•What
are the big ideas and topics in this
book and course? (pg 2)
•Where can we find key terms and important
information quickly in this book?
•How do I know what's important?
 Issue
 Perspective
 Point
of view
 Quality of life****
 Rights
 Society
 Governance***
 Political System***
 Economic System***
 How
does governance connect to
citizenship and Identity?
 How does economics connect to
citizenship and identity?
 What is Quality of life and what factors
effect it?
 Quality
of life is a measure of person and
their collective well being
 What are the most important factors that
affect your quality of life?
 Make a list of things that reflect who you
are and what important to you. Then rate
them, with 1 being the most important
 Why
are some factors more important?
 How might the list be different if this
discussion was taking place in another
country?
 How might the list of these children be
different then your own?
 Who
has the better quality of life?
 Why do you say that?
 What evidence do you have to support
this?
 How do issues affect quality of life?
• Issues exist because people have different
opinions
• A persons opinion will affect how they respond
to issues
 What
Issues are currently making
headlines? what issues are your families
talking about?
 Example: Gun Control, pgs 10-11
 Gun Control in the USA
 Flip
through the Newspapers and find an
issue that is being discussed in society
• What is the issue?
• Why is this an issue? What led to the
controversy?
• Does this issue effect you? Who does it effect?
 Chapter
1
How Effectively does Canada's federal
political system govern Canada for all
Canadians?
 Govern
 Governance
 Government
 What
is the structure of Canada’s federal
political system?
 How do laws become laws?
 How do the media connect Canadians to
their federal government?
 What do lobbyists do?
 Read
the captions for all the pictures on
pg 16 and 17
• What is the first thing you notice when
comparing the pictures?
• How is Canada governed differently today then
in 1867?
Monarch of
Britain
The Executive
Branch
The legislative
Branch
The Judicial
Branch
 Proposes
most laws
 Puts laws into action
 Runs day to day business of the
government
 Includes the Prime minister and the
cabinet
 The
Prime Minister is the head of
Canada's government and is the elected
leader of a political party
 The prime minister is also an elected MP
• Stephen Harper- Calgary Southwest
 The
Cabinet are members of the elected
political part that are given specific jobs
ex. Minister of the environment
 Includes
the House of commons, the senate
and the governor general
 The major law making body in the federal
system
 the house is composed of MP’s (members of
parliament) who are voted in by the public.
1 MP represents one riding or district
(based on population)

Spruce Grove MP- Rona Ambrose
 The MP’s debate study
• Ex. GST vote and debate
and vote on laws
 Pg
28
 Class election
 Who’s in charge depends on who has the
most seats in the house
 To have a majority, 1 party needs to have
more then 50% of the total number of
seats.
 Minority governments typically have
trouble, as they do not have the power to
invoke laws easily.
 MP’s
have two roles
• Represent the constituents
• Create legislation for peace, order and good
government
 MP’s
are voted in, but they don’t
necessarily have to have 50% of the vote
in their riding
 Members
of Canada’s Senate are called
Senators
 Senators are not elected, the are appointed
by the Prime Minister
 Senators represent the rights and interests of
Canada’s regions and minorities
 The Senate can propose laws, but they
usually only consider bills, giving them a
second look before passing them
 A law cannot be passed without the approval
of the house of commons and the senate
 Why
is the senate important? Who’s
voice and opinions might get drowned
out if the senate was not in place?
• Hint 1- think of ethnic groups
• Hint 2- think of regions of Canada and their
population
 Representation
in the House vs.
Representation in the Senate
• Pg 33
 Includes
Canada's courts of law. All
members of the Judicial branch come
from the legal profession
 The Judicial Branch interprets and
applies the laws
• Acts as a check on the powers of the other
branches
 Quick
review of the Federal Political
System
 Complete Federal Political Structure
Handout
 Making
a law is easy right?
• PM for a day comic
 Laws
are created or amended in
response to issues relevant to Canadians.
 Any member of the House of Commons
or Senate may introduce a bill; however,
the majority of bills are introduced by the
Cabinet.
House of
Commons
Senate
Royal
Assent
 The
Federal Accountability Act- Pg 39
 Pg 40-41
 After
a bill has been approved by both
the House of Commons and the Senate,
the Governor General gives Royal Assent
and the bill officially becomes a law.
 Can
you think of an issue that effects life
for Canadians? Now is your change to
show how you would put a law in place to
address this issue.
 Complete Lawmakers activity
 Media
- the means of communication that
reach or influence people widely
Ex) internet, newspapers, radio, TV,
blogs, Twitter
 Technology has increased the speed at
which news travels, therefore, the media
play an increasingly important role in
shaping how Canadians view issues
 The
freedom of the press is guaranteed
under the Canadian Charter of Rights
and Freedoms.
 Over 350 news agencies report on the
actions of the Canadian government as
part of the Parliamentary Press Gallery
 It is important to remember that
journalists make decisions about what
stories to cover and whose perspectives
to include.
 Political
parties employ public relations
specialists to help them get their desired
message across.
 They often try to control information
available to the media through press
conferences and formal press releases.
 Media savvy politicians will often use
memorable quotes or “sound-bites” to
get their point across.
A
common technique by the
Parliamentary Press Gallery is to
surround politicians exiting sessions of
parliament and bombard them with
questions.
 Members
of a political party are expected to
“tow the party line” - to keep their comments in
line with the platform of the party they
represent.
 Politicians who make comments that are out of
line are often forced to apologize and can face
punishment within the party, such as removal
from a cabinet position or even being kicked
out of the party.
Ex) Carolyn Parrish
• Summary of Offences
• This Hour has 22 Minutes
 Bias
is an opinion bases on unchallenged
assumptions
• It is rooted in someone's point of view
 Read
the article on pg 49
• Can you detect the bias?
• Answer the question as a class
A
lobbyist is someone who is hired to
influence MP’s and government officials
 Lobbyists must be registered with the
Commissioner of Lobbyists and must
document which MP’s and government
officials they work with
 Can you think of a group that a lobbyist
might work for?
 Examples:
• Smoking lobbyists
• Oil companies
• Gay rights
• Aboriginal rights
• Food safety
 Complete
Lobbyists Assignment