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HISTORY The Legislative Assembly was created in Lower Canada by the Constitutional Act of 1791 . It was abolished from 1841 to 1867 under the 1840 Act Of Union which merged Upper Canada and Lower Canada into a single colony named the Province Of Canada . The 1867 British North America Act , which created the Canadian Confederation , split the Province of Canada into the provinces of Quebec and Ontario . The Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada was thus restored as the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec. The original Quebec legislature was Bicameral , consisting of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly . In 1968 , Bill 90 was passed by the government of Premier Jean-Jacques Bertrand , abolishing the Legislative Council and renaming the Legislative Assembly the "National Assembly". Before 1968, there had been various unsuccessful attempts at abolishing the Legislative Council, which was analogous to the Senate Of Canada . In 1978 , television cameras were brought in for the first time to televise parliamentary debates. The colour of the walls was changed to suit the needs of television and the ''salon vert'' (green hall) became the ''salon bleu'' (blue hall). PARLIAMENT BUILDING Main article: Parliament Building The present Parliament Building was designed by architect Eugène-Étienne Taché and has been the home of the legislature since 1886 . It is a unique construction in North America, with a Second Empire style of architecture. Its façade features a pantheon representing important events and people in the history of Quebec. ELECTIONS General Elections are held every five years or fewer. Any person holding Canadian citizenship and who has resided in Quebec for at least six months qualifies to have his or her name entered on the electoral list. Quebec's territory is divided into 125 electoral districts ( Ridings ). In each electoral division, the candidate who receives the most votes is elected and becomes a Member of the National Assembly (MNA). This is known as the First-past-the-post voting system. Normally, the leader of the political party with the largest number of elected candidates is asked by the Lieutenant-Governor Of Quebec to form the government as Premier . (In French, it is rendered as ''Premier Ministre''. The term "Prime Minister" is commonly used by the government as a literal translation of the French term.). CURRENT MEMBERS Most recent election PROCEEDINGS One of the Members of the National Assembly is chosen as the President Of The Assembly (a post called ''Speaker'' in most other Westminster System assemblies) by the Premier with the support of the Leader Of The Opposition . The President of the Assembly is the arbiter of the parliamentary debates between the members of the government and the members of the Opposition. In order for a member to address a member of the other side, he or she has to speak through the President of the Assembly. The President is usually a member of the governing party, although there is no requirement for this. The proceedings of the National Assembly are broadcast across Quebec on the Cable Television network Canal De L'Assemblée Nationale . SEE ALSO
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