Key Institutions of our Government System
The institutions that make up our Federal Government include:
Queen
The Queen is Canada’s Head of State, and is represented at the federal
level by the Governor General, and at the provincial level by the Lieutenant
Governors. The Governor General is appointed by the Queen on the advice of the
Prime Minister. Since 1952, Canada’s Governors General have been
Canadian-born, putting an end to the earlier tradition of appointing British
citizens to represent the Crown in Canada.
The Governor General opens each new session of Parliament by reading the Speech
from the Throne. The Speech sets out the vision of the government for the
country and the policies and actions it plans to take.
No federal or provincial bill becomes law without the Royal Assent given by
the Governor General or Lieutenant Governor (or by an appointed representative).
The Senate
The Senate ordinarily has 105 members, representing every province and
territory: 24 come from the Maritime provinces; 24 from Quebec; 24 from Ontario;
24 from the Western provinces; six from Newfoundland; and one from each of the
territories.
Senators are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime
Minister. They hold office until age 75. Senators have come from a wide
diversity of personal and professional backgrounds, including former government
Ministers, Premiers of provinces, mayors, lawyers, journalists, teachers,
clergy, farmers, athletes and performers.
The Senate considers and suggests changes to bills coming from the House
of Commons. No bill can become law without being passed by the Senate.
Senators can also introduce bills, as long as the bills do not involve the
collecting or spending of money.
Like the House of Commons, most of the Senate’s work is done in committees.
Senate committees go over bills clause by clause and hear from witnesses. The
Senate also reviews public policy issues important to Canadians.
The House of Commons
Most federal laws, including all bills that involve raising revenue or
spending money, are introduced in the House of Commons*. Each Member of the House
of Commons represents one of Canada’s 301 constituencies, or ridings.
Members of Parliament are chosen in federal elections that usually take
place every three or four years. The candidate in each riding who gets the
greatest number of votes is the one who is elected, even if the number of votes
is less than half the total.
Political Parties
Canada’s system of government is greatly influenced by the role of
political parties. They are voluntary associations of citizens who hold similar
opinions on issues affecting our country.
Almost all candidates in federal elections represent one of Canada’s political
parties. The party that wins the greatest number of ridings in a federal
election normally forms the government and its leader is asked by the Governor
General to form a government and become Prime
Minister. Usually the
party with the second largest number of votes forms the Official Opposition
and its leader is recognized as the Leader of the Official Opposition.
Today five political parties are represented in the House of Commons.
The Prime Minister
The Prime Minister is a Member of Parliament and is usually the leader of the
political party that has the greatest number of seats in the House of Commons.
The Prime Minister is the head of government.
The Cabinet
The Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet, whose members, if not already
sitting in Parliament, must be prepared to win a seat in a reasonable time. Almost
all members of the Cabinet, or Ministers, are responsible for a specific
portfolio related to an area of public concern, for example, health, finance,
industry, the environment, or immigration. The Prime Minister also chooses
Ministers with an eye to building a team that broadly reflects Canadian society
– with diversity in terms of region, language, gender, and background.
By tradition, every province has at least one Cabinet Minister. If there are
no government Members from a certain province, the Prime Minister may choose a
Senator from that province to sit in Cabinet, or may even choose a private
citizen who must then run for a seat in Parliament within a reasonable time.
Speakers
The Speaker of the Senate is appointed by the Governor General on the
recommendation of the Prime Minister. The Speaker of the House of Commons is a
Member of the House and is elected by Members by secret ballot before a new
Parliament opens.
The role of the Speaker is to ensure fairness prevails in the House of
Commons and that the rules of Parliament apply equally to all Members – from
the Prime Minister to a backbench member of the smallest Opposition party.
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