Welcome to your ultimate Idaho travel resource
 

Welcom to our Idaho Archive. Have fun browsing!

 

(Browse for more articles)

 

The Canadian Political System

The Canadian political system as it is has the most votes wins the right to
known today was first drafted by the represent that constituency and take
"Fathers of Confederation" at the Quebec their "seat" in the Parliament.
conference of 1864. This then became law Each Most candidates represent a
when the constitution act was passed in particular political party and the party
1867. This act gave the formal executive with the most "seats" takes over as the
authority to Queen Victoria (Queen of Government. The main parties in Canada
Great Britain) which made Canada a are Paul Martins Liberals (ruling),
sovereign democracy. The Canadian Stephen Harpers Conservatives, Jack
political system is therefore loosely Layton's New Democratic Party, The Bloc
based on the British system. Quebecois and The Green Party to name the
Now, Canada is an independent Federal largest.
state with the Queen still the head of The leader of the political party that
state. Her powers are extremely limited wins the election becomes the Prime
however, as the Parliament passes the Minister of Canada (currently Paul Martin
laws which the Queen gives the "Royal of the Liberals). The Prime Minister
Assent" as the final step. The Governor effectively runs the country with the
General of Canada is the Queens support and advice of his Cabinet. The
representative in Canada and carries out Cabinet is made up of "Ministers" chosen
all the Royal obligations when the Queen by the Prime Minister to be responsible
is not in Canada. The Governor is always for certain areas of the Government.
a Canadian chosen by the Queen on the There are ministers of Health, Finance,
advice of the Prime Minister. The length Defence and Immigration to name a few.
of office is normally five years for the These areas of responsibility are called
Governor General. "Portfolio's" and each minister will have
The Houses of Parliament (housing the a large team of civil servants (normally
Federal Government) are located in the experts in that field) working for
Canada's capital city, Ottawa. There are him/her. Only the ministers change during
3 main sections to the Canadian an election - not the civil servants.
Parliament. The Queen as the Head of Though the MP's represent their local
state; the Senate (appointed on the Prime constituency, their main duties are
Minister's recommendations) and the debating the laws to be made and,
elected House of Commons. depending on their Party, either
The Federal Government has the power to supporting or opposing the Government.
"make laws for the peace, order and good The opposition is the political party
government of Canada" which includes with the second most seats in the House
International policies, Defence, and their main job is to hold the
Immigration, Criminal Law, Customs and government accountable for their
Border control. decisions.
The Senate A Government with a lot of seats in the
The Senate is made up of 105 Senators who House will be strong and able to pass
are appointed by the Governor General on most laws they want through Parliament.
the recommendation of the Prime Minister. Conversely, a weak Government (such as
These Senators are men and women from all now) doesn't have the majority of the
of the Provinces and from a wide variety seats and has to rely on the support of
of backgrounds. They can serve on the another party to form an effective
Senate up until age 75 and have to be a Government.
Canadian citizen, over age 30, own $4,000 After each election, the Senate and the
of equity in land in their home Province, House of Commons either elect (House) or
have over $4,000 as personal net worth appoint (Senate) a Speaker. The Speaker
and live in the province represented. is in charge of proceedings and has to be
Each Province or Territory has a set impartial, enforcing the rules of the
number of Senators - 24 each from the House/Senate during debates and votes.
Maritimes, Quebec and Ontario, 6 each The Speaker presides over the House from
from Alberta, BC, Manitoba and a raised chair with the Government MP's
Saskatchewan, 6 from Newfoundland and om the right and the opposition on the
Labrador and a further 1 each from the Left.
three Territories. Making the Laws
The main role of the Senate is to read To start with, the House of Commons
over and examine the "Bills" sent from members introduce a "Bill" (legislative
the House of Commons though they can also proposal). The details of the Bill are
initiate Bills. This process ensures that read in the House without debate and then
no rogue bills will become law, though the Bill is printed (the first reading).
only rarely do the Senate reject a Bill - During the second reading the principles
sending it back to the House for of the Bill are debated followed by a
amendment. The Bills are subjected to the vote. If successful, the Bill is then
full legislative process by the Senate sent to the Committee stage.
and if passed will be given to the A committee will listen to testimony,
Governor General for Royal Assent and examine the Bill and then submits a
thus become Law. report to the House recommending it as it
House of Commons is, with amendments or scrapped. From
The real power is held by the House of here it goes to the report stage.
Commons. Here, the members of Parliament In the report phase, any amendments are
(MP's) are elected by the general public debated and voted on. Then it will pass
during a Federal election - normally to the third reading. This is where the
every 5 years. The country is split up House finally debates and votes on the
into constituencies (total 308 by final draft - if it passes the vote it is
population size) and whichever candidate sent to the Senate.




www.mooseexpress.com keyword stats [2007-09-18-2007-09-18]



Daily top traffic source : MSN
Historical MSN keyword trend


Most current MSN search phrases:

scenic train rides ontario Idaho Lakes


Other search engines trends:



Other search phrases:

judicial state sc us south dakota state capital
idaho falls visitor center idaho travel cams
real estate idaho state of south dakota home page
WESTERN UNITED STATES GREAT PLACES TO state bar of new mexico
nj state income tax state of mn website
idaho department parks south carolina department of state
south carolina state insurance minot state university north dakota
sc state newspaper what state is yellow stone national park
north dakota state statute penn state university website
south dakota state coin new mexico state police road conditions
new mexico secretary of state state capital new jersey
north dakota state board of medical state nj us mvc
north dakota state university psychology state capital of south dakota





1 - A - B - C - D - E - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31 - 32 - 33 - 34 - 35 - 36 - 37 - 38 - 39 - 40 - 41 - 42 - 43 - 44 - 45 -