These exceptions were removed by the Canada Act 1982. Greater autonomy was granted by the Statute of Westminster 1931, after which new acts of the British Parliament did not apply to Canada, with some exceptions. The Parliament of Canada also remained subordinate to the British Parliament, the supreme legislative authority for the entire British Empire. Unlike the UK Parliament, the powers of the Parliament of Canada were limited in that other powers were assigned exclusively to the provincial legislatures. The Parliament of Canada was based on the Westminster model (that is, the model of the Parliament of the United Kingdom). The new Parliament of Canada consisted of the monarch (represented by the governor general, who also represented the Colonial Office), the Senate and the House of Commons. The House of Commons came into existence in 1867, when the British Parliament passed the British North America Act 1867, uniting the Province of Canada (which was divided into Quebec and Ontario), Nova Scotia and New Brunswick into a single federation called Canada. The body's formal name is: The Honourable the Commons of Canada in Parliament assembled (French: L'honorable les communes du Canada assemblés au Parlement). Canada and the United Kingdom remain the only countries to use the name "House of Commons" for a lower house of parliament. This distinction is made clear in the official French name of the body, Chambre des communes. The term derives from the Anglo-Norman word communes, referring to the geographic and collective "communities" of their parliamentary representatives and not the third estate, the commonality. The House of Commons currently meets in a temporary chamber in the West Block of the parliament buildings on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, while the Centre Block, which houses the traditional Commons chamber, undergoes renovation. The prime minister stays in office only so long as they retain the support, or "confidence", of the lower house. Moreover, the Cabinet is responsible solely to the House of Commons. Although the approval of both chambers is necessary for legislation to become law, the Senate very rarely rejects bills passed by the House of Commons (though the Senate does occasionally amend bills). The lower of the two houses making up the parliament, the House of Commons, in practice holds far more power than the upper house, the Senate. The British North America Act 1867 (now called the Constitution Act, 1867) created the House of Commons, modeling it on the British House of Commons. As a result, there is some interprovincial and regional malapportionment relative to the population. However, some ridings are more populous than others, and the Canadian constitution contains provisions regarding provincial representation. Seats in the House of Commons are distributed roughly in proportion to the population of each province and territory. In any case, an act of Parliament now limits each term to four years. Historically, however, terms have ended before their expiry and the sitting government has typically dissolved parliament within four years of an election according to a long-standing convention. MPs may hold office until Parliament is dissolved and serve for constitutionally limited terms of up to five years after an election. Members are elected by simple plurality ("first-past-the-post" system) in each of the country's electoral districts, which are colloquially known as ridings. There have been 338 MPs since the most recent electoral district redistribution for the 2015 federal election, which saw the addition of 30 seats. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body whose members are known as members of Parliament (MPs). Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Commons of Canada ( French: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Standing Orders of the House of Commons (English, French)
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