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The General Assembly of Prince Edward Island is the
unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...
legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...
of the province of
Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...
,
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 to ...
, consisting of the
Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island The lieutenant governor of Prince Edward Island () is the viceregal representative in Prince Edward Island of the , who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the ten other jurisdictions of Canada, as well as th ...
. ( Crown-in-Parliament) and the
Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island The Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island (french: Assemblée législative de l'Île-du-Prince-Édouard) is the sole chamber of the General Assembly of Prince Edward Island. The Legislative Assembly meets at Province House, which is locat ...
. The legislature was first established in 1773. Like the Canadian federal government, Prince Edward Island uses a Westminster-style
parliamentary government A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of t ...
, in which members are elected to the Legislative Assembly through general elections. The party with the most seats forms Government. A Premier of Prince Edward Island and Executive Council of Prince Edward Island are formally appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in the name of The Queen. The premier acts as Prince Edward Island's
head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a ...
, while the
Queen of Canada The monarchy of Canada is Canada's form of government embodied by the Canadian sovereign and head of state. It is at the core of Canada's constitutional Canadian federalism, federal structure and Westminster system, Westminster-style Parliamentar ...
acts as
head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and ...
. The legislature was originally bicameral, with an upper house called the
Legislative Council of Prince Edward Island The Legislative Council of Prince Edward Island was the upper house of the Legislature of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island. It existed from 1773 to 1893. Members were appointed by the Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island on th ...
and a lower house called the House of Assembly of Prince Edward Island. The Legislative Council also held executive power until 1839. In 1893 the houses were amalgamated into the
Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island The Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island (french: Assemblée législative de l'Île-du-Prince-Édouard) is the sole chamber of the General Assembly of Prince Edward Island. The Legislative Assembly meets at Province House, which is locat ...
. Unlike other provinces that eliminated their upper house, the assembly continued to have a distinction between members elected as Councillors and members elected as Assemblymen. This distinction was eliminated in 1996, giving all members the title
Member of the Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...
, upon the change from dual ridings (two members per district) to single ridings (one member per district) in the Legislative Assembly.


List of Assemblies


See also

* List of Prince Edward Island general elections (post-Confederation)


References


External links


''Journal of the House of Assembly of Prince Edward Island''

''Prince Edward Island, garden province of Canada'', WH Crosskill (1904)

List of historical election dates
{{Canadian Legislative Bodies
General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of pres ...