A L O O K A T O U R G O V E R N M E N T

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT QUEEN GOVERNOR GENERAL PRIME MINISTER CABINET HOUSE OF COMMONS SENATE SUPREME COURT OF CANADA FEDERAL COURT Formal Executive Political Executive Executive Branch Legislative Branch Judicial Branch

PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT QUEEN LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR PREMIER CABINET LEGISLATURE SUPREME COURT OF PROVINCE PROVINCIAL COURTS Formal Executive Political Executive Executive Branch Legislative Branch Judicial Branch

EXECUTIVE BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT  The Executive Branch carries out the plans and policies of the government.  At the Federal Level of government, the Executive branch is made up of the Prime Minister, the Cabinet, and the public service.  At the Provincial Level it is made up of the Premier, the Provincial cabinet and the provincial public service.  Canada’s constitution declares that all laws are made in the name of the Queen, represented by the Governor General at the Federal Level, and the Lieutenant Governor at the Provincial Level.  The daily running of the government is done by the Prime Minister and Cabinet at the Federal Level and the Premier and Cabinet at the Provincial Level.

MEMBERS OF THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR GENERAL: The Governor General is the representative of Queen Elizabeth in Canada and performs the duties that the Queen would do if she were here. The Governor General gives royal assent to Laws, greets foreign dignitaries, appoints senators and Supreme Court Judges, and begins sessions of Parliament. The Lieutenant Governor does the same duties in the Province. PRIME MINISTER: Is the leader of the Canada and head of the Federal Government. He speaks on behalf of all Canadians at national and international meetings. He addresses citizens on issues of the nation, and represents Canada on trips abroad. The Prime Minister also recommends new judges and senators for appointment. And, as head of his political party, he also acts as spokesperson for that party. CABINET: Is the group of ministers that decides what the government policy should be. Cabinet Members are chosen by the Prime Minister and have responsibility for particular departments of government, such as Foreign Affairs, Defence, and Justice. Members of the Cabinet are called Ministers, and the Prime Minister leads the Cabinet.

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT HOUSE OF COMMONS  The Legislative Branch of Government, also called Parliament, is the branch that has the power to make, change and cancel laws.  The most powerful part of the Legislative Branch at the federal level is the House of Commons in Ottawa. Elected representatives meet to discuss and vote on public issues in the House of Commons. Representatives at the federal level are called Members of Parliament or MPs.  MPs and regularly discuss and debate issues and government policies. These debates are controlled by the Speaker of the House (also an MP).  The legislature in the Province models the House of Commons and the representatives at the provincial level are called Members of Provincial Parliament or MPPs.

SENATE  The Senate is referred to as the “upper house of Parliament.”  The Senate may propose bills, or ammend and repeal bills passed by the House of Commons.  The Senate was established to reflect the British Parliament. The theory was that the Senate would serve as a reasonable check on the House of Commons.  Senators are not elected. They are appointed by the Governor General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. They may serve until they are 75 years of age.  In practice, the Senate acts as a “rubber stamp” for the House of Commons.  The Provincial Government does not have a Senate.

JUDICIAL BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT TThe Judicial Branch is the part of government that deals with the law. IIn Canada, this branch is separate from the other two branches. This ensures that Parliament and its members are not above the law. TThe Judicial Branch is made up of the courts and the judges. TThey determine if people charged with crimes are guilty or innocent and decide on punishments for those found guilty. TThey also interpret laws when disputes arise between individuals, groups, or even different levels of government.

VOTING AND THE CREATION OF GOVERNMENT

VOTING: RIGHT OR RESPONSIBILITY? Citizens are guaranteed the right to vote under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It is a very important right that should be exercised by all citizens. Democracy only works if people participate. Therefore, it is our duty to use our democratic right to keep the system working. The right to vote is what gives us our voice in government and decision making. Citizens can exercise their democratic right and participate in decision making in two ways: Elections: electing our representatives Referendums: when the government consults the people on important issues.

HISTORY OF THE VOTE Not every Canadian has always had the franchise. For many groups of people it was a hard-won democratic right. Here is a brief time-line outlining the right to vote in Canada. 1867Only men who own property are allowed to vote. 1916Women in Manitoba become the first in Canada to win the right to vote in provincial elections. 1917The War Times Election Act gives wives, sisters, and mothers of servicemen the right to vote in federal elections. The right to vote is extended to Aboriginal Canadians in the armed forces. 1918All adult women win the right to vote in federal elections, except those of Asian, Inuit, or Status Indian descent. 1934All Inuit lose the right to vote. 1948The vote is extended to Japanese Canadians. 1950Inuit become eligible to vote. 1960Right to vote extended to Aboriginal Canadians living on reserves. 1968People with mental disabilities are granted the right to vote.

ELECTORAL DISTRICTS Canada is too large to use direct democracy so we have use the representative democracy system, where we elect individuals to represent us in government. For the purposes of both federal and provincial representation and voting, each province is divided into ridings, or constituencies (electoral districts). Roughly, it is 1 representative per 100,000 voters. The people who live within the boundaries of a riding are allowed to elect one representative to government. The candidate who receives the largest number of votes in each riding becomes its representative. Each riding equals a seat in the House of Commons (federal) or Legislative Assembly (provincial). In a Provincial election, 106 representatives (MPPs) make up the Ontario Government. The political party with the most seats leads. In a Federal election, 308 representatives (MPs) make up the Canadian Government. The political party with the most seats leads.

URBAN vs. RURAL REPRESENTATION Our Riding (electoral districts) system tries to divide Canada as fairly as possible for equal representation according to population. But, Canada is so unequally populated and it is very difficult to keep the amount of voters and geographical area for each Member of Parliament equal. The system tries to give more populated provinces, like Ontario and Quebec, more representation in government, but even in these provinces the amount of people who live in cities (urban) is much higher than those who live in the countryside (rural) making it difficult to keep it completely equal representation. The result is that ridings in Rural areas or in less populated provinces cover more land but have less people, and the Urban ridings cover less area and have more people. Some ridings, like in the Northwest Territories or northern Ontario, have 20, 000 voters per MP, while ridings in cities like Toronto and Montreal have 150, 000 voters per MP.

SEAT MAJORITY NOT VOTE MAJORITY Each voter votes for who will represent them in parliament. They only vote for who their MP (federal) or MPP (provincial) will be not who the government will be. The person who gets the most votes in a particular riding becomes the Member of Parliament and wins a seat in parliament. The political party with the most seats will form the government. The leader of the government party becomes the Prime Minister. It is important to note: A member can win a riding with less than 50% of the votes. A party can be the government even though it did not get a majority of votes nation wide. Parties have formed governments with as little as 38% of the vote. (Ontario NDP in 1990)

MAJORITY vs. MINORITY GOVERNMENT There are two types of Governments that can come out of an election: Majority or Minority Governments. A Majority Government occurs when the party who leads the government has more seats than all the opposition parties combined. A Minority Government occurs when the party who leads the government has the most seats but not more than the opposition parties combined. A Minority Government is very unstable because the leading party can be outvoted on any issue and decisions cannot be made. The leading party must ally itself with the other parties in order to get bills passed and decisions made. If the leading party is outvoted in parliament (non-confidence vote), people lose confidence in the government, parliament dissolves and a new election is called.

The Government P.M. Cabinet Shadow Cabinet Leader The Opposition Official Conservatives Other Bloc Quebecois NDP Speaker Sergeant at Arms Hansard The House of Commons

CANADA’S VOTING SYSTEM: Single Member Plurality (FPTP)

“First Past the Post” The candidate who receives the highest number of votes in their riding. –Don’t have to have a majority, just have to beat the other candidates in total vote count Seen as simple and straightforward, but doesn’t always reflect the views of the population

“Proportional Representation” Another option is proportional representation. This would mean that each party would get the same number of seats as they would the percentage of popular vote. The difficulty is keeping local representation in these cases.