Editing House of Commons of Canada (section)

=== Question period ===
The House of Commons scrutinizes the [[Minister of the Crown|ministers of the Crown]] through ''Question Period'', a daily forty-five-minute period during which members have the opportunity to ask questions of the prime minister and other Cabinet ministers. Questions must relate to the responding minister's official government activities, not to their activities as a party leader or as a private Member of Parliament. Members may also question committee chairmen on the work of their respective committees. Members of each party are entitled to the number of questions proportional to the party caucus' strength in the house. In addition to questions asked orally during Question Period, Members of Parliament may also make inquiries in writing.

In times where there is a majority government, the House of Commons' scrutiny of the government is weak. Since elections use the first-past-the-post electoral system, the governing party tends to enjoy a large majority in the Commons; there is often limited need to compromise with other parties. ([[Minority government]]s, however, are not uncommon.) Modern Canadian political parties are so tightly organized that they leave relatively little room for free action by their MPs. In many cases, MPs may be expelled from their parties for voting against the instructions of party leaders. As well, the major parties require candidates' nominations to be signed by party leaders, thus giving the leaders the power to, effectively, end a politician's career.{{Citation needed|date=August 2016}} Thus, defeats of majority governments on issues of confidence are very rare. [[Paul Martin]]'s [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]] minority government lost a [[vote of no confidence]] in 2005; the last time this had occurred was in 1979, when [[Joe Clark]]'s [[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Progressive Conservative]] minority government was defeated after a term of just six months.