Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, a party whip is the member of a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

, the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the B ...

or a provincial legislative assembly charged with ensuring

party discipline Party discipline is a system of political norms, rules and subsequent respective consequences for deviance that are designed to ensure the relative cohesion of members of the respective party group. In political parties specifically (often refe ...

among members of that party's

caucus A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to a meeting ...

. The

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

is also responsible for assigning offices and scheduling speakers from his or her party for various bills, motions and other proceedings in the legislature.

Responsibilities

A party whip works to ensure that the number of party members in the legislature or at committee meetings is adequate to win a vote if one is called. When a vote is called in the legislature,

division bell In some of the Commonwealth realms, a division bell is a bell rung in or around parliament to signal a division (a vote) to members of the relevant chamber so that they may participate. A division bell may also be used to signal the start or end ...

s ring until the whips for each party are satisfied that there are sufficient members of their own party present for the vote to proceed. The whip's role is especially important when there is a

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 ...

or if the government has a slim majority, as the absence of a handful of members during a

confidence vote A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

could result in the defeat of the government. Party discipline is strict in Canada, and party members are expected to vote with the rest of their party in all but a few designated

free vote A conscience vote or free vote is a type of vote in a legislative body where legislators are allowed to vote according to their own personal conscience rather than according to an official line set down by their political party. In a parliamentary ...

Use in Canadian government

James E. Walker, Chief Government Whip from 1963 to 1966, commented: "Once you get beyond the taxicab radius of Ottawa, nobody seems to have heard of a Whip. For that matter, nobody in Ottawa, three blocks from the Hill, has ever heard of the Whip either!"James E. Walker, "The Functions of the Whip in Canada", Parliamentarian, Vol. 52, No. 4 (October 1971), p. 260. The post of Chief Government Whip is not a

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

-level position. However, the Chief Government Whip may receive a concurrent appointment, such as

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet w ...

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

, and sit in cabinet by virtue of that position. For a time, the

Reform Party of Canada The Reform Party of Canada (french: Parti réformiste du Canada) was a right-wing populist and conservative federal political party in Canada that existed under that name from 1987 to 2000. Reform was founded as a Western Canada-based protes ...

publicly styled its parliamentary whip with the title of Caucus Coordinator rather than Whip.

Current Whips

Senate

* Government Liaison in the Senate:

Patti LaBoucane-Benson Patti LaBoucane-Benson (born February 20, 1969) is a Canadian academic and politician. A Métis, she serves as director of research at the Native Counselling Services of Alberta. She was appointed to the Senate of Canada on October 3, 2018 by Prim ...

* Opposition Whip in the Senate: Judith Seidman

House of Commons

* Chief Government Whip:

Steven MacKinnon Steven Garrett MacKinnon (born September 28, 1966) is a Canadian Liberal politician who was elected to represent the riding of Gatineau in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2015 federal election. MacKinnon was born in Charlottetown, Pri ...

* Deputy Government Whip:

Ruby Sahota Ruby Sahota (born June 22) is a Canadian Liberal politician who was elected as a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada to represent the federal riding Brampton North during the 2015 Canadian federal election. Early life and educ ...

* Chief Opposition Whip: Kerry-Lynne D. Findlay * Deputy Chief Opposition Whip:

Chris Warkentin Chris Warkentin (born November 20, 1978) is a businessman and Conservative politician from Alberta, Canada. Personal life Warkentin was born in Grande Prairie and raised on the family farm east of Grande Prairie, near the Hamlet of DeBolt in ...

* Bloc Québécois Whip: Claude DeBellefeuille * NDP Whip:

Rachel Blaney Rachel A. Blaney (born 18 September 1974) is a Canadian politician who represents the federal electoral district of North Island—Powell River in the House of Commons. She was elected during the 2015 Canadian federal election to the 42nd Par ...

List of Chief Government Whips

References

{{reflist

External links

List of Chief Government and Opposition Whips
Parliament of Canada Political whips