Canada’s Federal System

Civics 11Chapter 3

SS 11Chapter 9&

Review of Chapter 2 – Create a ‘T’ chart under each question, your guess goes on

the left and real answer on right side

• What are the 3 levels of government in Canada?

• What are the main responsibilities of the federal government?

• How about the provincial government?• The municipal government?• What type of government did the BNA Act of

1867 set up in Canada?

Branches of Government

• Governments in Canada have three branches:

(1) Executive - (2) Legislative(3) Judicial

What is the Executive Branch of Gov’t?

• Comprised of the Cabinet and the bureaucracy (i.e., public servants), this branch carries out the government business, manages actions, performs day-to-day operations and implements laws of Canada.

• Head of State is the Queen of England (…represented by Governor General of Canada).

• Head of Government is the Prime Minister.

What is the Legislative Branch of Gov’t?

• They make and debate the laws.• It is also called Parliament.• Parliament consists of the monarch and a

bicameral legislature (i.e., an elected House of Commons and an appointed Senate).

What is the Judicial Branch of Gov’t?

• Comprised of judges and the various courts of Canada, this branch decides who broke the law and the punishment that corresponds.

• The Supreme Court of Canada is the court of last resort. The Supreme Court has nine justices led by the Chief Justice of Canada.

• Each justice is appointed by the Governor General.• This court hears appeals from decisions rendered by

the various appellate courts from the provinces and territories.

To Recap…(1) Legislative – makes laws(2) Executive – implements the laws (3) Judicial – uphold laws

To offer an example, • the Legislative Branch would create a law about the time of

year that a person could fish. • The Executive Branch would see to it through setting up

various ministries and agencies that people only fished during that time.

• The Judicial Branch would put anyone on trial that broke the law and fished outside of the allotted time and would decide upon an appropriate punishment.

Still confused?

Executive Branch of Government

•Monarch•Prime Minister•PM’s Office•The Cabinet•The bureaucracy

What is the Monarch’s Role?

In the Legislative Branch:• The Queen in theory has the final say in

the passage of bills by giving Royal Assent• The Queen is represented by the

Governor General, and fulfils this duty.• Royal assent is a formality – once a bill

has been passed 3 times in the House and 3 times by the Senate, it will become law because the GG will definitely sign the bill.

Governor GeneralIn the Executive Branch, the same is true:• The GG represents the Queen and acts as the

Canadian Head of State.• With his/her executive power, the GG has to

make sure that Canada always has a gov’t.• If a gov’t is defeated, he/she would normally

call an election.• Under very unusual circumstances, he/she

might call on the Official Opposition to try and form a gov’t.

• Under extreme conditions, the GG could appoint people to form an interm gov’t.

How is the Head of State different from the Head of Government?

• In the American system, the president fills both functions.

• A possible advantage of our system is that our Head of State does not get involved in political matters and can concentrate on the many ceremonial functions that must be carried out in a totally non-partisan way.

Questions to Consider about Canada’s Head of State

1. Do you think that we should continue to have the Queen (or her successors) as the official Canadian Head of State?

2. Should our Governor General be appointed, elected, or abolished?

3. What would be the advantages or disadvantages of whatever course of action you would choose in questions 1 & 2?

What does the Prime Minister do?• Leader of the party that won the most seats in

the last election – he/she is considered the Head of Government.

• Has immense power, especially in a majority gov’t.

• Can order the elected MPs in the governing party to vote for all gov’t bills, so the bills pass through Parl and become laws.

• Appoints members of the Cabinet and replaces them if necessary.

• Appoints people to important positions in the country: GG, Chief of the Defense Staff, all Justices of the Supreme Court, all Canadian ambassadors, the Head of the CBC.

• Other appointments to various boards or commissions.Prime Minister launches national Mental Health Commission.doc

• Represents the country at important international meetings, such as the G8, NAFTA, and APEC.

The Prime Minister’s Office

• The PM always appoints many advisors• The PMO is responsible for press and public

relations, the PM's large correspondence, speaking engagements, etc; it advises on candidates for appointment to the numerous order-in-council appointees.

• The PMO has become very powerful, and even Cabinet Ministers often have to check with the PMO before making a speech.

The Cabinet• Consists of all the Ministers who are in charge

of the various gov’t Ministries, such as defence, finance, foreign affairs, industry, and international trade, etc.

• There are around 25 Cabinet Ministers, appointed by the PM from the MPs in his/her party (gov’t).

• The PM considers gender balance, rep from visible minorities, regional balance when selecting his/her Cabinet Ministers.

• CMs are responsible for their own Ministry or dept and have to be answerable in, or accountable to, the H of C for the actions of their Ministry – in Question period.

The Bureaucracy

• Also known as the Civil or Public Service.• Composed of many people who work for the

gov’t in Ottawa and across the country.• They administer all the policies and laws of the

gov’t and country.• Each Ministry has thousands of civil servants in

Ottawa and across the country.

• Ex. Revenue Canada – makes sure all taxpayers pay the correct amount of tax to gov’t.

• Others include Passport Office, Employment Canada, Parks Canada, Privy Council Office, and Crown Corporations (CBC, Post Office).

What do you think?

1. Should CBC be owned by the gov’t?2. Do you think that Crown Corporations

should be taken out of Canadian gov’t control, and sold to the private sector?