How Canadian Government Works

CTV.ca News

The Canadian parliament consists of the Queen, the Senate and the House of Commons.

In order to remain in office, the Prime Minister and Cabinet must retain the support of a majority of members of the House of Commons.

The Queen and The Governor General

The Queen is the Canadian head of state, who usually acts through the Governor General except when she is in Canada. The Queen appoints the Governor General on the advice of the prime minister.

Every act is done in the name of the Queen but as an independent sovereign democracy, the decisions are made by representatives of the Canadian people.

Canada is also considered a federal state, with 10 largely self-governing provinces and three territories controlled by the central government.

The Senate

The Senators are appointed by the Governor General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.

The Senate can initiate any bills except bills providing for the expenditure of public money or imposing taxes. It can amend or reject any bill whatsoever. It can reject any bill as often as it sees fit. No bill can become law unless it has been passed by the Senate.

The House of Commons

The House of Commons is the major law-making body. In each of the country's constituencies, the candidate who gets the largest number of votes is elected to the House of Commons, even if his or her vote is less than half the total.

The party that wins the largest number of seats in a general election ordinarily forms the Government. Its leader is asked by the Governor General to become Prime Minister.

If the government in office before an election comes out of the election without a clear majority, it has the right to meet the new House of Commons and see whether it can get enough support from the minor parties to give it a majority.

The second largest party (or the largest party in the instance when the government in office does not win the highest number of seats but is able to form a government with the support of minor parties) becomes the Official Opposition and its leader becomes the person holding the recognized position of Leader of the Opposition.

Prime Minister and Cabinet

The Prime Minister is normally a Member of the House of Commons. A non-Member can hold the office but, by custom, must seek election to a seat very soon.

A Prime Minister may lose his or her seat in an election, but can remain in office as long as the party has sufficient support in the House of Commons to be able to govern. However, he or she must win a seat very promptly, according to custom.

The Prime Minister is appointed by the Governor General. Ordinarily, the appointment is automatic. If the Opposition wins more than half the seats in an election, or if the Government is defeated in the House of Commons and resigns, the Governor General must call on the Leader of the Opposition to form a new government.

The Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet Ministers in the first place, and can also ask any of them to resign; if the Minister refuses, the Prime Minister can advise the Governor General to remove that Minister and the advice would be followed.

By custom, almost all the members of the Cabinet must be Members of the House of Commons, or, if not already Members, must win seats.

Source: Library of Parliament