1. The Canadian political system as it is known today was first drafted by
the "Fathers of Confederation" at the Quebec conference of 1864.
2. The Canadian political system is loosely based on the British system.
3. Canada is an independent Federal state with the Queen the head of state.
4.Her powers are extremely limited however, as the
Parliament passes the laws which the Queen gives the "Royal Assent" as
the final step.
5. 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.
6. The Houses of Parliament (housing the Federal
Government) are located in Canada's capital city, Ottawa.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. The Senate is made up of 105 Senators who are appointed by the
Governor General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.
10.The real power is held by the House of Commons (the members of Parliament (MP's) are elected by the general public during a Federal election every 5 years).
11. 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.
12.The leader of the political party that wins the election becomes
the Prime Minister of Canada (currently Paul Martin of the
Liberals).
13. The House of Commons members introduce a "Bill"
(legislative proposal) which after three readings and debates in the House and the same procedure in the the Senate is given Royal
Assent and becomes Canadian Law.
14.The Provincial Goverment systems are based along the same principles
as the Federal system the provincial government is responsible for healthcare, education, driver licensing and
registrations and the Provincial budget amongst other things.
15. The Provincial Government is called the Legislative Assembly and the
Queens representative in the Assembly is the Lieutenant Governor.