How do laws become laws? How effectively does Canada’s federal political system govern Canada for all Canadians?

All about laws! In the following section you will begin to understand how government makes Canada’s laws. As you read this section, be aware of: How a law becomes a law. How the branches of government work together with citizens to create laws. Perspectives on First Nations voices in the federal government.

Pre-Reading With a partner, discuss the following scenarios: for reporting a case of vandalism cheating on a test stealing another student’s belongings How is the whistler blower seen in each of these scenarios? What about the person who did the act?

Pre-Reading In each of these cases, the person who did the act needed to answer for their actions. In other words, they needed to be held accountable for what they did. This is similar to why the Federal Accountably Act was passed in 2006. This law focuses on good government and accountability. Open your textbook to page 39 and read about the Federal Accountability Act.

Federal Accountability Act Read about the sponsorship scandal on page 39. Let’s take an official look at it: Federal Accountability Act. Use the CRITICAL THINKING CHALLENGE in your textbook to write a personal response using the sponsorship scandal as an example. BE PREPARED TO SHARE YOUR RESPONSE!

Steps to a law: The FAA Take a few minutes to interpret the flow chart showing how the FAA came into a law. Are there any steps of this process that surprised you? Are there any steps that are missing that should be there?

Assignment: FAA 1. Using pages 40 and 41, create your own chart showing how a bill becomes a law. 2. Using the FAA, complete a 5W +H point form chart to show your understanding of how it came about. 3. Using your information from #2, answer the CRITICAL THINKING QUESTION at the top of page 41.

Did you think of… Because there is a great deal of debate, the best ideas often surface and are used in legislation. At the committee stage: Representatives of different groups can review the legislation and give ideas and opinions to try to be included. Groups and individuals have ANOTHER opportunity to voice their wishes. It is a challenge to bring a variety of perspectives together and sometimes laws are created in which some members of society do not agree.

Parliamentary Page Read about Stephane Doucette-Preville on page 43. Be prepared to share your thoughts about the critical thinking question at the bottom of the page.

What about First Nations? Read page 44. Create a chart like the following: Issues about Aboriginal participation and representation in federal politics. My thoughts about how this connects to citizenship, identity, and quality of life in Canada -

Bills! Bills! Bills! Read the Bills! Bills! Bills! section on page 45. Using the critical thinking question in the middle, develop a personal response in PROPER PARAGRAPH FORM. Challenge yourself to connect your ideas to citizenship, identity, and quality of life.

In Summary… How Does A Bill Become Law?