The 31st Canadian Parliament was a briefly lived parliament in session from October 9 until December 14, 1979. The membership was set by the 1979 federal election on May 22, 1979, and it was dissolved after the

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...

Joe Clark Charles Joseph Clark (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian statesman, businessman, writer, and politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980. Despite his relative inexperience, Clark rose quickly in federal polit ...

failed to pass a Motion of Confidence on December 13, 1979. The dissolution of parliament led to the 1980 federal election. Lasting only 66 days from first sitting to dissolution, and only nine months from election to election, the 31st was the shortest parliament in Canadian history. The 31st Parliament was controlled by a Progressive Conservative Party minority led by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

and the 21st Canadian Ministry. The

Official Opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''th ...

was the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, led by former prime minister

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada The prime mini ...

. The

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

was

James Jerome James Alexander Jerome, (March 4, 1933 – August 21, 2005) was a Canadian jurist and former politician and Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada. Life and career After receiving his law degree from Osgoode Hall in Toronto, Jerome began his ...

. See also List of Canadian electoral districts 1976-1987 for a list of the ridings in this parliament. There was only one session of the 31st Parliament:

Party standings

The party standings as of the election and as of

dissolution Dissolution may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books * ''Dissolution'' (''Forgotten Realms'' novel), a 2002 fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers * ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), a 2003 historical novel by C. J. Sansom Music * Dissolution, in mu ...

were as follows:

Members of the House of Commons

Members of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

in the 31st parliament arranged by province.

Newfoundland

Donald Jamieson Donald Campbell Jamieson, (April 30, 1921 – November 19, 1986) was a Canadian politician, diplomat and broadcaster. Jamieson was born in St. John's, Newfoundland. His father was a newspaper editor, and his grandfather was a fisherman who ...

resigned from parliament and was replaced by

Roger Simmons Roger Cyril Simmons, (born June 3, 1939) is a Canadian public policy consultant and former politician and diplomat. Simmons is originally from Newfoundland and Labrador, where he was a politician for many years. He was later based at the Vancou ...

in a September 19, 1979, by-election

Prince Edward Island

Nova Scotia

New Brunswick

Quebec

Ontario

Manitoba

Saskatchewan

:*John Diefenbaker died on August 16, 1979; Stan Hovdebo won the following November 19th by-election to fill his seat

Alberta

British Columbia

Northern Territories

By-elections

References

* * * * * * * * *

Succession

{{Canadian federal election, 1980A Canadian parliaments 1979 establishments in Canada 1979 disestablishments in Canada 1979 in Canadian politics