Canada

What do these numbers mean?

We keep track both if political positions and the individuals who occupy those positions over time. Of course, a person can hold a position for multiple terms, and multiple people can occupy the same position at the same time (e.g. members of parliament).

If a person previously held a position, and currently holds the same position, they are only counted once and recorded under Current. If it is unclear from the source whether they have left the position, they will be counted under Unclear.

How can status be unclear?

Some of the data sources we rely on indicate both past and present holders of political offices. In those cases, a lack of a precise end date for a person's occupancy of a position can mean that we don't know whether they currently hold the position or not.