Canadian Politics

Canada is an independent constitutional monarchy and has three tiers of government:  federal, provincial, and municipal (for towns and cities).

• Federal Government

  Canada's head of state is the Queen of England.  She is represented by the Governor general in Canada and has a mainly symbolic role.

  The federal government is responsible for such national matters as foreign affairs, national defense, trade and commerce.  It also shares many powers with the provincial governments.

  The political party with the most elected members forms the federal government and its leader becomes the Prime Minister.  The party with the second largest number of elected members becomes the Official Opposition, and its role is to offer constructive criticism to the government.  The four best known political parties are:

  1. The Progressive Conservative Party

  2. The Liberal Party

  3. The New Democratic Party

  4. The Reform Party

  The federal government is based in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario and derives its power from three bodies:

  1. The Cabinet, consisting of individuals or "Minister's appointed by the Prime Minister, each responsible for a government department (such as Finance or Immigration).

  2. The House of Commons, composed of 295 publicly elected representatives or "Members of Parliament" (MPs) from different areas of the country.

  3. The Senate, consisting of 104 individuals appointed by the Governor General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.

• Provincial Government

The Queen is represented in each province by the Lieutenant-Governor.

The provincial governments are responsible for such matters as education, transportation, health, and social services.

The provincial political party with the most elected members forms the government and its leader becomes the Premier.  The number and names of parties vary according to province.  Each provincial capital city has a parliament (called the Legislature everywhere except Quebec, which calls it the National assembly), which functions similarly to the federal House of Commons.

Each elected member represents an area of his or her province and is called an MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly) except in Ontario (MPP - Member of Provincial Parliament) and Quebec (MNA - Membre de l'Assemblee nationale).  Although the number varies, most provinces average about 75 members.

• Municipal Government

A municipal government controls such local matters as police, schools, garbage collection, and property taxes.  Officials are elected for the City Council, and various other boards such as Education and Parks and Recreation.  The leader of a municipal government is called a mayor, and other representatives are called councillors.

The Court System

In Canada, federal, provincial, and municipal governments pass laws.  The courts interpret and enforce the laws, but are separate from the government.  There are different types of courts dealing with different areas of the law (Family Court, for example).  The Canadian court system consists of three levels:  trial courts, appeal courts, and the Supreme Court of Canada, which is the court of final appeal.

Interpreters who speak your language are available upon request to assist you in court.