Volgorde presentatie:

- head of the government (Manon)

- names (Mariska)
- how the system works (Manon)
- voting system (Giselle)
- political parties (Mariska)
- topical issues (Giselle)

Head of the government

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is the head of the government. He is the 22nd Prime
Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became PM after his
party won a minority government in the federal election in 2006. The Prime Minister is
appointed by the current Governor General. But the PM is usually the current leader of
the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons
(Lagerhuis). The Prime Minister chooses the cabinet, so he has a lot of power.

Minority government = a cabinet formed by one ore more political parties, that all
together don’t have at least a half plus one of the total number of seats in the parliament.
(In Dutch: minderheidskabinet)

A few important names in the current cabinet

Stephen Harper – Prime minister.
Rob Nicholson – Minister of justice
Chuck Strahl – Minister of Transport, infrastructure and Communities.
Peter MacKay – Minister of National Defence
Vic Toews – Minister of Public Safety.
Tony Clement – Minister of Industry.
Jim Flaherty – Minister of Finance
Leona Aglukkaq – Minister of Health.
Lisa Raitt – Minister of Labour

How the system works

Canada is a constitutional monarchy. The English King or Queen, currently Elisabeth II,
is also monarch of Canada. But Canada is an independent country and neither the
British Queen nor the parliament have something to say about what’s happening in
Canada.
Canada is a federal state made up of provinces. Each province has his own constitution,
just like in the United States.

The Houses of Parliament are located in Canada’s capital city, Ottawa. There are 3 main
sections: The Queen, as the Head of state, the Senate and the House of Commons.

Queen Elisabeth II
Queen Elisabeth II is head of state, but she has no executive power. She is represented
by the Governor General of Canada, presently Michaëlle Jean. She caries out most of
the royal duties in Canada. In each province, the Crown is represented by a lieutenant-
governor.
The task of the Governor General is to take the last step by passing the laws. She is the
one who takes the bills.
The Senate
The Senate is an major influence on the Canadian political system and is made up of
105 Senators, who are appointed by the Governor General on the recommendation of
the Prime Minister. The main role of the Senate is to read over and examine the bills
sent from the House of Commons, but they can also initiate Bills.

The House of Commons

The House of Commons consists of 308 members. The Members of Parliament are
elected by the general public during the elections every 5 year and each member
represents a constituency. The seats are divided over the provinces in proportion to their
population size. Most candidates each represent a particular political party and the party
with the most seats takes over as the Government. The leader of this party becomes
Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister chooses the cabinet which is made up of Ministers who are
responsible for certain areas of the Government. Just like here in the Netherlands.
The party with the second-most seats is called the opposition and the leader of this party
usually becomes the Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition. The opposition checks
the government. Their main job is to hold the government accountable for their
decisions. They ensure that controversial bills do not pass through as law, so they have
a major task in the political system.

Voting system
The’re different elections in Canada, National, provincially and municipally elections.
The house of common
The house of common is the part of the government which is choosen by the citizens.
The house of common includes 308 seats. The party who has a majority of votes can
make a government. When there’s no party with a majority of votes, they have a minority
kabinet which mostly contains that they will governing with the support of another party.
It’s possible for the cabinet to reign for five years. The prime minister can decide to
advance the elections. When the prime minister isn’t plausible anymore ore the
government created an unsolvable problem.
In Canada you’ve different elections districts. You vote in your one districts. The seats of
the house of common are divided over the province based on the amount of inhabitants.

Political parties

In Canada there are four big political parties. There are the Conservative party, the
liberal, Bloc Québécois and New Democratic Party.

The biggest party in Canada is the Conservative party. In 2006 during the last elections
they came out as the biggest party in Canada with 143 seats. This is the double of place
second. The political party is in a little bit right. With their leader which is also the prime
minister Stephen Harper

Liberal party. The liberal party has in the current house of commons 77 seats. Unlike the
Conservative party, the liberal party is a little bit left. They have as leader Micheal
Ignatieff
The Bloc Québécois is a political party who has 49 seats and who aim for a
independence of Quebec. The rest of their point of views are for the environment and
the poor ones. This political party has as leader Gilles Duccepe

New Democratic party had in the current house of commons 37 seats. This political party
is truly left. With the Leader Jack Layton

All the other political parties in Canada aren’t in the house of commons.

Topical issues