Legislative Assembly of Ontario facts for kids
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario is like the main meeting place where important decisions are made for the Canadian province of Ontario. It's where elected people gather to create laws and manage the province. This assembly is located in the Ontario Legislative Building in Toronto, which is the capital city of Ontario.
This important group was created in 1867. This happened when Canada became a country under a law called the British North America Act. The Assembly has only one main group of members. This means there is no "upper house" or second group of lawmakers. There are 124 members in total. Each of these members is called a Member of Provincial Parliament, or MPP for short.
Each MPP is chosen by voters from a specific area of Ontario. These areas are called electoral districts. The political party that wins the most seats gets to form the government. The leader of this winning party becomes the Premier of Ontario. The Premier is like the head of the provincial government. This party also chooses a group of advisors called the Executive Council. The leader of the party with the second most seats becomes the Leader of the Opposition. Their job is to question the government and suggest other ideas.
The members of the current assembly were chosen in the 2018 Ontario general election. They are part of what is known as the 42nd Parliament of Ontario.
How Many Seats Does Each Party Have?
The Legislative Assembly has 124 seats in total. Each seat is held by an MPP from a political party. Sometimes, an MPP might leave their party and become an independent member. This means they don't belong to any specific party anymore.
The table below shows how many seats each political party holds in the Assembly.
| ↓ | |||||||||
| 73 | 40 | 7 | 3 | 1 | |||||
| Progressive Conservative | New Democratic | Liberal | I | G | |||||
After the 2018 election, some things changed. Three MPPs who were part of the Progressive Conservative party decided to become independent politicians. This means they no longer belonged to that party. These members were Jim Wilson, Amanda Simard, and Randy Hillier.
Images for kids
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Members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario meeting in 1871.
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The coat of arms, a symbol of the Legislative Assembly.
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The first mace used by the Upper Canadian Legislature. A mace is a special staff used in parliaments.
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The fourth, and current, mace used by the Legislature.
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The seating area for the Legislative Assembly. Each member has their own chair and desk.
