The Official Opposition: quotation analysis

"If Parliament is to be preserved as a living institution His Majesty’s [Her Majesty’s] Loyal Opposition must fearlessly perform its functions. When it properly discharges them the preservation of our freedom is assured. The reading of history proves that freedom always dies when criticism ends. It upholds and maintains the rights of minorities against majorities. It must be vigilant against oppression and unjust invasions by the Cabinet of the rights of the people. It should supervise all expenditures and prevent over-expenditure by exposing to the light of public opinion wasteful expenditures or worse. It finds fault; it suggests amendments; it asks questions and elicits information; it arouses, educates and molds public opinion by voice and vote. It must scrutinise every action by the government and in doing so prevents the short-cuts through democratic procedure that governments like to make."

Opposition is crucial to the Canadian political system and process. In the parliamentary system that Canada has inherited from the United Kingdom, the idea has even greater significance in the form of "Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition".

• Have students define what they understand to be ‘political opposition’.

• Does Canada share this idea of a "Loyal Opposition" with the political systems of any other countries around the world?

• What means are available to the Official Opposition to carry out its function?

• The Official Opposition is also sometimes referred to as a government-in-waiting. What does this mean?

• The Official Opposition has a very particular meaning and role in Canada’s parliamentary system. What other groups or individuals scrutinise government activities on a regular basis?

For a further reading on the role of the opposition in Parliament, see Parliament’s web site.