Canada’s Government: Introduction

Representative Democracy Democracy: a government where power is held by elected persons. It is also a belief in equality and citizen’s voice. Direct Democracy Representative Democracy A system where voters have one vote each in the government. This system only works in a very small population of voters. Eg. Ancient Athens –approximately 300 “citizens” had the vote and they all met to vote in laws. (All others were “property” or “chattel”) Eg. In the class, each of you would have a vote (If it was a democracy…which it isn’t! ) A system where voters in a district or riding (eg. Coquitlam) vote for one person to represent their wishes when the government meets. This system is necessary in a large population. Eg. Coquitlam/Port Coquitlam –Federal MP. Ron McKinnon Liberal Party

Historical Roots of Canadian Government British System (and a little bit of the French leftover!) British North America Act-1867 was the first part of our Constitution and then… Monarchy as the Head of State (Governor General is the monarch’s representative in Canada) House of Commons- elected officials who run the country Senate- appointed persons who do a “second Look” at laws and analyze constitutional issue(was the House of Lords in Britain) ***a bit of Napoleonic code leftover in Quebec’s provincial level from New France’s days-but not much…know why???

Levels of Government

Branches of Government