1. How Does the Provincial Government Function
Chapter 9

2. Did You Know?
Alberta’s first session of government resulted in the following legislation:
Edmonton would remain as the capital of Alberta
Provincial courts are established
6 railways would be started
The University of Alberta was founded
140 school districts would be approved
Speed limits of 5-20 miles per hour were set

3. What Provincial Topics Spark Debate?
There Are key issues on page 244 that spark debate among Albertans, lets read them together and discuss possible solutions to these topics
Are there any other topics you can think of that spark debate in our province?

4. How is Provincial Government Structured
Lesson 9.2

5. Time for Parties!
Together we will read pages and learn some key vocabulary words:
Political Parties – A group of people who have similar ideas about how to run the province, and have grouped together to take action.
Political parties nominate candidates to run for provincial elections for the Legislative Assembly.
Independents: People who run for election without belonging to a party because they hold their own beliefs about government.

6. Inside the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
Has 83 elected representatives called Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA’s). Winning an election gives a representative the right to a seat in the assembly.
Each seat matches an area of the province called a constituency.
Whichever party has the most seats in the assembly froms the government of the province. Parties that have fewer seats form the opposition. The opposition has different ideas and challenges the ideas the government puts forward.
The party with the second-largest number of elected representatives is called the Official Opposition.

7. Roles of Political Parties Forming the Government
Have more MLA’s than the parties forming the opposition
Holds specific ideas
Defends its ideas through debate with the opposition
Collects and spends taxes
Defends how it handles topics of concern

8. Roles of Political Parties Forming the Opposition
Fewer MLA’s then the party forming the government
Have different ideas than the party forming the government
Challenge the government ideas through debate
Challenge how much the government collects in taxes and how it spends taxes
Inform the public about topics of concern, challenge government's actions on these topics.
PAUSE! How do political parties help people with different points of view and perspectives have a voice in provincial decision making?