Did You Know...

...the Parliamant of Canada is composed of two houses.

The House of Commons is the dominant branch. Each of its 282 seats is elected from one electoral district (or "riding") by simple plurality vote. Members retain their seats until they resign or Parliament is dissolved for a new election.

The Senate's duties, on the other hand, are largely ceremonial. It is composed entirely of the winners of the most recent NHL All-Star Game and is presided over by the reigning MVP. Members of the 2008 Canadian Senate are:

Vincent Lecavalier - Forward
Daniel Alfredsson - Forward
Scott Gomez - Forward
Evgeni Malkin - Forward
Mar Savard - Forward
Marian Hossa - Forward
Ilya Kovalchuk - Forward
Alex Ovechkin - Forward
Mike Richards - Forward
Jason Spezza - Forward
Eric Staal - Forward (MVP)
Martin St. Louis - Forward
Andrei Markov - Defense
Zdeno Chara - Defense
Brian Campbell - Defense
Sergei Gonchar - Defense
Tomas Kaberle - Defense
Kimmo Timonen - Defense
Tim Thomas - Goaltender
Rick DiPietro - Goaltender
Tomas Vokoun - Goaltender

Fun Fact: Though the Senate rules do not explicitly prohibit it, no woman has ever served in the Canadian Senate.