Levels of Government: Federal Flashcards
Each level of government has how many branches? What are their names?
3 branches: executive, legislative, judiciary
Executive branch of the federal government consists of?
the monarch (represented by the governor general)
the prime minister
the cabinet
the public service
Who is the monarch? What do they do?
King Charles III
head of state
role to unite canadians and bring a sense of belonging
more symbolic than ruling
Who is the governor general? What do they do?
Mary May Simon
first indigenous governor general
represents monarch on the federal level
Who is the prime minister? How are they chosen? What do they do?
Justin Trudeau
citizens dont directly choose the leader, they choose MP’s
the leader of the political party with the most elected MP’s becomes prime minister.
PM acts as head of government, leader of nation, and leader of their political party
What is the cabinet? What do they do? What reasons are they chosen for?
PM chooses a group of people called cabinet
given responsibility for a department of their government (ex. minister of health)
discuss important decisions
PM selects people who are good leaders and who reflect the cultural and social diversity of the nation
What is the public service? What do they do?
employees of the government who aren’t elected
work for a certain government department
collect taxes, inspect food, process passports, deliver mail, answer questions, etc.
Legislative branch of the federal government consists of?
monarch
house of commons
senate
What can the legislative branch do?
can make, change, or remove any federal law
a proposed law put forth by house of commons and senate is called a bill.
what is the opposition? who are they? what is their job?
the party with the next most seats
mp’s who are elected that belong to the opposition party
provides criticism of government policies (bills) on a regular basis
what is the senate? what do they do?
also known as the “upper house of parliament”
takes part in passing bills
can reject bills and recommend adjustments (acts as a check on the power)
may introduce bills, pass them, and send them to the house of commons
the judicial branch of the federal government consists of?
the supreme court of canada
federal judges (always an odd number so it’s never 50/50)
the highest court in our nation
