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Canada's System of Government

Canada is a Constitutional Monarchy

This means that the formal head of Canada is a monarch - a queen or king - whose powers are limited by the Constitution - a set of basic rules and principles that set out what Canada's governments are responsible for as well as the rights and freedoms that are guaranteed to all Canadians.

In this system, the monarch reigns but does not govern. Instead, he or she acts on the advice of the Prime Minister or Premier and Cabinet. But no federal or provincial bills can become law without the "assent" of the monarch. The monarch also appoints the Prime Minister to be the leader of our country based on whether he or she can command "the confidence of the House" which means being able to maintain a majority of votes in the House of Commons. The person deemed to have this is usually the MP who leads the political party with the majority of elected MPs. However, when there has been no party with a clear majority of MPs or "seats" in the House, Prime Ministers have been able to run what is called a minority government by maintaining the confidence of opposition parties.

Canada's current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II. But because the Queen of Canada lives in the United Kingdom, the Governor General fulfills her duties on her behalf. The Governor General is appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister. At the provincial level, the Queen is represented by lieutenant-governors, appointed on the advice of the Prime Minister.

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Canada is a Parliamentary Democracy

Canadians elect people who they send to "assemblies" or "houses" of Parliament to represent their interests. All Canadian citizens who are over 18 can vote in federal elections to send a representative to the House of Commons.

The Parliament of Canada consists of the Queen, the Senate and the House of Commons. The House of Commons is the elected body. Each member of the House of Commons represents one of 301 "constituencies" or ridings. Ridings are geographical sections of Canada that have approximately the same number of people living in them. In an election, the person who becomes the Member of Parliament or MP gets the most number of votes of the people who live in the constituency.

The Senate, also called the Upper House, is patterned after the British House of Lords. Its 105 members are appointed, not elected, and are divided essentially among Canada's four main regions of Ontario, Quebec, the West and the Atlantic Provinces.

The same system of democracy applies in all of Canada's ten provinces and two of the territories. The equivalent of the House of Commons is the provincial legislative assembly. None of the provinces has a Senate.

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Canada Has a Federal System of Government

There are three different kinds - or branches - of power involved in running a democratic country or state: executive, legislative and judicial. Executive powers concern the decisions that need to be made to govern, including what needs to be done and what to spend money on. Legislative powers refer to proposing, making or changing laws. And judicial powers involve upholding the laws that are passed by the Parliament and making sure that they are fair.

In Canada's parliamentary democracy, the government or executive sits as part of the legislature, which means that executive and legislative powers are fused together. The Prime Minister and the Ministers he or she selects to form the Cabinet, usually MPs from the same political party, fulfill the executive functions of the government and direct most of the legislative business of Parliament. For example, a proposed law or "bill" that involves raising or spending money can only be introduced into Parliament by a Minister. However, all MPs can vote on all proposed legislation, and together, their job is to keep the government responsible.

Canada's judiciary operates independently from government. The judiciary includes the Supreme Court of Canada and the courts in the provinces and territories. If governments act above the law, break the law, or exercise powers the law has not given them, they can be stopped in the courts by our independent judiciary.

Canada's central government is its federal government. However, the areas of responsibility are not the same for the federal and provincial governments. For example, the governments of the ten provinces are responsible for public education and the delivery of health care services. But, they operate the same way as the federal government, with both executive and legislative powers combined in the Premier and his or her Cabinet, and with all members of their provincial legislative assemblies responsible for holding the provincial government accountable.

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The Parts of the Federal Government

Head of State

Our monarch, Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state. Canada's Governor General is the Queen's representative in Canada. The Queen appoints a person recommended by the Prime Minister to serve as Canada's Governor General. A new Governor General is usually appointed every five years.

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Parliament

Canada's Parliament enacts laws that affect all Canadians, no matter which province or territory they live in.

Currently, there are 301 seats in the House of Commons. The people who fill these seats after being elected are known as Members of Parliament, or MPs. Most MPs belong to a political party. The party that wins the largest number of seats in the House of Commons after a national election forms the government. The leader of the political party with the most number of seats becomes the Prime Minister and serves as the head of government. The leader of the political party that wins the second-most number of seats in the House of Commons becomes the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition.

In the Senate, there are 105 seats. Its members - Senators - are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. Senators are Canadian citizens from all walks of life, who have made special contributions to their country, for example as volunteers, politicians, lawyers, military leaders, journalists and teachers. There are Senators appointed to represent all the regions of Canada.

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Judiciary

Judges, who as a group are known as the judiciary, are independent from Canada's government. They play an important role in ensuring that the laws governments pass and the way our governments administer or enforce those laws are fair. They interpret Canada's laws, making sure that they obey the constitution and that they respect the rights of Canadians as set out in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The highest court in the land is the Supreme Court of Canada. Nine judges sit on the Supreme Court.

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Government in Action

Deciding What to Do

The Prime Minister is the main person responsible for the decisions about what the government does, and when and how the government should do it. But he or she doesn't make those decisions alone. The Prime Minister chooses MPs and normally at least one Senator to form the Cabinet. Cabinet members are called Ministers and by tradition, there is at least one from every province and at least ten from Canada's largest provinces, Ontario and Quebec. Each Minister is responsible for a "portfolio" and most head up a related government department or agency that is concerned with specific areas of the government's business such as Health, Environment, Agriculture and Justice.

Together, the Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers discuss and debate what actions the government should take and what new legislation they will ask Parliament to approve so they can take those actions. Cabinet meets regularly and to ensure that Ministers are able to speak their minds freely, these meetings are conducted in secret. In public, Ministers stand together in support of the government's decisions. This is called "Cabinet Solidarity" and it is an important part of ensuring a stable government. Ministers are all expected to support final decisions or resign.

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Getting It Done

Once Cabinet agrees that a proposed new law is ready, it is introduced in the House of Commons (or the Senate, if it was proposed there) as a bill, presented in detailed legal language. This step is known as the first reading. The vast majority of legislation is proposed in the House of Commons. Legislation respecting the raising or spending of money can be introduced only in the House of Commons.

Then the bill receives a second reading, where MPs (or Senators) debate its main idea and vote on it "in principle." This approval in principle moves the bill forward to the next stage of review.

After passing second reading, the bill is sent to a committee that studies it carefully, "clause by clause." The committee may decide it is fine the way it is, or it may propose amendments, or suggestions for changing it.

The committee then makes a report on the bill to the House of Commons (or the Senate), where MPs (or Senators) may also propose changes. After debating any suggested amendments, MPs (or Senators) vote on each amendment. Amendments that are approved are included as changes in the bill.

When the bill is ready for final consideration by the House (or Senate) it is given a third reading. At this stage, it is debated again and voted on.

After passing third reading in the House of Commons (or Senate), the bill is sent to the Senate (or House of Commons), to go through the same three-readings process of examination, consideration and debate.

After the bill passes third reading in the Senate (or the House of Commons, if the bill came from the Senate), is it ready to be presented in the Senate to receive royal assent, or approval, from the Governor General. The bill only becomes the new law of the land after it has received royal assent.

Once a bill becomes law, government employees - public servants - start doing the work needed to bring about the changes the new law requires. If the law is challenged, it is the job of the courts to make sure these changes are legal, fair and just.

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Minority Government

Getting things done can be a lot more difficult in a minority government. This results when the political party that forms the government has won more seats in the House of Commons than any other party but still doesn't have a clear majority. In the case of the current House of Commons of 301 seats, for example, that would mean having less than 151 seats. When a bill comes up for a vote, there's a much higher risk that it will be defeated because there are more opposition MPs who could vote against the bill than there are government MPs who will support it. A vote on the government's spending plan - or budget - is seen as the test of the confidence of the House in the government. If the government loses a confidence vote, it must resign, after which there is usually an election. In some cases though, the party with the next greatest number of seats might be able to form a government and maintain the confidence of the House.

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Political Parties & Elections

Political Parties

People who want to run for a seat in Parliament almost always join a political party with a platform, or a plan for governing that sets out what they would like to see happen in the country. Political parties depend on citizens who share many of the same ideas and values and who volunteer and become members of the party. These people help to shape the party's platform, nominate candidates in constituencies to run for seats in the House during an election and help to organize and raise money for election campaigns.

When they are elected, Members of Parliament usually vote with their party when proposed new laws are put before Parliament. Canadian voters know that's how things work, and often vote for the candidate belonging to the party with a platform they like.

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Elections

After five years in power, the Prime Minister must call an election, although she or he can call one anytime before that. An election is called when the Governor General formally approves the Prime Minister's request to end, or dissolve Parliament. Then all seats in the House of Commons are available to candidates seeking election or re-election. The Prime Minister also chooses the date on which the election will be held.

Canadians 18 or older may vote in a federal election. The country is currently divided into 301 geographical areas called constituencies or ridings, and would-be members of Parliament run in one of those ridings. Branches of national political parties at the constituency level choose most of the candidates who will run in their ridings. Individuals may also run as independent candidates when they get the required number of supporters' signatures.

If the party in power before the election is re-elected with enough seats to form the government, its leader continues on as Prime Minister. However, any proposed bills that were being debated when the previous Parliament was dissolved and the election was called have to be re-introduced in the newly elected Parliament if the government still wants them to become law. If another party wins more seats they will have the chance to form a government.

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