# House leader > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/House_leader > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/House_leader.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_leader > Source revision: 1354592372 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|Canadian political office}} {{Needs more citations|date=August 2025}} {{About|a set of lawmakers leading representation for each party in Canada|lawmakers leading coalitions in a legislature|Leader of the House (disambiguation){{!}}Leader of the House}} {{Politics of Canada}} In Canada, each political party with representation in the House of Commons has a '''House leader''' who is a [front bench](/source/front_bench) [member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament_(Canada)) (MP) and an expert in [parliamentary procedure](/source/parliamentary_procedure).{{cite encyclopedia |last=Jackson |first=Robert L. |date=28 November 2024 |title=House Leader |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/house-leader |encyclopedia=[The Canadian Encyclopedia](/source/The_Canadian_Encyclopedia) |location=Toronto |publisher=[Historica Canada](/source/Historica_Canada) |access-date=2 September 2025}} The same representation is found in the [provincial and territorial legislatures](/source/Legislative_assemblies_of_Canadian_provinces_and_territories). The House leader is in charge of the party's day-to-day business in the [House of Commons of Canada](/source/House_of_Commons_of_Canada) (or provincial or territorial legislatures), and usually conducts negotiations with other parties on the conduct of [bills](/source/Bill_(proposed_law)) and debates. They also argue [points of order](/source/Point_of_Order) before the [speaker of the House](/source/Speaker_of_the_House_of_Commons_(Canada)). The "House leader" is not the same as the [party leader](/source/party_leader), but is the leader's senior deputy for House business in Opposition parties, including the Official Opposition. The [government House leader](/source/Leader_of_the_Government_in_the_House_of_Commons_(Canada)) is a senior [Cabinet minister](/source/Canadian_cabinet) who navigates the government's business in the House. This system is replicated in the various provincial [legislature](/source/legislature)s. The position of House Leader is especially important during periods of [minority government](/source/minority_government) where no one party has control of the House and bills can only be passed with the agreement of multiple parties. The [prime minister of Canada](/source/Prime_Minister_of_Canada) and [leader of the Official Opposition](/source/Leader_of_the_Official_Opposition_(Canada)) originally had these responsibilities. In 1944, however, as a result of the increasing burdens placed on government by the [Second World War](/source/World_War_II), Prime Minister [William Lyon Mackenzie King](/source/William_Lyon_Mackenzie_King) delegated these responsibilities to another member of the [Canadian Cabinet](/source/Canadian_Cabinet). In 1946, the position of government House leader was formally recognized. The position of Opposition House leader evolved in the 1950s as each opposition party began to designate a particular MP to question the government House leader on upcoming House business. The title of Opposition House leader became official in 1963, and in 1974, a special annual indemnity was attached to the position of House leader in each of the opposition parties. Notable Opposition House leaders include [Stanley Knowles](/source/Stanley_Knowles) of the [New Democratic Party](/source/New_Democratic_Party_of_Canada) and its predecessor, the [Cooperative Commonwealth Federation](/source/Cooperative_Commonwealth_Federation); [Herb Gray](/source/Herb_Gray) of the [Liberal Party](/source/Liberal_Party_of_Canada) (also a government House leader); and [Erik Nielsen](/source/Erik_Nielsen) of the [Progressive Conservative Party](/source/Progressive_Conservative_Party_of_Canada). The Office of House Leader has also been instituted at the provincial level, in the provincial legislative assemblies. The term ''House leader'' has also been used to describe a party's [parliamentary leader](/source/Parliamentary_leader_(Canada)), who leads a political party in the House of Commons or a provincial legislature due to there either not being a party leader or the party leader not having a seat. At other times, if there is no party leader or the party leader has no seat, the parliamentary leader and house leader may be separate positions. ==See also== * [Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (Canada)](/source/Leader_of_the_Government_in_the_House_of_Commons_(Canada)) * [Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons](/source/Leader_of_the_Opposition_in_the_House_of_Commons) * [Leader of the House of Commons](/source/Leader_of_the_House_of_Commons) * [Floor Leader](/source/Floor_Leader) * [Deputy leader](/source/Deputy_leader) ==References== {{reflist}} {{House of Commons of Canada navbox}} Category:Legislative leaders in Canada Category:Political terminology in Canada Category:Provincial and territorial ministers in Canada --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [House leader](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_leader) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_leader?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.