Government and Political Process CHV20: Structure of Government in Canada

Review Constitutional Monarchy- which means? Three level of Government- they are…? Each is responsible for… The political spectrum is… Some basic left wing ideas are… Some basic right wing ideas are…

Voting (review) The age to vote in Canada (and in any province or municipal election) is… Our voting system is called the… What is the biggest issue with this system? A political party is… The major political parties in Canada are… The major political parties in Ontario are… Where do they fit on the political spectrum…

Election Results The country is organized into ridings- currently 308 The province is organized into ridings- currently 107 Anyone who wished to run for office must campaign within a riding (and are usually a candidate from a political party) If they win in a federal election they are called the Member of Parliament for their riding If they win in a provincial election they are called the Member of Provincial Parliament for their riding Ridings are roughly boundaries that carry an average of 100,000 people

Election Results Canada is a representative democracy In a federal election, whichever political party wins the most ridings (seats), that party gets the mandate to form the government- the leader of that party becomes the PM In a provincial election, whichever political party wins the most ridings (seats), that party gets the mandate to form the government- the leader of that party becomes the Premier

Election Results Once in power a government tries to create and pass laws To do so, the MPs and MPPs read ideas (bills) and vote on them Because of our democratic system, MPs and MPPs of the same political parties 99% of time will vote the same way for bills Therefore if your party (federally and provincially) has more seats than all of the other parties combined you can pass any law you wish Therefore if your party has less than all of the other parties combined….well, now we have a problem, because wont they always just vote against the party in power?

Election Results Majority Government- a government that is formed that wins more than half of the seats in the House of Commons (Federal) or Provincial Legislature (Provincial) http://www.parl.gc.ca/SenatorsMembers/House/PartyStandings/standings-e.htm Minority Government- a government that is formed by a party that wins half or fewer than half of the seats in the House of Commons or Provincial Legislature

Activity Let us see how this actually works…

*Coalition There is one other type of government that occurs in most democratic nations and has happened in Canada as well- yet not recently A coalition government is when two or more political parties form a majority government in the House of Commons or Provincial Legislature by having a greater total number of seats than any other single party 2008 The Liberal Party, the NDP and the Bloc agreed to ask the Governor General for the right to govern the country as a coalition Before they go to so, PM Harper asked the Governor General to prorogue the government (shut it down)…and it did for 6 months