Chapter 1

Question 1

what does the legislative branch do

Answer 1

make laws

Question 2

king/governor general

explain their role/responsibilities

Answer 2

formal head of canadian state
– their power is more formal than real
no bill becomes law without their assent (acceptance)

governor general represents king

Question 3

house of commons

Answer 3

major law making body in parliament
338 members represent 338 constituencies/ridings

Question 4

how does someone become a Member of Parliament (MP)

Answer 4

whoever wins greatest amount of votes in their ridings (constituencies)
regardless of political parties

elected by voters/constituents

Question 5

HOC

what does “representation by population” mean?

Answer 5

areas of the country with more people have more representatives

MPs have around the same amount of people in a riding

Question 6

how do political parties affect HOC

Answer 6

members elected but not part of largest party form opposition
party with 2nd place is official opposition
opposing MPs critique party in power to ensure fairness

Question 7

senate

Answer 7

provide a second round of study, debate, consideration for laws that HOC wants to pass

“sober second thought”

REGIONAL REPRESENTATION

Question 8

how does someone become a senator?

Answer 8

appointed by the prime minister

Question 9

what does the executive branch do

Answer 9

puts laws into action [proposes laws]
run day-to-day govt business

Question 10

who does the executive branch include? what do they do?

Answer 10

prime minister: forms the cabinet, appoints public servants, organizes govt

cabinet: member to govt in power (MP), each have a portfolio, propose most the bills that become laws

Question 11

what are cabinet portfolios

Answer 11

different government departments/agencies
each cabinet member has one

Question 12

what is canada’s constitution?

Answer 12

written law that describes all governance [process of governing] in canada

sets out the role of governor general and three branches

Question 13

what is the electoral system

Answer 13

election system
follows concept of “first past the post”

voters must be canada citizens and 18+
anyone registered can run

Question 14

first past the post

Answer 14

canada is divided into 338 constituencies/ridings
there can only be one winner per riding
party with the most MPs out of 338 elected will win and form govt

Question 15

what is a majority government

pros and cons?

Answer 15

when the governing party has the majority of the seats

pro: more stable gov’t
con: has total control of the house – pass bills regardless of opposition

Question 16

what is a minority gov’t

pros and cons?

Answer 16

when the party that won doesn’t have more than half of the seats in the HOC

pro: keeps gov’t in check –need to negotiate with other parties to pass bills
con: negotiation takes time; less will be accomplished

Question 17

what are the six stages of a bill being made into a law?

Answer 17

1) first reading
2) second reading
3) committee stage
4) report stage
5) third reading
– senate –
6) royal assent

ammendments are made throughout the process

Question 18

bill into law

describe the first reading and second reading

Answer 18

first reading: MPs are presented the bill [no debates]
second: debate on bill, have a free vote [majority], if passed it moves on, if not its rejected

Question 19

bill into law

describe the committee stage and the report stage

Answer 19

committee: detailed study of bill is done. committee made of senators/mps with witnesses [citizens]; committee returns detailed report of findings and ammendments

report: the ammendments are debated/voted on as recommended by committee

Question 20

bill into law

describe the third reading, the senates role, and royal assent

Answer 20

third final debate/vote on the final form of bill [changes have been made]

senate: once the HOC goes through the process, bill is passed to senate to go through the same process

royal assent: governor uses royal rubber stamp to make the bill a law [formality]

Question 21

what does the judicial branch do

Answer 21

• interprets and applies laws [enforces laws]
• protects the rights of citizens
• acts as a ‘check’ for executive/legislative branches

Question 22

what is the difference between criminal and civil law

Answer 22

criminal: federal;
people vs ‘someone’,
deals with those who break laws

civil provincial;
plaintiff vs defendant
deals with civil matters [suing, etc]

plaintiff: iniciates the lawsuit
defendant: responds to a lawsuit

Question 23

how does the court system work?

who handles what case?

Answer 23

all cases [civil/criminal] start with provincial law; can be appealed higher

federal law deals with federal issues like immigration

all cases can be appealed to supreme court if they choose to hear the case

Question 24

how does the gov’t affect media

Answer 24

govt tries to control the message media reports to control what they want citizens to know

Question 25

how can media affect citizen bias

Answer 25

how diff media outlets share a story influences the message
they choose what perspective to highlight

Question 26

what is a lobbyist

Answer 26

someone hired by a group to influence govt officials and MPs

they provide diff POVs on issues

Question 27

what is party disipline?

Answer 27

ability for party members to act as a group to support major party objectives

MPs r expected to vote with their party unless it is a FREE VOTE
if they don’t, they get kicked out of the party and become independant