1. LINC 3 Government of Alberta

2. The Queen The Queen is the head of the government for all of Canada. She is also the Queen of Alberta.

3. Lieutenant Governor The Queen doesn’t live in Alberta. The person who takes her place in Alberta is called the Lieutenant Governor.

4. The Premier The Premier is the person in charge of the government in Alberta. Our premier’s name is Alison Redford. She is the leader of the Conservative Party. The Conservative Party has been the government party in Alberta since 1971.

5. There are 3 other major political parties in Alberta. The New Democratic Party The Liberal Party Wild Rose Party

6. Elections When there is an election the party that gets the most votes becomes the government. The other parties are called the Opposition Parties. They try to get the government to do the things they would do if they were the government.

7. Members of the Legislature - MLAs The people who get elected are called MLAs. This means Members of the Legislative Assembly. (legislation = laws) The MLAs make the laws for the province.

8. The Alberta Legislature The Alberta Legislative Building is in Edmonton because Edmonton is the capital city of Alberta.

9. The Mace When the MLAs meet to make laws, the mace is on a large table in the middle of the room.

10. There are 83 ridings in Alberta. One MLA gets elected in each riding.

11. Each MLA has a special place to sit. The government and the opposition members usually sit across from each other.

12. The Speaker When the MLAs meet to make laws, the Speaker is in charge of the meeting. The speaker wears special clothes and this hat when he/she is in the Legislature.

13. Every time an MLA wants to speak he/ she has to have permission from the Speaker.

14. Making Laws The members have to study and talk about each new law 3 times before they can pass it.

15. Then the Lieutenant Governor signs the bill and it becomes the law for the people of Alberta.

16. This is how democracy works in our province!

17. In Edmonton, we have a municipal government. We elected a mayor and 12 councilors last week. They meet to make by-laws for the people of Edmonton. These by-laws are about things like buses, snow removal and recycling.

18. For federal elections there are 308 ridings. Some ridings are very big. In places where the population is very large, the ridings are much smaller.