Canada’s Democracy

REMEMBER: Federal system: 1 federal gov’t, 10 provincial governments, 3 territorial governments Both federal and prov. levels of gov’t have 3 branches: executive, legislative, judicial. Executive: - responsible for enforcing or executing laws Legislative: - responsible for making laws Judicial: - responsible for interpreting the laws

Governor General Canada is technically a parliamentary democracy and also a constitutional monarchy We have an elected House of Commons, but an appointed Senate and Governor General. The Queen is technically Canada’s head of state, the GG is the Queen’s representative in Canada and acts as head of state. GG is largely a ceremonial or symbolic role  not much actual power on a day-to-day basis. Main duty: - signing off on bills (giving “Royal Assent”) that have been passed, officially making them law. Serves as a representative of Canada at important ceremonies, on trips to other countries, meeting foreign leaders, etc.

GG is chosen by Prime Minister and then appointed by the Queen. GG can be seen as going against principles of liberal democratic ideology because: Appointed not elected Position doesn’t do much and can be very expensive for taxpayers Represents ties to a hereditary monarchy Each province also has a lieutenant-governor who does the same thing as GG but on provincial level

The Senate 105 members appointed officially by the Governor-General, but in reality named by the P.M. Based on regional representation NOT rep. by pop. The Senate approves all bills passed by the House of Commons, can vote not to approve them but this doesn’t happen much. After senate approval and the Gov-Gen’s official signing, a bill becomes a law.

Members of Senate stay there until age 75 Attendance of senators and extremely high salaries and expenses has been a concern Senators are partisan (still practice party solidarity)  P.M. can “stack” the Senate with political allies and friends (this is called patronage) Proposed changes:  (p. 344) Abolish senate totally Elect senators democratically Limit terms of service for Senators (8 years max for example)

Concerns w/ political parties: Page 345 Party Solidarity Majority gov’ts can do what they want for the most part and pass whatever laws they want Minority gov’ts might not do much to make real change or improvement b/c they are worried about staying in power