Branches of Government in Canada

What is one of the most important roles of government in Canada?

To create, pass, and enforce laws

We already know that the three levels of government are responsible for laws in certain areas, but…

Who decides what will become a law?

How are laws actually made?

Who ensures that laws are followed?

One person or group cannot create, pass, and enforce laws, so...responsibilities are divided between three branches.

These three branches exist at the federal level for laws concerning defence, immigration, etc.,

AND at the provincial level for laws concerning education, health care, etc.

1. EXECUTIVE BRANCH--Governor General, Prime Minister (or the premier) and Cabinet

● decides which issues are important enough that they should become law eg. the issue of cyberbullying requires a new criminal law

● the appropriate cabinet department (eg. Department of Justice) researches and writes a bill which will be introduced into the House of Commons

The Prime Minister● Head of the government● Leader of the party which

wins the most “seats” in the election

● Determines what issues are most important, what laws will be created

The Cabinet● MPs from the government party

● chosen by the Prime Minister to run specific departments which have hundreds of government employees

● helps decide what the government should do about important issues and laws

Bill Morneau--Minister of Finance

● responsible for the preparing the budget (sets out how the government will spend money)

Minister of the Environment--Catherine McKenna

● Responsible for national laws about protecting Canada’s air, waterways, forests, etc.

● also for plans/actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Other Cabinet “portfolios”

Stephane Dion, Minister of Foreign Affairs

Jody Wilson- Raybould, Minister of Justice

Harjit Sajjan, Minister of National Defence

The Excecutive Branch at the Provincial Level

Kathleen Wynne Eric Hoskins Mitzi Hunter Bill MauroPremier Minister of Health Minister of Education Minister of

MunicipalAffairs

2. Legislative Branch--House of Commons and the Senate

These two “houses” in parliament represent the citizens of Canada.

Legislative Branch

● They question government policies and keep the government accountable

● Most importantly, they debate and vote on whether bills are beneficial to Canadians and should become laws

House of Commons● made up of Members of Parliament (MPs)

who are ELECTED by citizens in 338 ridings across the country

● each MP is a member of one of Canada’s political parties

●

The number of “seats” or MPs a province gets to elect depends on its population.

For eg., Ontario gets 36% of the seats (121 MPs) in the House of Commons because it has 39% of Canada’s population

Alberta gets 10% of the seats (34 MPs) because it has 11% of the population

The Senate● 105 Canadians who are APPOINTED by the

Prime Minister● Senate debates and votes on a bill after the

House of Commons has passed it● each senator represents a region in Canada

(Atlantic Canada, Ont., Que., the West, etc)

● each region has an equal number of senators

Each region (except the northern territories) has an EQUAL number of senators appointed

Queen’s Park--Ontario’s Provincial Legislature

At the provincial level, the legislative branch only has the legislature made up of elected Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). This is the equivalent of the federal House of Commons.There is NO Senate.

3. JUDICIAL BRANCH--federal and provincial courts

● Interprets and enforces the laws passed by the legislative branches

● Includes all courts and judges at both the federal and provincial levels