What is a provincial Legislative Assembly?

A provincial Legislative Assembly is the elected legislature of each Canadian province, the provincial-level equivalent of the federal House of Commons. Each Canadian province (and each territory) has its own Legislative Assembly, the source of provincial laws and the body to which the provincial Cabinet is accountable. Provincial Legislative Assemblies vary in size from 27 members (PEI) to 124 members (Quebec, the largest), with the size set by provincial statute and constitutional requirements.

Each provincial Legislative Assembly has a different name. Quebec's is the National Assembly (Assemblée nationale du Québec, 124 members), Ontario's is the Legislative Assembly of Ontario (124 members, sometimes informally called Queen's Park after its location), British Columbia's is the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (87 members), Alberta's is the Legislative Assembly of Alberta (87 members), Saskatchewan's is the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan (61 members), Manitoba's is the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (57 members), Nova Scotia's is the Nova Scotia House of Assembly (55 members), New Brunswick's is the New Brunswick Legislative Assembly (49 members), Newfoundland and Labrador's is the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly (40 members), and Prince Edward Island's is the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island (27 members).

Members of provincial Legislative Assemblies are called by various titles: MPP in Ontario, MNA in Quebec (Membre de l'Assemblée nationale, MAN in French), MLA in most other provinces, and HMA in Newfoundland and Labrador. They are elected by first-past-the-post voting in provincial ridings, with the typical maximum term of four to five years between general elections (most provinces have fixed-election-date legislation similar to the federal model).

Each Legislative Assembly has a Speaker (elected by the members), standing committees that scrutinise government departments and study bills, and procedures similar to the federal House of Commons. Provincial bills go through three readings and committee review, and receive Royal Assent from the Lieutenant Governor to become provincial law. The territories have Legislative Assemblies that operate under consensus government (in NWT and Nunavut, without political parties) or partisan politics (in Yukon). Provincial Cabinets are chaired by the Premier and accountable to the Legislative Assembly under the same responsible-government convention as at the federal level.