1. Canadian Government Federal Elections

2. How is Parliament chosen? Parliament consists of: The House of Commons The Senate The Governor General

3. How is Parliament chosen? The House of Commons is the national legislature elected by Canadian citizens. It is made up of 308 members. Members of parliament are usually associated with a political party, although some members do sit independently.

4. How is Parliament chosen? The Senate is the Upper House of Parliament. Members of the Senate are appointed by the Governor General upon recommendation by the Prime Minister. In addition to its consideration of parliamentary legislation, the Senate is also asked to investigate important economic and social issues.

5. How is Parliament chosen? With specific exceptions, all parliamentary legislation must be approved by the House of Commons, the Senate and the Governor General before it can become law. Most parliamentary legislation is introduced by the government.

6. How is the federal government formed? By convention, the political party with the most elected members in the House of Commons will take the leading role in forming the government. If it has a majority of seats (155+ out of 308), then it automatically forms a majority government. If it has fewer than 155 seats, the leading party will seek the cooperation of other parties. This is called a minority government.

7. How is the federal government formed? The leader of this party with the most elected members in the House of Commons becomes the Prime Minister. Prime Minister Paul Martin (Liberal)

8. How is the federal government formed? The party with the second highest number of seats usually becomes the Official Opposition. Its leader becomes the Leader of the Opposition.

9. How is the federal government formed? Since the last federal election in 2004, there are four official parties in the House of Commons. (After the election in 1997 there were five until the Progressive Conservative and Canadian Alliance Parties merged)

10. How is the federal government formed? The Prime Minister chooses a Cabinet from members of the leading party in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister and Cabinet must maintain the CONFIDENCE of the House of Commons, a practice known as ‘responsible government’

11. How is the federal government formed? Each member of Cabinet is responsible for the management of certain aspects of the federal government. To this end, most Cabinet members oversee the operations of one or more federal departments or agencies. The most senior officials in departments are called Deputy Ministers. They are not elected, and are, generally career public servants, directly responsible to the Cabinet Minister.

12. How and when are elections held? By law, federal and provincial elections must be held at least every five years, although they can be called earlier. If a minority government has a major bill defeated in the House of Commons, an election must take place. In all cases, the decision to call an election is taken by the Prime Minister.

13. How and when are elections held? Who can vote? To vote in a federal election, you must be a Canadian citizen and at least 18 years old. For provincial or municipal elections, the age and citizenship requirements may vary. In our elections, all voting is by secret ballot.