THE CANADIAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNANCE – World Countries for Kids

The basis of Canada’s written constitution is the Constitution Act, 1867. This act provisions one Parliament for Canada, comprising of three distinct elements: the Crown, the House of Commonsand the Senate. So, it’s clear that Canada is a parliamentary democracy. But it is a federal state and responsibility for lawmaking is shared among one federal, three territorial and ten provincial governments.

The authority to enact laws is vested in a legislature composed of individuals selected to represent the people of Canada. Therefore, it is a “representative” system of government. The federal legislature is bicameral: it has two purposeful “houses” or “chambers” — a lower house, the House of Commonsand, an upper house, the Senate. The Senate is made of individuals appointed by the Governor General to represent Canada’s territoriesand provinces. Members of the House of Commons are elected by eligible voters of Canada. The victorious candidates are those who receive the highest number of votes cast among the candidates contesting elections in their electoral district in this single-member, simple-plurality system.

Canada is very much a constitutional monarchy, in that its executive authority is vested formally in the monarch (King Charles III presently)through the Constitution. Every single act of government is carried out in the name of the Crown, but the authority for all those acts flows from the people of Canada. The executive function belongs to the Governor General by virtue of the status of being the sovereign’s representative. In practical terms that means, the Governor General carries out executive function on the advice of, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet.

Political parties play a vital role in the parliamentary system of Canada. Parties are organizations, knotted together by a common ideology which strive for political power in order to implement their policies. In a democratic system, the struggle for power takes place in the context of an election. Lastly, by virtue of the Preamble to the Constitution Act, 1867, which proposes that Canada is to have “Constitution similar in Principle to that of the United Kingdom”, Canada’s parliamentary system originates from the British, or “Westminster”, tradition. The Canadian system of parliamentary government has the following essential characteristics:

  • Parliament comprises of the Crown, and a lower and an upper legislative Chamber;
  • Legislative power is vested in “Parliament”; to become law, legislation must get approval of each of Parliament’s three constituent parts (i.e., the Crown, the House of Commonsand the Senate);
  • Members of the House of Commons are elected using first-past-the-post system;
  • The leader of the party enjoying the support of the majority of the Members of the House of Commons is invited by the Governor General to form a government and become the Prime Minister;
  • The party (or parties) opposed to the government is called the opposition (the largest among these parties is referred to as the “official” opposition);
  • The executive powers of government is formally vested in the Crown, but effectively exercised by the PM and Cabinet;
  • The Prime Minister and Cabinet are responsible to, or answerable to, the House of Commons for their actions; and
  • The Prime Minister and Cabinet must enjoy the confidence of the House of Commons to stay in office. Confidence means the support of a majority of the House.

Related Posts

Civil Liberties scenario in the Bahamas

Press freedom is constitutionally guaranteed and in general it is respected too in practice. Privately owned newspapers and radio broadcasters express a variety of opinions without restrictions, although bias is common. Libel is a very rarely enforced criminal offense punishable by maximum two years imprisonment. Religious freedom is respected in general. Academic institutions are free […]

Rule of Law in Brunei

Brunei has a dual judicial system of Sharia and secular courts; all senior judges are appointees of sultan. The courts seem to act independently when handling civil matters, and have yet to be tested in political cases or under the fresh regulations recently phased in. They have not shown independence in any cases connected to […]

Cambodia’s political system

For more than three decades Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and Hun Sen have dominated Cambodia’s political system. While semi-competitive elections have been conducted in the past, polls are now held in an extremely repressive environment. The CPP-led government has sustained pressure on the opposition, independent media outlets, and demonstrators with intimidation, politically driven prosecutions, and […]