The Canadian government system is commonly known as a constitutional monarchy and a representative democracy. What does that mean? It means that we have a monarch. The Queen of England is also the Queen of Canada and her roles are fulfilled by the Queen's representative called the Governor General when the Queen is not present in Canada. Both of them are only involved in ceremonial matters and the Governor General is appointed based on recommendations by the Canadian Government. What about the democracy that is represent in the government? We are also a representative democracy,which means that power is vested into a certain politician by the people. These politicians try to listen to the public and decide on the interests of the people. The prime minister of Canada is the head of the government and is elected based on the rules of representative democracy. He basically controls the entire country! Canadian government is also composed of a party system. Representatives from all three levels of government (federal, provincial, and municipal) belong to a political party. A political party is basically an political organization that groups people based on their ideologies and plans on how to govern based on those ideologies. The major parties that are dominant in Canadian politics today are the Liberal party, the NDP, the Bloc Quebecois, and the Conservative Party.
Our current prime minister, Stephen Harper.
Our current governor general, David Johnson.
Structure
Power within Canada is distributed through three levels of government: federal, provincial and municipal. You might be wondering, what decision are handled by which level of government?
Federal: Decisions made at the federal are on behalf of all citizens of Canada. This includes the military, postal services, the national police force (which is the RCMP), and the collection of federal taxes.
Provincial: They make decisions that are best handled locally. Some of the things they managed are highways, healthcare, and education.
Municipal: The people within the municipal government have the closest contact with individual people living in the community and manage public transit, garbage removal, and the sewage system.
The three levels of government are further divided into three branches: executive, legislative, and judiciary.
The executive branch administers the entire country, province, or city and to carry out laws.
At the federal level, they are composed of:
- Monarch/Governor General
- The Prime Minister
- Members of the Cabinet
The legislative branch has the power to make, repeal, and change laws.
- Monarch/Governor General
- House of Commons
- Senate
The House of Commons
The House of Commons is composed of 308 members. Members are elected from their riding (a region with 100,000 people) to go to the capital, Ottawa, to represent their party. The members are known as Member of Parliament or MP for short. In the House of Commons, MPs discuss, propose, and debate about bills. These people are the brains of Canada. In the Senate, senators are appointed by the Governor General based on advice from the Prime Minister. They are considered the "sober second thought." Since they rarely reject bills proposed by the House of Commons, they have been criticized for receiving high wages while doing almost nothing.
The judiciary branch interprets the meaning and the intent of laws and the constitution.This branch includes the Supreme Court and federal or provincial judges. The municipal government does not have a judiciary branch.
The basis for this division of power lies within the constitution, which itself is made of four parts.
1. The Constitution Act of 1867 (also known as the British North American Act) describes the authority, parts, and functions of the Parliament and the provincial legislatures.
2. The Charter of the Rights and Freedom is a relatively new addition to the constitution and was signed into the law on April 17, 1982. The charter states the basic rights and freedoms of all Canadians and permanent residents.
3. The Amending formula sets how the constitution itself can be changed. In order to change the constitution, politicians must follow the 7/50 formula and gain approval from 2/3 of legislative assemblies (which is about 7 legislative assemblies). The seven assemblies must also add up to 50% of Canada's total population.
4. The Magna Carta contains traditions which date back to 1215 in England. It contains the basis structure of the Canadian Government which includes the monarch as the head of state, political parties, the office of the prime minister, and the Elections Act.
The basis for this division of power lies within the constitution, which itself is made of four parts.
1. The Constitution Act of 1867 (also known as the British North American Act) describes the authority, parts, and functions of the Parliament and the provincial legislatures.
2. The Charter of the Rights and Freedom is a relatively new addition to the constitution and was signed into the law on April 17, 1982. The charter states the basic rights and freedoms of all Canadians and permanent residents.
3. The Amending formula sets how the constitution itself can be changed. In order to change the constitution, politicians must follow the 7/50 formula and gain approval from 2/3 of legislative assemblies (which is about 7 legislative assemblies). The seven assemblies must also add up to 50% of Canada's total population.
4. The Magna Carta contains traditions which date back to 1215 in England. It contains the basis structure of the Canadian Government which includes the monarch as the head of state, political parties, the office of the prime minister, and the Elections Act.
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