Grade 9 Social Studies Ms. Deck Canadian Government #2 Grade 9 Social Studies Ms. Deck

QUICK RECAP! The three levels of government are: __________________________ The leader of federal is titled:______________ The leader of provincial is titled:____________ The leader of municipal is titled:____________

The branches of government are: ________________________ Other types of government include:

WAYS TO DESCRIBE CANADA’S GOVERNMENT Constitutional Monarchy Federalism A Party System Representative Democracy

1. Constitutional Monarchy THE CONSTITUTION When Canada was first formed, we based our government on that of Britain. We then set up a constitution to govern ourselves. Our constitution was initially called the British North American Act (BNA of 1867) Today the constitution has 3 main written parts 1. The actual set of rules (The Constitution Act of 1987) 2. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms 3. An Amending Formula (for the constitution) – Amendment must be agree by Federal government, 7/10 provinces, and must makeup one half of Canada’s population

The constitution is the set of rules for the government The constitution is the set of rules for the government. It divides the government into their levels and stipulates which each level is in charge of. The constitution cannot be changed! It can be amended (minor changes done formally) by a certain amount of votes.

MONARCHY Meaning king or queen Canada once was ruled by the English Monarchy Since the King/Queen were not personally living in Canada to oversee things they appointed a “Governor General” to be in charge of governing Canada for the Monarchy. We no longer run this way. Canadians are now governed by parliament and by provincial legislatures. The monarchy no longer rules us but we have kept the tradition of honoring her in some capacity.

2. FEDERALISM This is the second way we can describe Canada. Federalism means we have individual governments that work under a single leader. Ex. Each province has its own government (led by a premier), but work together with the other provinces (premiers) for the Prime Minister….”The Federal Government”

This is the same with the USA This is the same with the USA. Each state has a Governor who works under the President for the common good of the country. This system of federal government was created in 1867. The federal government provides for the needs of the whole country. But jobs/positions are delegated to the provincial government.

3. A PARTY SYSTEM This is the third way that we can describe Canada’s government. At each level of government (Federal, Provincial, Municipal) we vote for an elected representative. These representatives are members of certain political parties. The political parties are groups of people who band together with the same common beliefs and plans for a country.

The following are major political parties: NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY (NDP) CONSERVATIVE PARTY BLOC QUEBECOIS LIBERALS GREEN PARTY

4. REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY This is the 4th way we can describe Canada’s government. It means voting for a person who will hold public office and voice their interests in law making assemblies. Democracy means power by the people; however we do not personally govern Canada.

We elect (by voting) some one to represent our power. We vote for someone who shares our same beliefs and values. After elections voters have no control over the elected representative.