Chapter 1 Flashcards
what does the legislative branch do
make laws
king/governor general
explain their role/responsibilities
formal head of canadian state
– their power is more formal than real
no bill becomes law without their assent (acceptance)
governor general represents king
house of commons
major law making body in parliament
338 members represent 338 constituencies/ridings
how does someone become a Member of Parliament (MP)
whoever wins greatest amount of votes in their ridings (constituencies)
regardless of political parties
elected by voters/constituents
HOC
what does “representation by population” mean?
areas of the country with more people have more representatives
MPs have around the same amount of people in a riding
how do political parties affect HOC
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
senate
provide a second round of study, debate, consideration for laws that HOC wants to pass
“sober second thought”
REGIONAL REPRESENTATION
how does someone become a senator?
appointed by the prime minister
what does the executive branch do
puts laws into action [proposes laws]
run day-to-day govt business
who does the executive branch include? what do they do?
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
what are cabinet portfolios
different government departments/agencies
each cabinet member has one
what is canada’s constitution?
written law that describes all governance [process of governing] in canada
sets out the role of governor general and three branches
what is the electoral system
election system
follows concept of “first past the post”
voters must be canada citizens and 18+
anyone registered can run
first past the post
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
what is a majority government
pros and cons?
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
what is a minority gov’t
pros and cons?
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
what are the six stages of a bill being made into a law?
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
bill into law
describe the first reading and second reading
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
bill into law
describe the committee stage and the report stage
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
bill into law
describe the third reading, the senates role, and royal assent
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]
what does the judicial branch do
- interprets and applies laws [enforces laws]
- protects the rights of citizens
- acts as a ‘check’ for executive/legislative branches
what is the difference between criminal and civil law
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
how does the court system work?
who handles what case?
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
how does the gov’t affect media
govt tries to control the message media reports to control what they want citizens to know
how can media affect citizen bias
how diff media outlets share a story influences the message
they choose what perspective to highlight
what is a lobbyist
someone hired by a group to influence govt officials and MPs
they provide diff POVs on issues
what is party disipline?
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
