2nd Canadian Parliament

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2nd Parliament of Canada
Majority parliament
5 March 1873 – 2 January 1874
Parliament leaders
Prime Minister	Rt Hon. Sir John A. Macdonald 1 Jul 1867 – 5 Nov 1873
	Rt Hon. Alexander Mackenzie 7 Nov 1873 – 8 Oct 1878
Cabinets	1st Canadian Ministry 2nd Canadian Ministry
Leader of the Opposition	Alexander Mackenzie March 6, 1873 – November 5, 1873
	Sir John A. Macdonald November 6, 1873 – October 16, 1878
Party caucuses
Government	Conservative Party & Liberal-Conservative
Opposition	Liberal Party*
* The Liberal Party briefly formed government at the end of the 2nd Parliament.
House of Commons
Seating arrangements of the House of Commons
Speaker of the Commons	Hon. James Cockburn November 6, 1867 – March 5, 1874
Members	200 seats MP seats List of members
Senate
Speaker of the Senate	The Hon. Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau February 21, 1872 – January 8, 1874
Government Senate Leader	Alexander Campbell July 1, 1867 – November 5, 1873
	Luc Letellier de St-Just November 5, 1873 – December 14, 1876
Opposition Senate Leader	Alexander Campbell November 7, 1873 – October 8, 1878
Senators	79 seats senator seats List of senators
Sovereign
Monarch	Victoria 1 July 1867 – 22 Jan. 1901
Governor General	The Earl of Dufferin 25 June 1872 – 25 Nov. 1878
Sessions
1st session March 5, 1873 – August 13, 1873
2nd session October 23, 1873 – November 7, 1873
← 1st → 3rd

The 2nd Canadian Parliament was in session from March 5, 1873, until January 2, 1874. The membership was set by the 1872 federal election from July 20 to October 12, 1872, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it was dissolved prior to the 1874 election. Among the by-elections were the first election of PEI MPs, PEI joining Confederation in 1873.

It was first controlled by a Conservative/Liberal-Conservative majority under Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald and the 1st Canadian Ministry. The Official Opposition was the Liberal Party, led by Alexander Mackenzie. After a scandal in the Conservative Party, the Liberals took power, forming the 2nd Canadian Ministry. Alexander Mackenzie, now Prime Minister, immediately called an election.

The Speaker was James Cockburn. See also List of Canadian electoral districts 1872-1873 for a list of the ridings in this parliament.

The unusual case of a new party taking control of the government between elections has only happened in the federal government twice; the other occasion was in the 15th Canadian parliament.

There were 2 sessions of the 2nd Parliament: