1. The Branches of Government

2. The Branches of Government
The Executive Branch
The Legislative Branch
The Judicial Branch
The House of Commons

3. The Executive Branch
The Executive Branch: The branch that carries out the business of government
Examples of the Executive Branch include:
The Queen
Queen Elizabeth the Second

4. The Executive Branch
The Governor General (Queen’s Representative at the Federal level)
The Lieutenant Governor (Queen’s Representative at the provincial level)
Canada’s
Governor General
David Johnston
Ontario’s Lieutenant
Governor
Elizabeth Dowdswell

5. The Role of the Governor General
Signs bills into Laws (giving them “Royal Assent”
Officially welcomes representatives of Foreign Governments to Canada
Reads the Speech from the Throne
Promotes Awareness of Canada around the world and across the Nation
Acts as a Figurehead of the Queen in Canada. His power is symbolic
Governor General David Johnston

6. The Role of the Lieutenant Governor
The Lieutenant Governor Represents the Queen at the Provincial Level
The Lieutenant Governor is appointed by the Premier for a term of 5 years.
Their role is to sign bills into law, reading the speech from the throne and promoting the Province across Canada and around the world.

7. Canadian Prime Minister
The Executive Branch
The Prime Minister of Canada
The Premier of Ontario
Canadian Prime Minister
Stephen Harper
Ontario Premier
Kathleen Wynne

8. The Role of the Prime Minister
In the Executive Branch, it is the Prime Minister and the Cabinet that hold the real power.
The Prime Minister is the leader of the political party in the House of Commons that has the most elected Members of Parliament (MPs).
The Prime Minister chooses who is in the cabinet.
The Prime Minister is the leader of the country and represents Canada on the international stage.

9. The role of the Cabinet
The members of the cabinet are usually MPs who are in the same political party as the Prime Minister.
They are the “star players” in the Prime Minister’s political party.
Cabinet ministers are picked to represent a series of Portfolios such as:
Minister of Finance
Minister of Justice
Minister of National Defense
The Federal Cabinet

10. The Cabinet The various ministers of the cabinet should:
come from the various provinces of Canada
speak both official languages
represent Canada’s multicultural heritage
have a lot of experience for their portfolios (e.g. the Minister of Justice is usually a lawyer, Minister of Finance has financial experience)

11. The Role of the Premier
The Premier of Ontario (or any other province) leads the executive branch at the provincial level
Like the Prime Minister, the Premier leads the political party that has won the most recent election
Similar to the Prime Minister, the Premier selects a series of cabinet ministers. However, there are some cabinet ministers that he does not choose (e.g. minister of defense). Why is this the case?
Defense is Federal responsibility!
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne

12. The Executive Branch
Members of the Cabinet (Federal or Provincial Level)
The Cabinet at the Federal Level

13. The Legislative Branch
The House of Commons represents Canada’s legislative branch at the national level.
It is composed of 308 members. Each member represents a riding, or geographical area (e.g. the riding of Halton Hills/Wellington)
The citizens of a riding are called Constituents. We are the Constituents of Georgetown!
The MPs in the House of Commons are elected by the constituents of the ridings to represent their interests at the federal level.
The political party with the most number of MPs wins the election!
The Federal Legislature: The
House of Commons

14. Majority and Minority Governments
In order for a bill to pass and become law, half of the members of the legislature plus one needs to say “yea” (yes).
In other words 308/2 = = 155 votes.
If a political party in the House of Commons has 155 or more seats, they are said to have a majority government. If they have less, they have a minority government.
The current Conservative government of Stephen Harper has less than 155 seats. As a result, they needed the help of the other political parties to pass their Federal Budget
Former Conservative Environment
Minister John Baird

15. The Legislative Branch
Elected Representatives of the Parliament of Canada. Sometimes called “Backbenchers”. They are not in the Cabinet (executive branch). Their job is to vote in accordance with the wishes of their political parties.
Is this democracy?
Halton Hills MP
Michael Chong
Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott

16. The Role of the Backbencher
The role of the backbencher is to represent the interests of both the constituents in the ridings and the political parties that they represent.
However, what happens when they clash? If Stephen Harper asks Michael Chong to vote “yea” and the citizens of Georgetown tell him to vote “nea”, what should he do? What will happen to him if he votes “nea”?
He will probably get kicked out of his party and become an independent MP like Chuck Cadman.
Is this Democracy?
Independent MP
Chuck Cadman

17. The Official Opposition
The leader of the political party with the second highest number of seats is the Leader of the Opposition.
During Question Period, his role is to challenge the Prime Minister. His ministers are responsible for asking tough questions for the government and “keeping them on their toes”.
The other political parties in the House of Commons also ask tough questions. If they are effective in Question Period, they can make the government look bad and increase their own chances of gaining power.
Leader of the Opposition: Thomas Mulcair

18. The Opposition
If the government loses a vote on an important bill (e.g. the Federal Budget), it is considered to be a confidence vote.
In this case, either the official opposition forms a new government, or an election is called.

19. The Commons Mace
The Commons Mace is held by the Sergeant of Arms and is used to open and close every session of Parliament.
The Mace is used to symbolize the authority given to the House of Commons by the British Monarchy
Initially, the Mace was a weapon of War (hence it’s shaped like a club)
The Sergeant
Of Arms carries
The Commons
Mace

20. The Speaker of the House
The Speaker of the House is responsible for keeping the discussion “civil” in the House of Commons.
Andrew Scheer, is non-partisan. In other words, he does not favour one party over the other. Sometimes, MPs will be removed by the Speaker of the House if their comments are “out of order”
Andrew Scheer
The Speaker’s Chair

23. The Legislative Branch
In Canada’s democracy, the Legislative Branch is composed of:
The House of Commons
The Senate
House of Commons
The Senate

24. The Senate The “upper” house of the Legislative branch is the Senate.
It was designed to Veto (block) bills passed by the House that were irresponsible. In essence, the Senate was designed to be the House of “sober second thought”
Canada’s Senate Chamber. Nice Eh?

25. Patronage
In order to be a senator, you need to be appointed by the Prime Minister of Canada.
Since you need to be a friend of the Prime Minister to be a senator, many feel that the senate is corrupt and undemocratic. Senators are not elected.
Although many senators are highly respected and do honourable work, others hardly ever show up to vote!
Georges-Casimir Dessaulles served in the senate for 23 years and spoke twice; once to deny that his appointment was an example of political corruption and the other for thanking members for remembering his birthday!
Georges-Casimir Dessaulles

26. The Provincial Legislative Assembly
The legislative branch of the 10 provinces of Canada is very similar to the House of Commons.
However, the elected members are called MLAs (Members of the Legislative Assembly).
In Quebec, they are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly)
In Ontario, they are called MPPs (Members of Provincial Parliament)
In Ontario, there are 103 ridings. As a result, how many seats are their in Ontario’s Legislative Assembly?
103
The Ontario Legislature

27. The Judicial Branch
The Judicial branch of Canada deals with the administration of Justice at the various levels of government
Their role is to interpret the laws of Canada (e.g. the Charter of Rights)
There are 9 judges. Why 9? Why not 8 or 10?
All judges are appointed by the Prime Minister.
3 judges must come from Quebec
The Supreme Court of Canada

28. The Judicial Branch
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court in the nation.
The verdict of the Supreme Court is final (e.g. the Person’s case, the abortion law, the euthanasia case of Robert Latimer, same sex marriage)
The Supreme Court of Canada

29. What did we learn?
The role of the executive Branch: The Federal and Provincial Levels
The role of the Legislative Branch: The Federal and Provincial Branch
The role of the Judicial Branch: The Federal and Provincial Branch
Key Terms
Diagram of the House of Commons