A joint address to Parliament is a speech made by a distinguished visitor, usually a foreign head of state or head of government, to Members of the Senate and the House of Commons under a special procedure of the Canadian Parliament, in which members of the House of Commons and Senate sit jointly in the chamber of the House of Commons, that chamber acting, for the occasion, as an auditorium. The speaker of the House of Commons takes his chair, as normal, with the speaker of the Senate seated to their right. Members of Parliament also take their usual seats, with senators and justices of the Supreme Court positioned on the floor of the House, in front of the clerk's table. Gallery privileges are suspended during a joint address and access to those areas is strictly limited to invited guests. Fifty-two heads of state and five non-heads of state have addressed the Joint Sessions of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada since 1939.
Circumstances Such an event is used most commonly when a visiting dignitary—such as a foreign head of state or head of government—is asked to address Parliament. However, on more rare occasions, the process may also be used to make a formal, binding request of the Canadian monarch; for example, this was part of the process used to amend the constitution of Canada prior to patriation in 1982. In extreme circumstances, a joint address may also be used to remove a person previously appointed by the King-in-Council—such as a judge or ambassador—if other avenues of doing so have failed. For example, Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson announced a joint address in 1967 to have Leo Landreville removed from the bench of the Supreme Court of Ontario, due to allegations of improper stock trading. Landreville had previously refused to resign, as he had not actually been convicted of a crime, but, resigned voluntarily after the government declared its intention to forcibly remove him from office.
Although most addresses are made to joint sessions of Parliament, on 7 May 1941, Robert G. Menzies, Prime Minister of Australia, spoke only to the House of Commons. On 25 August 1943, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States, addressed senators, members of Parliament, and the general public outside the houses of Parliament.
Dignitaries The following persons have addressed a joint session of Parliament: Date Dignitary Office Image 30 December 1941 Winston Churchill Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 3 June 1943 Edvard Beneš President of Czechoslovakia 16 June 1943 Soong Mei-ling First Lady of the Republic of China 1 June 1944 John Curtin Prime Minister of Australia 30 June 1944 Peter Fraser Prime Minister of New Zealand 19 November 1945 Clement Attlee Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 11 June 1947 Harry S. Truman President of the United States 24 October 1949 Jawaharlal Nehru Prime Minister of India 31 May 1950 Liaquat Ali Khan Prime Minister of Pakistan 5 April 1951 Vincent Auriol President of France 14 November 1953 Dwight D. Eisenhower President of the United States 6 February 1956 Anthony Eden Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 5 March 1956 Giovanni Gronchi President of Italy 5 June 1956 Sukarno President of Indonesia 4 March 1957 Guy Mollet Prime Minister of France 2 June 1958 Theodor Heuss President of West Germany 13 June 1958 Harold Macmillan Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 9 July 1958 Dwight D. Eisenhower President of the United States 21 July 1958 Kwame Nkrumah Prime Minister of Ghana 17 May 1961 John F. Kennedy President of the United States 26 May 1964 U Thant Secretary-General of the United Nations 14 April 1972 Richard Nixon President of the United States 30 March 1973 Luis Echeverría President of Mexico 19 June 1973 Indira Gandhi Prime Minister of India 5 May 1980 Masayoshi Ohira Prime Minister of Japan 26 May 1980 José López Portillo President of Mexico 11 March 1981 Ronald Reagan President of the United States 26 September 1983 Margaret Thatcher Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 17 January 1984 Zhao Ziyang Premier of the People's Republic of China 8 May 1984 Miguel de la Madrid President of Mexico 7 March 1985 Javier Pérez de Cuéllar Secretary-General of the United Nations 13 January 1986 Yasuhiro Nakasone Prime Minister of Japan 6 April 1987 Ronald Reagan President of the United States 25 May 1987 François Mitterrand President of France 10 May 1988 Beatrix Queen of the Netherlands 16 June 1988 Helmut Kohl Chancellor of West Germany 22 June 1988 Margaret Thatcher Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 27 June 1989 Chaim Herzog President of Israel 11 October 1989 Hussein King of Jordan 18 June 1990 Nelson Mandela Deputy President of the African National Congress 8 April 1991 Carlos Salinas de Gortari President of Mexico 19 June 1992 Boris Yeltsin President of Russia 23 February 1995 Bill Clinton President of the United States 11 June 1996 Ernesto Zedillo President of Mexico 24 September 1998 Nelson Mandela President of South Africa 29 April 1999 Václav Havel President of the Czech Republic 22 February 2001 Tony Blair Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 9 March 2004 Kofi Annan Secretary-General of the United Nations 25 October 2004 Vicente Fox President of Mexico 18 May 2006 John Howard Prime Minister of Australia 22 September 2006 Hamid Karzai President of Afghanistan 26 May 2008 Viktor Yushchenko President of Ukraine26 May 2010 Felipe Calderón President of Mexico22 September 2011 David Cameron Prime Minister of the United Kingdom27 February 2014 Aga Khan IV Imam of Nizari Isma'ilism17 September 2014 Petro Poroshenko President of Ukraine3 November 2014 François Hollande President of France 29 June 2016 Barack Obama President of the United States 12 April 2017 Malala Yousafzai Nobel Peace Prize laureate25 October 2018 Mark Rutte Prime Minister of the Netherlands15 March 2022 Volodymyr Zelenskyy President of Ukraine 7 March 2023Ursula von der Leyen President of the European Commission 24 March 2023Joe Biden President of the United States 22 September 2023 Volodymyr Zelenskyy President of Ukraine
Winston Churchill During the Second World War, Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, stopped in Ottawa after meetings with the United States government in Washington, D.C. Churchill spoke to a joint meeting of Canada’s parliamentarians in the House of Commons on 30 December 1941, delivering an "electrifying address that stirs the passions and strengthens the resolve of a nation at war.""1941: Winston Churchill's 'chicken' speech" CBC Digital Archives. Accessed 14 March 2017. In responding to a French general's claim that, "England will have her neck wrung like a chicken" in three weeks time from a German invasion, Churchill declared, "some chicken! Some neck!" The response was met by a roar of laughter and thunderous applause."Some Chicken! Some Neck! Prime Minister Winston Churchill's Speech to the House of Commons" Sir Winston Churchill Society of Ottawa. Accessed 14 March 2017 Churchill would go on to lead the Allied effort to victory in the Second World War.
Richard Nixon President of the United States Richard Nixon arrived in Ottawa on a state visit on 13 April 1972. He met with Governor General Roland Michener and Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau before addressing a joint meeting of the Parliament of Canada."M. Nixon - Travels of the President" State Department: Office of the Historian. Accessed 14 March 2017 Nixon, invoking his Nixon Doctrine on foreign policy, struck a blunt tone in his remarks. "Canadians and Americans [must] move beyond the sentimental rhetoric of the past. It is time for us to recognize that we have very separate identities [...] Each nation must determine the path of its own progress.""Nixon: Address to a Joint Meeting of the Canadian Parliament" The American Presidency Project. Accessed 14 March 2017 Bruce Muirhead wrote that, after the state visit, "Nixon returned to Washington with a reinforced dislike of Ottawa, Trudeau, and most things Canadian. He told his chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, that he had put it to these people for kicking the US around after what we did for that lousy son of a bitch [Trudeau]. Wasting three days up there. That trip we needed like a hole in the head."Muirhead, Bruce. From Special Relationship to Third Option: Canada, the U.S., and the Nixon Shock. American Review of Canadian Studies: 1 October 2004. DOI: 10.1080/02722010409481207. Accessed 14 March 2017
Ronald Reagan After meeting with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, American president Ronald Reagan addressed a joint session of Canadian Parliament on 11 March 1981,"Reagan - Travels of the President" State Department: Office of the Historian. Accessed 14 March 2017. speaking humbly about the strong Canada-US relationship. "America counts many friends across the globe, surely we have no better friend than Canada.""Reagan: Remarks of the President and Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau of Canada Before a Joint Session of the Parliament in Ottawa" The American Presidency Project. Accessed 14 March 2017. Reagan even demonstrated his ability to use both of Canada’s official languages when he spoke several phrases in French. The President concluded his remarks by offering an olive branch to the people of Canada: "We're happy to be your neighbour. We want to remain your friend. We're determined to be your partner and we're intent on working closely with you in a spirit of cooperation." "President Reagan addresses Canadian Parliament" Youtube. Accessed 14 March 2017 Reagan addressed a joint session of the Canadian Parliament once more as president, in 1987."Address to a Joint Session of Parliament in Ottawa, Canada" The American Presidency Project. Accessed 14 March 2017
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Thatcher. then-Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, addressed Parliament on 26 September 1983. Only one year after the patriation of the Canadian constitution, Thatcher recognized that, "a constitutional link has, quite properly, been severed," but Canada and the United Kingdom are still linked in important ways, including the belief "in the same high and honourable ideals", like freedom, justice, and parliamentary democracy."Speech to Canadian Parliament" Margaret Thatcher Foundation. Accessed 14 March 2017 In 2013, after a 30-year ban on classified Cabinet files had expired, documents from the British National Archives revealed that, prior to her trip to Ottawa, Thatcher had been briefed to be careful of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's "unsound personal views" and of Canadians "inordinately sensitive" nature.Waldie, Paul and Leblanc, Daniel. "Thatcher briefing warned of Canadian sensitivity, Trudeau’s opinions" The Globe and Mail: 1 August 2013. Accessed 14 March 2017. Thatcher returned to Canada in 1988 and, at the invitation of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, addressed Parliament again."Margaret Thatcher addresses Canadian Parliament (1988)" Youtube. Accessed 14 March 2017.
Nelson Mandela Mere months after being released from 27 years prison, South Africa's Nelson Mandela became only the fourth person who was not a head of state or head of government to address a joint session of the Parliament of Canada. Mandela thanked Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and the government of Canada for its strong opposition to the apartheid regime in South Africa and pleaded to keep the sanctions in place to pressure the South African government towards reform. In 1998, Mandela returned to address the Canadian Parliament as the first democratically elected president of South Africa."Nelson Mandela visits Canada" CBC Digital Archives. Accessed 14 March 2017
Aga Khan