liberal	Rex Barnes	Progressive Conservative	Appointed to the Senate	No
Windsor West	May 13, 2002	Herb Gray	Liberal	Brian Masse	New Democratic	Resigned to accept appointment as Chair of the Canadian Section of the International Joint Commission	No
Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel	May 13, 2002	Alfonso Gagliano	Liberal	Massimo Pacetti	Liberal	Resigned to accept appointment as Ambassador to Denmark	Yes
Verdun—Saint-Henri—Saint-Paul—Pointe Saint-Charles	May 13, 2002	Raymond Lavigne	Liberal	Liza Frulla	Liberal	Appointed to the Senate	Yes

References

^ Members of the Canadian Senate are appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister and remain as senators until the age of 75, even if the House of Commons has been dissolved or an election has been called.

Government of Canada. "26th Ministry". Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation. Privy Council Office. Retrieved 2006-11-09.
Government of Canada. "27th Ministry". Library of Parliament. Retrieved 2006-12-01.^{[dead link‍]}
Government of Canada. "37th Parliament". Members of the House of Commons: 1867 to Date: By Parliament. Library of Parliament. Archived from the original on 2006-12-20. Retrieved 2006-11-30.
Government of Canada. "Duration of Sessions". Library of Parliament. Archived from the original on 2007-11-14. Retrieved 2006-05-12.
Government of Canada. "General Elections". Library of Parliament. Archived from the original on 2006-05-04. Retrieved 2006-05-12.
Government of Canada. "Key Dates for each Parliament". Library of Parliament. Archived from the original on 2005-09-14. Retrieved 2006-05-12.
Government of Canada. "Leaders of the Opposition in the House of Commons". Library of Parliament. Archived from the original on 2007-03-11. Retrieved 2006-05-12.
Government of Canada. "Party Standings (1974 to date): At the Senate". Library of Parliament. Retrieved 2007-04-24.
Government of Canada. "Prime Ministers of Canada". Library of Parliament. Archived from the original on 27 April 2006. Retrieved 2006-05-12.
Government of Canada. "Speakers". Library of Parliament. Archived from the original on 2006-09-17. Retrieved 2006-05-12.

Succession

[1] Members of the Canadian Senate are appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister and remain as senators until the age of 75, even if the House of Commons has been dissolved or an election has been called.

[1]