In Canada, each political party with representation in the House of Commons has a House leader who is a front bench member of Parliament (MP) and an expert in parliamentary procedure.
The House leader is in charge of the party's day-to-day business in the House of Commons of Canada (or provincial or territorial legislatures), and usually conducts negotiations with other parties on the conduct of bills and debates.
The prime minister of Canada and leader of the Official Opposition originally had these responsibilities.
In 1944, however, as a result of the increasing burdens placed on government by the Second World War, Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King delegated these responsibilities to another member of the Canadian Cabinet.
Notable Opposition House leaders include Stanley Knowles of the New Democratic Party and its predecessor, the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation; Herb Gray of the Liberal Party (also a government House leader); and Erik Nielsen of the Progressive Conservative Party.