Editing House of Commons of Canada (section)

=== Legislative functions ===
{{Further|Law of Canada|Act of Parliament}}
Although legislation may be introduced in either chamber, most bills originate in the House of Commons.

In conformity with the British model, the Lower House alone is authorized to originate bills imposing taxes or appropriating public funds. This restriction on the power of the Senate is not merely a matter of convention, but is explicitly stated in the ''Constitution Act, 1867''. Otherwise, the power of the two Houses of Parliament is theoretically equal; the approval of each is necessary for a bill's passage.

In practice, however, the House of Commons is the dominant chamber of Parliament, with the Senate very rarely exercising its powers in a way that opposes the will of the democratically elected chamber. The last major bill defeated in the Senate came in 2010, when a bill passed by the Commons concerning [[climate change]] was rejected in the Senate.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.davidsuzuki.org/blogs/panther-lounge/2010/11/senate-vote-to-kill-climate-act-disrespects-canadians-and-democracy/ |title=Senate vote to kill Climate Act disrespects Canadians and democracy |publisher=davidsuzuki.org |date=October 19, 2010 |access-date=May 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110503164126/http://www.davidsuzuki.org/blogs/panther-lounge/2010/11/senate-vote-to-kill-climate-act-disrespects-canadians-and-democracy/ |archive-date=May 3, 2011 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>

A clause in the ''Constitution Act, 1867'' permits the governor general (with the approval of the monarch) to appoint up to eight extra senators to resolve a deadlock between the two houses. The clause was invoked only once, in 1990, when Prime Minister [[Brian Mulroney]] advised the appointment of an additional eight senators to secure the Senate's approval for the [[Goods and Services Tax (Canada)|Goods and Services Tax]].