The Legislative Assembly of Quebec (French: Assemblée Législative du Québec) was the name of the lower house of
QuebecQuebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
's
legislatureA legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...
until 1968, when it was renamed the
National Assembly of QuebecThe National Assembly of Quebec is the legislative body of the Province of Quebec. The Lieutenant Governor and the National Assembly compose the Parliament of Quebec, which operates in a fashion similar to those of other British-style parliamentary systems.The National Assembly was formerly the...
. At the same time, the upper house of the legislature, the
Legislative CouncilFrom 1867 until 1968, the Legislative Council of Quebec was the unelected upper house of the bicameral legislature in the Canadian province of Quebec...
, was abolished. Both were initially created by the
Constitutional Act of 1791The Constitutional Act of 1791, formally The Clergy Endowments Act, 1791 , is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain...
.
It was the Union Nationale government of Premier
Jean-Jacques BertrandJean-Jacques Bertrand was the 21st Premier of Quebec, Canada, from October 2, 1968 to May 12, 1970. He led the Union Nationale party.-Member of the legislature:...
that passed the "Bill 90" legislation to abolish the upper house, although earlier unsuccessful attempts had been made by earlier governments.
The presiding officer of the Assembly was known in French as "Orateur," a literal translation of the English term, "
speakerThe term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...
". When the Assembly was renamed so too was the title of its presiding officer, becoming known as the
PresidentThe President of the National Assembly of Quebec is the presiding officer of the National Assembly of Quebec, Canada, which is modeled after the Westminster parliamentary system...
.
Today Quebec has a unicameral legislature, whose single house is the
National AssemblyThe National Assembly of Quebec is the legislative body of the Province of Quebec. The Lieutenant Governor and the National Assembly compose the Parliament of Quebec, which operates in a fashion similar to those of other British-style parliamentary systems.The National Assembly was formerly the...
.
The large chamber housing the assembly is also known as le salon bleu (the blue hall) because of the predominance of this colour on the walls. It used to be known as le salon vert (the green hall) until 1978, when the colour was changed to suit televising of parliamentary debates.