What is Government? Government is a formal system of decision making Government can also be defined as a group of people who run a country, province, territory, city, or town

Canada is a Democracy Democracy means “rule by the people” In ancient Greek cities, every eligible citizen participated directly by voting in all the decisions that affected society This is called direct democracy

Modern societies are very complex and have large populations Direct democracy is not practical Instead, many modern societies, including Canada, are representative democracies

Representative democracies are countries where people elect representatives to make decisions on their behalf

Constitutional Monarchy Canada is also a constitutional monarchy which means that the monarch – king or queen – is the head of state, but is not involved in the day to day running of government Queen Elizabeth II is our head of state

Governor General Governor General is the Queen’s representative in Canada David Johnston is the new Governor General of Canada

Constitution Democracies hold regular elections and have constitutions A constitution is the supreme law of the land It sets out roles and responsibilities of the different levels of government as well as the limits on the government’s power

Canada’s constitution includes a Charter of Rights and Freedoms which outlines the basic rights that all Canadians are entitled to

Canada is called a constitutional monarchy because the powers and responsibilities of the monarch are subject to the laws set forth in the Constitution Even the monarch has to obey the law!

Responsible Government Canada is not only a representative democracy and constitutional monarchy, but we also have responsible government Responsible government is when the people who are elected have to do what the people want, or they will not get elected again

Levels of Government In Canada, there are three levels of government: Federal Provincial or territorial Municipal

Federal Government Federal is the national or central government which is in charge of running the entire country The head of the federal government is the prime minister Prime Minister is Stephen Harper

Members of Parliament (MPs) Canadians elect Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons to represent them Our MP is Nathan Cullen – he is the Member of Parliament for the Skeena- Bulkley Valley

The Parliament of Canada is located in Ottawa

Federal Responsibilities The federal government in Ottawa is responsible for matters that affect or are very important to the nation as a whole These include: National Defence Foreign Policy Aboriginal Affairs Postal Services Banking System Marriage & Divorce Law Criminal Law Federal Prisons

Provincial or Territorial Government Provincial or territorial governments are regional governments that are acting on behalf of their own residents

The head of a provincial or territorial government is the premier British Columbia’s Premier is Christy Clark

Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) British Columbians elect Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) to represent them Our MLA is John Rustad – he is the MLA for Prince George Omineca

The Legislature Buildings are located in Victoria

Provincial Responsibilities Provinces and territories have jurisdiction over areas that are “best handled locally” These include: Culture Community and Social Services Education Energy Health Municipal Affairs Tourism Transportation

Municipal Governments Municipal governments are ones that run a city, town, village, county, or region. There are about 4000 municipal governments across Canada

This level of government has the greatest amount of contact with individual citizens.

The head of a municipal government is a mayor Our mayor is Rob MacDougall

We also elect city councillors or aldermen to represent us on council. Fort St. James has four city councillors – Dave Birdi, Brenda Gouglas, Kris Nielsen, and Brad Miller

Municipal Responsibilities Municipal governments are in charge of local matters Business licensing Streets and sidewalks Parks, swimming pools, ice rinks, and libraries Water supply Fire protection Policing (sometimes) Garbage collection and disposal Sewage treatment

Elections Countries that are democracies hold regular elections so citizens can choose those people who represent them A federal election must be held at least once every 5 years The last federal election was May 2, 2011

A provincial election must be held at least once every 5 years In BC, we have a fixed election date – a provincial election is held every 4 years in May – last one was May 14, 2013 Municipal elections are held every 2 to 3 years – usually in November in BC Last year, municipal elections took place on November 17, 2014