Editing Senate of Canada (section)

== Relationship with the Government of Canada ==
Unlike the House of Commons, the Senate has no effect in the decision to end the term of the prime minister or of the government. Only the House of Commons may force prime ministers to tender their resignation or to recommend the dissolution of Parliament and issue election writs, by passing a motion of no-confidence or by [[Loss of Supply|withdrawing supply]]. Thus, the Senate's oversight of the government is limited.

The Senate does however, approve the appointment of certain officials and approves the removal of certain officials, in some cases only for cause, and sometimes in conjunction with the House of Commons, usually as a recommendation from the Governor in Council. Officers in this category include the [[Auditor General of Canada|auditor general of Canada]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/au_fs_e_370.html |title=Who We Are |access-date=April 1, 2019 |archive-date=April 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401023733/http://oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/au_fs_e_370.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the Senate must join in the resolution to remove the [[Chief Electoral Officer of Canada|chief electoral officer of Canada]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Canada |title=Appointment of the Chief Electoral Officer |url=https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=abo&dir=ceo/app&document=index&lang=e |website=Elections Canada |access-date=3 February 2020}}</ref>

Most Cabinet ministers are from the House of Commons. In particular, every prime minister has been a member of the House of Commons since 1896, with the exceptions of [[John Turner]], [[Mackenzie King]] (for a two month period following the [[1925 Canadian federal election]]), and [[Mark Carney]]. Typically, the Cabinet includes only one senator: the leader of the Government in the Senate. Occasionally, when the governing party does not include any members from a particular region, senators are appointed to ministerial positions in order to maintain regional balance in the Cabinet. The most recent example of this was on February 6, 2006, when [[Stephen Harper]] advised that [[Michael Fortier]] be appointed to be both a senator representing the [[Montreal]] region, where the [[minority government]] had no elected representation, and the Cabinet position of [[Minister of Public Works and Government Services]]. Fortier resigned his Senate seat to run (unsuccessfully) for a House of Commons seat in the [[2008 Canadian federal election|2008 general election]].