The Canadian Political System
Author: Dave Lympany

The Canadian political system as it is known today was first
drafted by the "Fathers of Confederation" at the Quebec
conference of 1864. This then became law when the constitution
act was passed in 1867. This act gave the formal executive
authority to Queen Victoria (Queen of Great Britain) which made
Canada a sovereign democracy. The Canadian political system is
therefore loosely based on the British system.

Now, Canada is an independent Federal state with the Queen
still the head of state. Her powers are extremely limited
however, as the Parliament passes the laws which the Queen
gives the "Royal Assent" as the final step. The Governor
General of Canada is the Queens representative in Canada and
carries out all the Royal obligations when the Queen is not in
Canada. The Governor is always a Canadian chosen by the Queen
on the advice of the Prime Minister. The length of office is
normally five years for the Governor General.

The Houses of Parliament (housing the Federal Government) are
located in Canada's capital city, Ottawa. There are 3 main
sections to the Canadian Parliament. The Queen as the Head of
state; the Senate (appointed on the Prime Minister's
recommendations) and the elected House of Commons.
The Federal Government has the power to "make laws for the
peace, order and good government of Canada" which includes
International policies, Defence, Immigration, Criminal Law,
Customs and Border control.

The Senate

The Senate is made up of 105 Senators who are appointed by the
Governor General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.
These Senators are men and women from all of the Provinces and
from a wide variety of backgrounds. They can serve on the
Senate up until age 75 and have to be a Canadian citizen, over
age 30, own $4,000 of equity in land in their home Province,
have over $4,000 as personal net worth and live in the province
represented. Each Province or Territory has a set number of
Senators - 24 each from the Maritimes, Quebec and Ontario, 6
each from Alberta, BC, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, 6 from
Newfoundland and Labrador and a further 1 each from the three
Territories.

The main role of the Senate is to read over and examine the
"Bills" sent from the House of Commons though they can also
initiate Bills. This process ensures that no rogue bills will
become law, though only rarely do the Senate reject a Bill -
sending it back to the House for amendment. The Bills are
subjected to the full legislative process by the Senate and if
passed will be given to the Governor General for Royal Assent
and thus become Law.

House of Commons

The real power is held by the House of Commons. Here, the
members of Parliament (MP's) are elected by the general public
during a Federal election - normally every 5 years. The country
is split up into constituencies (total 308 by population size)
and whichever candidate has the most votes wins the right to
represent that constituency and take their "seat" in the
Parliament.

Each Most candidates represent a particular political party and
the party with the most "seats" takes over as the Government.
The main parties in Canada are Paul Martins Liberals (ruling),
Stephen Harpers Conservatives, Jack Layton's New Democratic
Party, The Bloc Quebecois and The Green Party to name the
largest.

The leader of the political party that wins the election
becomes the Prime Minister of Canada (currently Paul Martin of
the Liberals). The Prime Minister effectively runs the country
with the support and advice of his Cabinet. The Cabinet is made
up of "Ministers" chosen by the Prime Minister to be responsible
for certain areas of the Government. There are ministers of
Health, Finance, Defence and Immigration to name a few. These
areas of responsibility are called "Portfolio's" and each
minister will have a large team of civil servants (normally the
experts in that field) working for him/her. Only the ministers
change during an election - not the civil servants.

Though the MP's represent their local constituency, their main
duties are debating the laws to be made and, depending on their
Party, either supporting or opposing the Government. The
opposition is the political party with the second most seats in
the House and their main job is to hold the government
accountable for their decisions.

A Government with a lot of seats in the House will be strong
and able to pass most laws they want through Parliament.
Conversely, a weak Government (such as now) doesn't have the
majority of the seats and has to rely on the support of another
party to form an effective Government.

After each election, the Senate and the House of Commons either
elect (House) or appoint (Senate) a Speaker. The Speaker is in
charge of proceedings and has to be impartial, enforcing the
rules of the House/Senate during debates and votes. The Speaker
presides over the House from a raised chair with the Government
MP's om the right and the opposition on the Left.

Making the Laws

To start with, the House of Commons members introduce a "Bill"
(legislative proposal). The details of the Bill are read in the
House without debate and then the Bill is printed (the first
reading).
During the second reading the principles of the Bill are
debated followed by a vote. If successful, the Bill is then
sent to the Committee stage.

A committee will listen to testimony, examine the Bill and then
submits a report to the House recommending it as it is, with
amendments or scrapped. From here it goes to the report stage.

In the report phase, any amendments are debated and voted on.
Then it will pass to the third reading. This is where the House
finally debates and votes on the final draft - if it passes the
vote it is sent to the Senate.

The Senate put the Bill through the same process as the House -
if it comes through all that (normally does!) it is given Royal
Assent and becomes Canadian Law!

For more detailed information go to
http://www.onestopimmigration-canada.com/canadian_political_system.html


About The Author: The author immigrated to Canada in 2003 and
has constructed a free information website
http://www.onestopimmigration-canada.com about Canadian
Immigration and life in Canada based on his family's
experiences.