The Parliament of Canada is Canada's legislative branch, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario. According to section 17 of the Constitution Act, 1867, Parliament consists of three components: the Sovereign, the Senate, and the House of Commons. The Sovereign is normally represented by the Governor General, who appoints the 105 members of the Senate on the advice of the Prime Minister. The 308 members of the House of Commons are directly elected by the people, with each member representing a single electoral district (or riding). The democratically elected "Lower House," the House of Commons, is the dominant branch of the Canadian Parliament. The "Upper House," the Senate, rarely opposes the will of the other Chamber, and the duties of the Sovereign and Governor General are purely ceremonial. The Prime Minister and Cabinet must retain the support of a majority of Members of the Lower House in order to remain in office; they need not have the confidence of the Upper House.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_Canada

Today's selected anniversaries:

1519 Hernán Cortés entered Tenochtitlán where Aztec ruler Moctezuma II welcomed him with great pomp as would befit a returning god. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hern%E1n_Cort%E9s)

1793 In Paris, the Louvre was opened to the public as a museum by the French Revolutionary government. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louvre)

1895 Wilhelm Röntgen discovered x-rays. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_R%F6ntgen)

1942 Operation Torch of World War II began when United States and United Kingdom forces landed in French North Africa. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Torch)

2002 The UN Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1441 forcing Iraq to disarm or face "serious consequences". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UN_Security_Council_Resolution_1441)

Wikiquote of the day:

"Whether we and our politicians know it or not, Nature is party to all our deals and decisions, and she has more votes, a longer memory, and a sterner sense of justice than we do." ~ Wendell Berry (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wendell_Berry)