Key Institutions of our Government System

The institutions that make up our Federal Government include:

• The Queen
• The Senate
• The House of Commons
• Political Parties
• The Prime Minister
• Cabinet
• Speakers

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 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.

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.

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.