Branches of Government in Canada PDF

Branches of Governmen t Canada’s Federal Political System  Guiding Question What is the structure of Canada’s federal political system? Branches of the Federal Government 9.1.4 Examine the structure of Canada’s federal political system. To what extent do political and leg...

Branches of Governmen t Canada’s Federal Political System  Guiding Question What is the structure of Canada’s federal political system? Branches of the Federal Government 9.1.4 Examine the structure of Canada’s federal political system. To what extent do political and legislative processes meet the needs of all Canadians? What is the relationship between the executive, legislative and judicial branches of Canada’s federal political system? Key Vocabulary for These Upcoming Units (There’s no need to write them down yet.) The Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a part of Charter of Rights and the Constitution and outlines the rights and Freedoms freedoms of Canadian citizens. The Constitution is the highest set of laws in Constitution Canada and provides the framework of governance for the country. The executive branch is the part of the federal Executive Branch government responsible for putting laws into action. The judicial branch is the part of the federal Judicial Branch government that interprets and applies laws. The legislative branch is the part of the federal Legislative Branch government that makes laws. What does this quote mean? “When [Harper] became prime minister, his attitude “Information is the lifeblood of a appeared to undergo a shift of considerable democracy. Without adequate proportions. It often access to key information about took the Conservatives twice as long as government policies and programs, previous governments to handle access citizens and parliamentarians requests. Sometimes it cannot make informed decisions took six months to a year.” and incompetent or corrupt ― Lawrence Martin, Harperland: HasPolitics The your Of opinion Control this quote changed of governments can be hidden under since you’ve received a cloak of secrecy.” additional information? —Stephen Harper So, what does that mean for us as we try  Canada’s Levels of Government Provincial Municipal or Federal Territorial Based on where we are, which locations on a map are best represented by these levels of government?  Canada’s Levels of Government Provincial Municipal or Federal Territorial Edmonton Alberta Ottawa  Canada’s Levels of Government Provincial Municipal or Federal Territorial Can you think of any specific issues or concerns that are dealt with by each level of government?  Canada’s Levels of Government Provincial Municipal or Federal Territorial Examples LRT Curriculum GST Construction  Canada’s Levels of Government Provincial Municipal or Federal Territorial  Review Provincial or Municipal Federal Territorial The rest of today’s lesson will focus on the federal government. Responsible for Responsible for local Responsible for national and issues regional issues international issues Examples: water, Examples: Examples: sewage, waste education, health citizenship, collection, transit care immigration, military The Federal Government The federal government also has three branches Executive Legislative Judicial  Take Notes There will be a lot of stuff discussed on these slides. The best way to study and learn is by taking short- hand notes on the paper provided by your teacher. The Federal Government What might the role of each branch be? Which of these three https://www.facebook.co m/ParliamentOfCanada/v branches of ideos/what-are-canadas-t Executive government have we hree-branches-of-govern been focusing on so ment/638469686833232 Legislative far? / Judicial With our slides: The Legislative Branch With our Assignment: The Executive Branch Executive Branch “The Head” The Executive Branch - Overview The Executive Branch includes the: Governor General (Representative of the King) Prime Minister Cabinet Sovereign and Governor General The sovereign’s (King’s) representative (Governor General) appoints the Prime Minister as well as various cabinet ministers and approves all policies. These appointments are based on the results of the general election and the recommendations of the political party that wins most seats. Truly, the King Mary Simon is the does not maintain a lot of power; he first Indigenous person to hold this primarily serves as a symbolic position. She was figurehead. sworn in on July 26, 2021. A Governor General has not vetoed a law since 1926, when the PM Lyon Mackenzie King asked for parliament to be The Cabinet This was a vocab term from the first lesson! Anyone remember what the cabinet is? The Cabinet The Cabinet includes people that are responsible for different government departments and agencies, such as Health, Finance, Defence, etc. The members of the cabinet are called Cabinet Ministers. These people propose most of the ideas that can eventually The department or become laws. There are usually about agency a cabinet member is assigned 30 people in the Cabinet, but there can to is called their be a few less or a few more. They must portfolio. be elected as an MP, selected by Click here to view our the PM, and appointed by the cabinet (October governor general. 2021). The Cabinet How fast can you spot our PM? What’s his name? How do you spell it? The Prime Minister (PM) Canada’s current Prime Minister is Justin Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. To become the Prime Minister you must first be selected/elected as the leader of a political party. This normally Roles of the Prime happens at a party convention. After Minister: becoming the leader of a party, you Selects MP’s to be must be elected to be a Member of appointed to Cabinet Decides on the Parliament (MP) Next, the party that you portfolios to be lead must win the most seats in the included in the cabinet House of Commons. Directs the policies of the government Removing the PM If the Members of Parliament are unhappy with the Prime Minister they can vote to have him/her removed from power. This is called a vote of non- confidence. Canada has had six Prime Ministers defeated from the vote. Current Events You may have seen that a lot of Albertans are not happy with Trudeau. Why? Do you think that he’ll be removed? Why or why not? A Bit of Confusion You may also see that some videos or resources place the Governor General as part of our Legislative Branch instead of the Executive Branch. This is because the Legislative Branch is primarily about the laws government make, and the Governor General signs off on laws. Truly, the monarch is kind of in his own bubble. It can be difficult to know how to categorize him. Let’s learn more about the Legislative Branch to avoid future confusion. Legislativ e Branch “The Body” The Legislative Branch - Overview The Legislative Branch includes the: House of Commons Senate The Legislative Branch - Overview The legislative branch includes the House of Commons and the Senate. This branch is also called Canada's parliament. The House of Commons is the major law-making body in Canada. They debate, study, and vote on laws that are proposed for Canada, which are called bills. The people that make up the House of Commons are called Members of Parliament (MPs). The Prime Minister has a reserved seat in the House of Commons as well. House of Commons The House of Commons is the major law-making body in Canada. They debate, study, and vote on laws that are proposed for Canada, which are called bills. The people that make up the House of Commons are called Members of Parliament (MPs). The Prime Minister has a reserved seat in the House of Commons as well. We talked about the House of Commons in previous classes. House of Commons Anybody can attend a meeting of the House of Commons.  Federal Representation by Population The MPs are voted into the House of Commons by the people of Canada. The country is divided into districts (ridings), and there is 1 MP in parliament that represents each riding across the country. Canada uses the First-Past-The-Post system, which means that each riding will elect a single MP. This MP will be accountable to their riding.  Federal Representation by Population This video states that first past the post isn’t actually the best for its citizens. We see evidence of this voter apathy and “two- party system” here in Canada. Canada: Liberals and Conservatives Which two parties tend to Alberta: Conservatives and receive the most votes in NDP federal elections? What about the provincial?  Federal Representation by Population The party with the most voted MPs usually forms the government. The other MPs form the opposition to the government. So, which province or territory in Representation in the Canada has the most seats? House of Commons is by population. This means that the provinces with higher populations can have more seats in the House of Commons.  Members of Parliament 121 Ontario 78 Quebec 42 BC 34 Alberta 14 Manitoba 14 Saskatchewan 11 Nova Scotia 10 New Brunswick 7 Newfoundland 4 P.E.I. 3 Territories (338 Total)  House of Commons Seat Map The MPs sit in assigned sections. You should remember this from previous lessons! The Senate The Senate is the other law-making section of the government. They are known as the 'upper house' and the House of Commons is the 'lower house.' Senators are selected by the Prime Minister and appointed by the governor general. They can be in office until the age of 75, when they are forced to retire. Senators must be a minimum of 30 years of age and have a certain amount of property to be appointed. Their residence must be in regions the province that they are appointed from.  Senate Representation The Senate is "equally" represented by the regions of Canada. There are 4 larger regions and 2 smaller regions in Canada: Western Provinces, Ontario, Quebec, and Maritime Provinces. EACH larger region get 24 seats. Newfoundland gets 6 seats, and the Senate Representation The Senate is also divided into affiliations that we won’t go over in great detail. These include: You’ll be looking at this chart PSG: Progressive Senate Group on your own pretty soon. ISG: Independent Senators Group CSG: Canadian Senators Group C: Conservative Party of Canada Non-affiliated The Role of the Senate The Senate has the power to propose laws, A bill CANNOT but they rarely do. The become a law until Senate usually only both the House of considers bills passed Commons and the by the House of Senate have Commons. They have approved it. The the power to overrule a Senate does NOT have bill passed in the House the power to propose of Commons, but that laws that create or rarely happens. spend taxes. The role of Usually, they just ask the Senate is to provide for the bill to be revised a “sober second and simplified. thought” for new laws. The Senate Canada’s senators (unlike America’s) are NOT elected by the people, and they can remain in the Senate for a maximum term of 45 years! They are appointed by the PM. What are potential problems with this? The Senate Canada’s senators (unlike America’s) are NOT elected by the people, and they can remain in the Senate for a maximum term of 45 years! They are appointed by the PM. Okay, so the problems may seem obvious to us. But what may be some benefits to our Senate being organized in this way? The Senate The Senate is actually supposed to represent more voices. By using an appointment process instead of an election, senators don’t have to win a popularity contest. Also, by having an extended term, they get more of an opportunity to see their plans through and avoid mistakes of the past. Senators also come from different walks of life, and are relying heavily on their personal experiences rather than party allegiance to make decisions. The idea is that all regions of Canada are Review If you’d like to see a video review of our Legislative Branch, this teacher does a good job. She digs deeper into the House of Commons and the Senate.  PAUSE! Okay, so we’re in the middle of discussing the branches of government, but it’s time to do another extension activity about BOTH of the representation pieces of the Canadian Legislative Save your threeBranch. branches notes for another day. Judicial Branch The Judicial Branch - Overview If we were to simplify it, the Judicial Branch is formed from the Supreme Court, the Federal Courts, and the Provincial Courts. The Supreme Court is the highest court in the country.  The Supreme Court Yay! I look like The Supreme Court of Canada Santa Claus! consists of nine judges, including a chief justice to be called the Chief Justice of Canada. The PM and Cabinet nominate judges who must have been either a judge of a superior court or a member of at least ten years' standing of the bar of a province or territory. Once the PM/Cabinet nominate a group of judges, they go through a review committee of MPs. The top  The Supreme Court Why do you These nine judges must Ontario (3)think having come from four regions of Quebec (3)nine judges is Canada. better than Western Canada (2) having eight or Maritimes (1) ten judges? Can you guess what those four regions are? Sorry, territories! You don’t get a judge. Can you guess how many judges represent each region?  The Supreme Court This branch interprets laws The Judicial Branch is that apply to the rights of separate from the other Canadians, which means that branches of they have the government, and acts as responsibility of making a "check" on their powers. sure that the rights and freedoms of Canadians are protected.  Federal and Provincial Courts The Federal courts are The Provincial courts responsible for both common are responsible for and civil law, as well as criminal, civil, family, specialized areas such as and traffic law. maritime law, patent law, immigration law, tax law and copyright law. My guess is that some of us have been to the provincial courts in Edmonton… anyone? The Executive & Judicial Branch - Review (Judicial Branch is discussed at 5:07.)  Exit Ticket Here we go again! You should now be able to use the sources provided by your teacher and the Microsoft Form to answer these past PAT questions about branches of government.  Done ! That was a lot of information! Try and review what you’ve just learned to help you keep track.