General Assembly of Prince Edward Island

General Assembly of Prince Edward Island
67th General Assembly of Prince Edward Island
Type
Type	Bicameral (1773–1893) Unicameral (1893–present)
Houses	Legislative Council (1773–1893) House of Assembly (1773–1893) Legislative Assembly (1893–present)
Sovereign	The lieutenant governor (representing the King of Canada)
History
Founded	1773 (1773)
Meeting place
Province House, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada

The General Assembly of Prince Edward Island is the unicameral government of the province of Prince Edward Island, Canada, consisting of the lieutenant governor (representing the King of Canada)^[1] and the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island. The legislature was first established in 1773.

Like the Canadian federal government, Prince Edward Island uses a Westminster-style parliamentary government, in which members are elected to the Legislative Assembly through general elections. The party with the most seats forms government but must obtain majority support to pass laws. A Premier of Prince Edward Island and Executive Council of Prince Edward Island are appointed by the lieutenant governor.

The legislature was originally bicameral, with an upper house called the Legislative Council of Prince Edward Island 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. 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, 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 post-confederation Prince Edward Island general elections

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