Getting To Know Your Federal Government Legislative Branch

Legislative Branch The legislative branch of the federal government has the power to make, amend (change) and repeal (to revoke or cancel) laws for all of Canada. It is also referred to as Parliament. The two major components this branch in government are the Senate or Upper House and the House of Commons or Lower House. Elected representatives meet, debate and vote on the government’s proposed laws in the legislature

Legislative Branch: Members of Parliament (MP’s) A Member of Parliament (MP) is a person in government who is chosen in elections to represent the citizens, and to debate and vote on public issues in parliament. The number of MPs within Canada changes due to a change in the population. Currently Canada has 338 MP’s MPs have the opportunity to choose the Speaker of the House. He/she controls all MPs actions and decisions

Legislative Branch: Responsibilities of MP’s Discuss and debate issues and government policies Provide input into making, changing, and removing laws and Vote on proposed laws Discuss bills Attend weekly caucus meetings with other MPs from their own political party Attending to the needs of their constituents (the people they were elected to represent). They will often do so on weekends, or when parliament is in recess

Legislative Branch: The House of Commons The House of Commons is the most important and most powerful component of parliament. The House of Commons is a place where MPs meet to discuss, debate and vote on public issues. The party that controls the House of Commons is the party that has the greatest number of seats in parliament and forms the government. The leader of this party is the Prime Minister

Legislative Branch: Speaker of the House The Speaker of the House is an elected member of parliament who controls the debates and discussions in the House of Commons. The MPs use a secret ballot system to select the Speaker. The Speaker of House is similar to a referee during the parliamentary debates by applying the rules of parliament in a fair and consistent manner. Often Speaker’s do not belong to the governing party which makes it more difficult to apply the expected rules.

Legislative Branch: The Opposition The Opposition are elected members from other political parties. The most important role of the opposition MPs is to represent the needs and interests of the Canadians who did not vote for the government. Their purpose is to improve government legislation through raising concerns, presenting questions and holding debates. In doing so, they try to ensure the government deals with issues and concerns fairly and responsibly. The Leader of the Opposition is the leader of the party with the second highest number of representatives. This party is referred to as the Official Opposition.

Map of the House of Commons 2015 Interactive Version

Legislative Branch: The Senate The senate is also referred to as the Upper House. It is another component of the Legislative Branch that has the power to propose or amend a bill passed by the House of Commons.

Legislative Branch: The Senate The senate was originally created to protect the diverse municipal, provincial and minority interests in Canada. Currently, the senate is composed of 105 seats that are divided according to region Central Canada – This includes Ontario and Quebec, each with 24 appointed Senators. Western Canada – This includes Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, with a combined total of 24 appointed Senators. Northern Canada – This includes Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, with a combined total of 3 appointed Senators. Eastern Canada – This includes Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland with a combined total of 24 appointed Senators The constitution also provides four to eight senators that are to be added as the “Queen sees fit”

Requirements to be a Senator They are not elected. The governor general appoints each Senator on the recommendation of the Prime Minister They must be a Canadian citizen by birth or naturalization They must be at least 30 years and younger than 75 years of age They must live in the province/territory they represent They must own $4000 worth of property Senators serve until they are 75 years old. They used to serve for life.

Making Canadian Law How a Bill becomes a Law The average time for a bill to become a law is roughly three months. This can be shorter or longer, depending on if the governing party has a majority or not. A majority government allows bills to be passed more quickly because all party members would most likely vote the same way.