Vocabulary Flashcards
What is Constitution?
Canada’s constitution is its Charter of Rights and Freedom.
It consists of all the laws and rights that the federal government believes are essential for the well-being of our society, here in Canada. In other words, it outlines the rights of both citizens and non-citizens of Canada. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom originated when we gained independence from being simple a colony of Britain, in 1867.
What are the 6 colonies in 1867?
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, PEI, Canada East (later Quebec), Canada West (later Ontario). Canada East and Canada West together were called the Province of Canada.
Provinces that joined in 1867 and why or why not
The provinces that joined in 1867 are Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. The other provinces didn’t want to join because they were afraid of being a minority, or losing independence. PEI didn’t join because they were afraid of being a minority.
House of Commons
The House of Commons is one of the parts of the Canadian Parliament, which is one of the sections of the Candian Government. The House of Commons is the starting point of the journey of a bill. At the House of Commons, bills are created and seriously debated. The 338 Commoners each are in control of one constituency/riding/electoral district. The House of Commoners is elected by citizens, like us. The House of Commons is also called the Lower House, and the members of the house of commons are called MPs or Members of Parliament.
Senate
The Senate is also one of the parts of the Parliament. The Senate is the second stage of the journey of a bill. At the Senate, bills presented by the House of Commons are declined, amended, and approved. There are currently 105 seats in the Senate, and a certain number of Senators represent each province or territory. However, they try to divide themselves in such a way that each region has approximately the same number of Senators. For example, the small Maritimes, together, have 24 Senators. The popular Ontario and Quebec also have 24 Senators each. It is also known as Upper House.
Appointed
Being appointed is similar to being elected, due to the fact that both result in one person/ a group of people being chosen. However, the way they get chosen is different. When one is appointed in the Canadian government, this means that an individual is chosen by the Governor General: Mary Simon. A group of people that are appointed in the law is the Senators. This group of people is appointed on the advice of the Prime Minister of Canada.
Elected
Election runs in a democratic country, and occurs when citizens of a country come to a school or church to vote, and give their opinion of who should be a leader. When one wins an election, they are elected by a rightful citizen.
BNA Act
The BNA Act, later named the Constitution act, is the outline of Canada’s constitution. It distributed federal, provincial, and municipal power in Canada. It also includes the structure of the government (ex: how the parliament works).
Rupert’s Land
Rupert’s Land is the land where the water in this land drains into Hudson Bay. This was a large amount of land that was given to Hudson Bay Company as a monopoly by King Charles II of Britain. It covered about 3 861 400 km2 of present-day Canada, including Northern Quebec and Northern Ontario, much of the prairie provinces (Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan), and southern Nunavut. However, at that time, King Charles II was not aware of this. Two years after Confederation, the Canadian government bought this land from Hudson Bay Company, giving no awareness to the Indigenous peoples living there.
Maritimes
The Maritimes is the word used when referring to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The land area of the Maritimes is 133,850 km squared or just above 1% of the land area of Canada. The population of the Maritimes is about 5.1% of the population. Due to these low statistics, the Maritimes were hesitant about joining Confederation, and therefore all the Maritime Provinces except for P.E.I. joined Confederation immediately.
Charlottetown Conference
In the Charlottetown Conference of 1864, the Maritimes Provinces came together to discuss the possibility of Confederation. What is important is the presence of East and West Canada (Ontario and Quebec). They thought that they should be present. The Maritimes did not want to join, as they thought that they would be a minority in Canada. Ontario and Quebec convinced them to join, promising they would not be a minority.
Quebec Conference
This conference occurred in 1864 in Quebec. Here, John A. McDonald and his group wrote the constitution, not approved by the Monarch, yet. However, outside participation was not permitted at all. Participating in this were politicians from the 6 colonies in the BNA. In the Quebec Conference, 72 resolutions were made, which is the basis of Canada’s constitution and how the government will work.
London Conference
At the London Conference of 1866, John A. MacDonald and politicians from the colonies of BNA went to London, England. There, they took assent from the Monarchy for the confederation of Canada.
Federal/ Provincial/ Municipal
The Federal Government is the government of a country. The responsibilities are banking, currency, citizenship, national defence, foriegn trade, fisheries, postal service, taxation, etc.
The Provincial Government is the government of a province. The responsibilities are civil law, hospitals, highways, roads, licenses, education, some natural resources, etc.
The Municipal Government is the government of a city/town. The responsibilities are libraries, parks, local police, roadways, parking, etc.
Colony
1.) A country or area that is controlled by the monarch in a distant country.
2.) People who settle in a distant territory that is controlled by the government of their homeland.
Governor General
The Governor General is the representative of the Monarch in Canada. He/she has many tasks in Canada, such as royal assent, and appointing people.
Rep by pop and rep by region
The House of Commons is rep by pop, as the number of ridings and seats change based on the population. Therefore, the number of seats changes almost every election, as the population can increase.
Rep by region is done by the Senate. The number of seats in the Senate doesn’t change very often, as they only increase or decrease when the number of provinces or territories in Canada change.
Bill/Law.
A Bill is the draft version of a law or a law in progress. Before becoming law, the bill goes through 6 stages. The first stage is called “First Reading”. In the first reading, the bill was introduced to the House of Commons (rarely the Senate) for the first time. In the Second Reading, the bill is debated by the House of Commons for the first time. Next, people inside and outside the government suggest amendments and study the bill. The fourth stage is the “Report Stage” and the committee discusses their findings about the bill. The fifth stage is the “Third Reading”, and during the Third Reading, the bill is debated again. and after being passed, it travels to the Senate, where they go through the process again. After both houses pass the bill, the governor-general gives royal assent to the bill, making it a law officially. Keep in mind the governor general has no veto, or right to decline a bill passed by both houses. Law is a rule that the federal government thinks all citizens should follow.
Political Party
A group of people who support each other and think the same way about how they think the government should work. The political party that has the most amount of seats in the House of Commons, wins the election.
Riding
Riding is also known as a constituency or electoral district.
There are 338 ridings in Canada. Every riding in represented by one member of parliament in the House of Commons.
Prime Minister
The Prime Minister is the leader of the party that won country-wide. A prime minister is basically the “Head of the Country”. Currently, our prime minister is Justin Trudeau. Prime ministers deal with federal government responsibilities, such as banking, currency, citizenship, national defence, foriegn trade, fisheries, postal service, taxation, etc.
72 resolutions
The 72 resolutions are the individual laws that together make up the constitution. It was first discussed and written in the Quebec Conference.
Rights in 1867
Indigenous, Asians, and Women were not allowed to vote. Indigenous peoples were not acknowledged. Asians were a different culture. Women were considered insignificant. Only white, property-owning people were allowed to vote. Women were not allowed to go to university, as people thought that women should always be at home. Women’s main jobs were cooking and taking care of the children. People were mainly called British Subjects with a very low amount of rights. Only 20% of the population was allowed to vote.
