The General Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador (known as the General Assembly of Newfoundland until 6 December 2001) is the legislature of the province of

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

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 ...

. Today, the legislature is made of two elements: the

monarch 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 federal structure and Westminster-style parliamentary democracy. The monarchy is the found ...

, represented by the Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador, and 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 multic ...

assembly called the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly. The legislature was first established in 1832. Like the Canadian federal government, Newfoundland and Labrador uses a Westminster-style parliamentary government, in which members are sent to the House of Assembly after general elections. The leader of the party with the most seats is called upon by the Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador to form a government and assume the position of premier Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador and Executive Council of Newfoundland and Labrador. The premier acts as Newfoundland and Labrador'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 gro ...

, while the King of Canada is

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 l ...

. The legislature was originally bicameral. From 1832 to 1934, it had an upper house called the

Legislative Council of Newfoundland The Legislative Council of Newfoundland was the upper house of the General Assembly of Newfoundland from 1833 to 1934. The Legislative Council was appointed by the Governor of Newfoundland, not elected. Bills were submitted by the House of Assemb ...

. That house was abolished in 1934. Between 1934 and Newfoundland's entry into Canadian Confederation in 1949, Newfoundland was under Commission of Government, and the General Assembly was suspended.

List of General Assemblies

Pre-Confederation

Post-Confederation

References