The
40th Canadian Parliament was in session from November 18, 2008 to March 26, 2011, and was the last Parliament of the longest-running
minority government in Canadian history that began with the
previous Parliament. The membership of its
House of Commons was determined by the results of the
2008 federal election held on October 14, 2008. Its first
session was then
prorogued by the
Governor General on December 4, 2008, at the request of
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who was facing a likely
no-confidence motion and a
coalition agreement between the
Liberal party and the
New Democratic Party with the support of the
Bloc Québécois (see
2008–2009 Canadian parliamentary dispute). Of the 308 MPs elected at the October 14, 2008 general election, 64 were new to Parliament and three sat in Parliaments previous to the 39th:
John Duncan,
Jack Harris, and
Roger Pomerleau.