Canadian Government
Introduction
What is a Government?
One of the oldest and most important
institutions since the dawn of civilization is
government. The term government means a
group which exercises power. Every society
needs people to make decisions and enforce
decisions that affect the conduct of the group.
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Elements of Governments
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There are a number of common elements found in all
governments. They are:
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Rules of Conduct: Rules to govern the lives of its members.
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Authority: The people are governed by a supreme power or
authority.
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Acceptance: The people give the government the right to exercise
power.
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Jurisdiction: The area over which the government had the right or
power to enforce rules or laws.
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Law Enforcement: The power and ability to impose the
government’s rules and laws.
Types of Government
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Anarchism: The absence of government. The people believe
that the government conflicts with personal liberty and are
unnecessary.
They would get rid of all public governments and lets only
individuals and private groups govern the activities of a
country.
 Just as many people view this type of
government as Chaos as those who see it as
Utopia. Either way, this type of government has
proved ineffective for growth and development
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Dictatorship: When a ruler or rulers have no
restrictions on their power. They have exclusive
control over the government and the people have
little to no say in the running of the country. A
dictator usually obtains and maintains their
power through violence and trickery.
Totalitarianism: An extreme version of
dictatorship when the government not only
controls the running of the country, but also
the daily lives of it’s citizens. They destroy
institutions like churches, unions, and
corporations and demand total loyalty to the
government. They use force and terrorism
to enforce their rule.
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Communism: The government is tightly controlled by one, and
the only, political party. There is no freedom of choice for the
leaders and the people have little to no say in the running of the
government. The Communist Party’s job is to run the businesses,
pool resources, and decide who gets what. There
are no private enterprises and many restrictions on
what citizens can own, what groups they can
belong to, and what they can say and do.
 Monarchy: A form of government in which the
head of state inherits or is elected to the throne for a
lifetime. Monarchs have a variety on names such as
queen, prince, emperor, ni a variety of governments.
Traditionally the monarch’s power is absolute and
was responsible only to God. Today many
remaining monarchs’ power is symbolic, leaving the
running of their countries to the various governing
bodies.
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Democracy: In a direct democracy, the people govern
themselves. They make laws for theitr community together.
However this only works in small communities where
everyone has a direct voice in decisions made.
Larger communities have indirect democracy.
Representatives are elected by communities to
represent them when decisions are made by the
government. They are elected by a vote.
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In a democratic country, people have almost
unlimited opportunities to make the government
truly representative. Many people take part in the
process of their government by supporting a
political party. Political parties run against each
other. The party who gets the most votes by the
citizens generally create the government.
A democratic government with a capitalist or mixed economy
has provided greater prosperity for more people without major
sacrifices of personal liberty than any other system of
government.
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Pluralism: is found in countries where public
and private groups have acceptance and can
affect the way a country is run. Groups
representing business, farming, labour, ethnic,
or racial groups can affect the way a country is
run.
 Constitutional and Parliamentary: Most
major countries have some sort of constitution
in place. It is a basic set of laws by which the
people are governed. Parliamentary or cabinet
governments means the country is governed by
a representative group. In Canada, the Prime
Minister and Cabinet are the top executives but
and also members of parliament- they are under
its direct control and are responsible to it. A
country can be run under a parliamentary
government that abides by a constitution.
Questions
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Why does Canada need a gov’t system?
What are the pros and cons of the
Canadian gov’t system?
If you had to change our gov’t to a
different system, which system would you
choose and why?
Function of Government
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A government is the machinery set up by individuals
to enable them to do what other cannot do on their
own. Without some form of government there would
be no order or protection for people and their
property. A government’s basic task is to make a set
of laws to allow people in a society to live together in
peace and security. A government also makes sure
laws are obeyed and sets up punishment or penalties
that protect the interests of the people as a whole
against the greed or ambition of any one person or
group.
Tasks
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There are many different kings of governments
but they all carry out three main tasks or
functions. They are legislative, executive, and
judicial. The legislative function is the making
of laws or the passing of legislation. The
executive function is putting the laws into
effect on a daily basis. The judicial function is
to decide if an individual has broken societal
laws and to bring justice.
Canada’s Government
The government of Canada has been described
as a democracy, a monarchy, a parliamentary
system, a cabinet government, and a federal
government.
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Canada is considered a democracy because we
use a system where the citizens of the country
freely choose the people who will govern
them. We elect others to represent us in
governing the country by voting.
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Canada’s government has also been described
as a monarchy.
We are still part of the British Commonwealth;
therefore, Queen Elisabeth II of England is
also the queen of Canada.
She is represented by the governor general.
Even though they are technically at the top of
the governmental hierarchy, neither the Queen
nor the Governor General play a major role in
our government.
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Canada’s government has also been
described as a parliamentary
government and a cabinet
government. Our parliament consists
of the Governor General, the Senate,
and the House of Commons.
The Cabinet consists of members of the
House of Commons or Senate who are
elected by the Prime Minister into the
Cabinet in order to deal with the many
issues facing Canadians today.
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Our government is also referred to as a federal system of
government. This means our government has a system in
which the power to make laws is shared between two levels of
government- a national or central government (federal) and
provincial governments. Within the provinces, there are
municipal governments that look after towns and/or districts.
All three work independently for the common good of all of
Canada.
Canada’s Government
Questions:
What is overall the function of the
government?
 What is the function of the Governor
General?
 What are the three levels of the
Canadian government?
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The Prime Minister
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The head or leader of Canada is called the Prime
Minister. He or she is also the leader of the majority
party in the House of Commons and id directly
elected by the people. The office of the Prime
Minister has no fixed term. However, general
elections are held every five years. The Prime
Minister holds office only with the backing of the
majority. If a Prime Minister loses support through a
vote of non confidence by the House of Commons,
he/she must resign to request the Governor General to
call a new general election.
Well Known Prime Ministers of
Canada
Sir John A Macdonald
1867- 1873
Sir Wilfred Laurier
1911- 1917
John G Diefenbaker
1957-1963
Pierre Elloitt
Trudeau
1968-1979
1980- 1984
John Chrétien
1993- 2003
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The Prime Minister is the most powerful person in
the government, He/she chooses the Ministers for the
Cabinet and can also ask any one of them to resign.
Cabinet decisions do not necessarily go by majority
vote. A strong Prime Minister, after having listened
to everyone’s opinions and advice, simply announces
that his or her view is the policy of the government,
even if most of the Cabinet are opposed. The Cabinet
Ministers who are opposed either resign or accept the
Prime Minister’s decision.
The Prime Minister lives in an official residence in
Ottawa Ontario. The house is maintained by the
Canadian Government.
Prime Minister’s House in Ottawa,
Ontario
The Cabinet
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The Prime Minister’s Cabinet is made up of approx. 30
ministers. These ministers are chosen by the Prime Minister
from the majority party in the House of Commons.
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The Cabinet is a powerful part of the Canadian Government It
is important because it is the executive of the country. The
Cabinet and the Prime Minister decide the policies the
Government will follow.
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Each province must be represented by at least one minister.
Each minister is given a portfolio which means that he or she
is responsible for a government department. Each minister
also has a deputy minister who is a permanent head of the
department.
Backbenchers
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Members of the governing party who are not in the
cabinet are called backbenchers because their seats in
the House of Commons are behind those of the
Cabinet Minister. Cabinet Ministers must convince
the other members of their party in the House of
Commons that the policies proposed by the Cabinet
are the right ones. The backbenchers want to be able
to support government or Cabinet policies but they do
not want to see the party adopt policies that go
against the wishes of the people who have elected
them. This is why the proposal of new bills and
policies is a delicate operation.
Parliament
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On January 1, 1858, Queen Victoria declared Ottawa to be the
capital of Canada. Barracks Hill was chosen as the site of the
future government buildings because of its view of the Ottawa
River. On September 1, 1860 the Prince of Wales laid the
cornerstone.
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The building is made up of several different sections including
The Parliament Centre Block that holds the House of
Commons and the Senate, the Confederation Hall which is the
most lavishly adorned, The Great Hall of Honour which holds
marble carvings that commemorate events and distinguished
Canadians, The Peace Tower which is revered as one of the
finest gothic structures in the world. It holds 53 bells that
honor the soldiers that lost their lives in WWI. There is also
the Memorial Chamber, and the gothic parliament library
which holds rare bibles, war documents, and thousands of
books dating back to 1764.
Parliament before the fire of 1916
Parliament and the Changing of the Guards
Parliament overlooking the Ottawa River
Above: Entrance Hal
Below: Parliament Library
House of Commons
Senate Chambers
Parliament
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Parliament consists of the Queen represented
by the Governor General, the Senate, and the
House of Commons.
The upper house is called the Senate and the
lower house is called the House of Commons.
Members of Parliament or of a Provincial
Legislature are normally elected for no more
than five years.
The House of Commons
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The House of Commons or Lower House has 308
seats. Members of the house are elected by the
people during an election. Each member of the house
represents a constituency (district) of a province of
territory.
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Parliament sits about 27 weeks of the year. Sitting
starts in September and usually continues until June
which breaks to permit the house members to work in
their regions or ridings.
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Parliament begins with a speech from the throne
made by the Governor General and ends by being
dissolved.
Members of Parliament
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An MP is a federal representative who represents people who
live in a voting area called a constituency. The number of
federal representatives is affected by the changes in
population.
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The MPs from all over Canada form a group called the House
of Commons. All the MPs meet in the Parliament Building in
Ottawa and talk about the country’s business and things that
affect the people.
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An good MP learns about Canada’s problems and how to solve
them. An MPs main job is to inform their constituents about
new laws and policies and how they may affect them. They
report to their constituents through meetings, phone calls,
letters, newsletters, and often an internet website. They travel
from Ottawa to their constituency several times a year.
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Each sitting in Parliament has its own agenda. On the
agenda will be routine business, committee reports,
Minister’s Statements, presentations of petitions,
introduction of bills and debating legislation.
The best part of each day’s sitting is the Question
Period. Here the Members of the House can ask the
ministers all kids of question about their departments
and policies.
Question Period can get rather heated. It is the
Speaker of the House’s job to make sure the members
of the House follow parliamentary rules and behave
themselves in the House.
Canadian Constituencies
Area
Seats
Ontario
106
Quebec
75
British Columbia
36
Alberta
28
Manitoba
14
Saskatchewan
14
Nova Scotia
11
New Brunswick
10
NFLD
7
PEI
4
Northwest Territories
1
Yukon Territory
1
Nunavut
1
TOTAL
308
Question Period
The Senate
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The Senate or Upper House is made up of 104 men
and women. The members are appointed by the
Governor General on the recommendation of the
Prime Minister. Usually an appointment to the
Senate is given as a reward for service to the country.
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Senators must be at least 30 to be appointed and must
retire at 75. They must reside in the province or
territory for which they are appointed and own real
estate worth $4000.
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The Senate is made up of members who have specialized
knowledge and long years of legal, business and/or
administrative experience. They may be ex-premiers, exmayors, lawyers or experienced farmers.
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The Senate can initiate bills, amend bills, or reject bills as
often as they see fit. No bill can become law unless it has been
passed by the Senate. The Senate rarely rejects bills but often
makes amendment to bills passed by the House of Commons
to simplify or clarify.
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The Senate carefully examines each bill clause by clause. It
has also taken on the role investigating important public
problems such as poverty, unemployment, inflation, the aged,
land use, science policies, aboriginal affairs, relations with the
U.S, and the efficiency (or lack of it) of government
departments.
The Senate Chamber
The throne and chair in the background are used
by the queen and her consort,
or the governor general and his or her spouse, respectively,
during the opening of Parliament.
The speaker of the Senate employs the chair in front.
Senators