I do not know much about it and I would therefore like to know more. I have heard that you are a monarchy, as you are a part of commonwealth which means that your Queen is the English Queen. But does Canada have a president or does Canada have a Primeminister. And how many diffrent important political partys do you have? And do you share the same political points of view as USA. Last but not least who are your current Leader and which party does he belong to.
Canadian Politics
- Thread starter lo2
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Canada has a Governor General, which is the Queen's representative. Canada has a Prime Minister, not a President. We have many political parties, but only four of them are in the House of Commons. They are the Liberal Party, the Conservative Party, the New Democratic Party, and the Bloc Quebecois. And our current leader is Stephen Harper and he belongs to the Conservative Party.
Her Majesty the Queen of Canada is our de jure head of state.
However, our de facto head would be Her Excellency The Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D., the Governor General of Canada. She represents Her Majesty in Canada, and the powers of the Government of Canada are exercised through her in the name of the Queen. The Governor General exercises these powers on the advice of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada (since the Cabinet is a committee of the Council). However, the advice of the Council is almost always expressed by the Prime Minister, exclusively, on important matters. The entire Council is only convened to proclaim new monarchs, under normal circumstances.
The democratic leader, our head of government, is The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P., the Member for Calgary Southwest and the Prime Minister of Canada; he was invited by Her Excellency to form the government of the Thirty-ninth Parliament of Canada as the party most likely to have the support of the House of Commons, and he was sworn in as the Prime Minister on the 6th of February of this year (Mr. Harper is the Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada).
Major parties in Canada are the Conservative Party of Canada (the present Government), the Liberal Party of Canada (serving as Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, a position often thought to be the alternative to the current Government in the event that the Government resigns), the Bloc Québécois (a sovereigntist party from the Province of Québec), and the New Democratic Party of Canada.
Canada has various Presidents, but these are not sources of any major power when compared to the head of government or the head of state (the President of the Treasury Board, or the President of the Privy Council). However, the power in Canada rests greatly on the Prime Minister, who is trusted to make appropriate and responsible appointments to the highest positions in the Government of Canada and the judiciary (although the "appropriate-ness" of these appointments has been a point of contention in more recent years).
Yes, Canada and the United States of America share views on certain topics, and diverge on others. Canada has agreed much more with the United States since Her Excellency invited the Conservative Party to govern; the relationship with our southern neighbour was considerably more "turbulent" under the longer tenure of the Liberals.
However, our de facto head would be Her Excellency The Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D., the Governor General of Canada. She represents Her Majesty in Canada, and the powers of the Government of Canada are exercised through her in the name of the Queen. The Governor General exercises these powers on the advice of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada (since the Cabinet is a committee of the Council). However, the advice of the Council is almost always expressed by the Prime Minister, exclusively, on important matters. The entire Council is only convened to proclaim new monarchs, under normal circumstances.
The democratic leader, our head of government, is The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P., the Member for Calgary Southwest and the Prime Minister of Canada; he was invited by Her Excellency to form the government of the Thirty-ninth Parliament of Canada as the party most likely to have the support of the House of Commons, and he was sworn in as the Prime Minister on the 6th of February of this year (Mr. Harper is the Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada).
Major parties in Canada are the Conservative Party of Canada (the present Government), the Liberal Party of Canada (serving as Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, a position often thought to be the alternative to the current Government in the event that the Government resigns), the Bloc Québécois (a sovereigntist party from the Province of Québec), and the New Democratic Party of Canada.
Canada has various Presidents, but these are not sources of any major power when compared to the head of government or the head of state (the President of the Treasury Board, or the President of the Privy Council). However, the power in Canada rests greatly on the Prime Minister, who is trusted to make appropriate and responsible appointments to the highest positions in the Government of Canada and the judiciary (although the "appropriate-ness" of these appointments has been a point of contention in more recent years).
Yes, Canada and the United States of America share views on certain topics, and diverge on others. Canada has agreed much more with the United States since Her Excellency invited the Conservative Party to govern; the relationship with our southern neighbour was considerably more "turbulent" under the longer tenure of the Liberals.
We are considered a constitutional monarchy with a federated parliamentary systems with 2 levels of Government, federal and provincial. The head of state is the Queen and in the Queens place is the Govenor General who represents Canada, but really doesn't have any true power and is not elected.
The Upper house is an unelected Senate which until recently had the job for life. Now they have a set retirment age, if they don't die before it. They have limited power to, well slow down legislation really.
The Lower house, the Commons, is elected by First Past the post(FPTP) by any Canadian citizen, men and women, who may vote from the age of 18 and up. I do not believe there is anyway in Canada to lose you vote as well. Generally these guys have there seat in the house of commons, well until they are not elected. Elections take place with in a five year period.
The head of government is the leader of the largist party in the house of commons. The Primminister of Canada has considerable power, more so then many head of states and governments combined. Really all of the powers the GG has is really directed threw him and there are no real checks and balances to his power besides the house itself. In a minority government his power is somewhat nerfed by the ability of a combined oppistion to bring down his government at any time, but when there is a magority government the only thing controling his power is truly the Canadian Constitution.
The Upper house is an unelected Senate which until recently had the job for life. Now they have a set retirment age, if they don't die before it. They have limited power to, well slow down legislation really.
The Lower house, the Commons, is elected by First Past the post(FPTP) by any Canadian citizen, men and women, who may vote from the age of 18 and up. I do not believe there is anyway in Canada to lose you vote as well. Generally these guys have there seat in the house of commons, well until they are not elected. Elections take place with in a five year period.
The head of government is the leader of the largist party in the house of commons. The Primminister of Canada has considerable power, more so then many head of states and governments combined. Really all of the powers the GG has is really directed threw him and there are no real checks and balances to his power besides the house itself. In a minority government his power is somewhat nerfed by the ability of a combined oppistion to bring down his government at any time, but when there is a magority government the only thing controling his power is truly the Canadian Constitution.
There are exceptions to some of the situations described above, but they are few and far between (Canada has been fortunate to have not had a head of government who would dare to abuse the governing institutions). In one case, a party without the most seats governed; in another, the head of government was forced into resignation and an opposition party was invited to govern.
In 1925, the Government of Canada was returned to the House of Commons with one hundred seats — more than a dozen fewer than the Conservative Party of Canada. However, since no party had a majority of seats, a rare convention was invoked whereby the Prime Minister of the time, The Right Honourable William Mackenzie King, P.C., was given the chance to govern before another party would be invited. Therefore, there was another party in the House that had more seats than the governing party.
Later on, during that same Parliament, it looked as though the Prime Minister was about to lose the support of the Commons. However, instead of letting a motion to defeat the Government take its course, the Prime Minister asked the late The Right Honourable the Lord Viscount Byng of Vimy, the Governor General of Canada, to dissolve Parliament and drop the writs for a new election. Citing that a Prime Minister should not dissolve the House when its confidence is in question, the Governor General took the drastic step of refusing Mr. King's request (the only instance of this ever occurring), forcing him into resignation. The Governor General then invited the late The Right Honourable Arthur Meighan, P.C. to form the next Government of Canada in the same Commons.
In 1925, the Government of Canada was returned to the House of Commons with one hundred seats — more than a dozen fewer than the Conservative Party of Canada. However, since no party had a majority of seats, a rare convention was invoked whereby the Prime Minister of the time, The Right Honourable William Mackenzie King, P.C., was given the chance to govern before another party would be invited. Therefore, there was another party in the House that had more seats than the governing party.
Later on, during that same Parliament, it looked as though the Prime Minister was about to lose the support of the Commons. However, instead of letting a motion to defeat the Government take its course, the Prime Minister asked the late The Right Honourable the Lord Viscount Byng of Vimy, the Governor General of Canada, to dissolve Parliament and drop the writs for a new election. Citing that a Prime Minister should not dissolve the House when its confidence is in question, the Governor General took the drastic step of refusing Mr. King's request (the only instance of this ever occurring), forcing him into resignation. The Governor General then invited the late The Right Honourable Arthur Meighan, P.C. to form the next Government of Canada in the same Commons.
If you haven't guessed yet, Five is the person you should direct all your questions to with regards to parliment and how it works. So day or night don't feel bad to PM Five about any questions you might have.
If a member would wish to contact me, then I can be contacted through¹ Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger with Voice, or through my Windows Live Mail address. There are enough alternatives to private messages to ensure that new users can contact the membership when necessary. 
:!: Revision : (1) Corrected a typing error.
:!: Revision : (1) Corrected a typing error.
I think that I may have forgotten to give you a proper welcome to Canadian Content, lo2. If that is the case, then my apologies, and welcome! I hope to see you around the forums, and I am happy to see that you are jumping right into creating your own threads. That is, without a debt, one of the best ways to become more comfortable with the forums and the membership.[i said:
I would like to clarify one particular aspects of your question, though. As per the Royal Style and Titles Act, Her Majesty the Queen of Canada is recognized in a capacity that is separate from her role as the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is by matter of an agreed convention between the Commonwealth Realms that the line of succession between the separate Crowns coincides.
Click here for the Royal Style and Titles Act in English.
Cliquetez içi pour la Loi sur les titres royaux en français.
:?: Sources
1. Click here for the Web site of Department of Justice Canada.
EDIT:
I would have to disagree on just writing down the word of the pariment and the government without putting more information on how it is chosen and the actual power it uses.
However Fiveparadox has... TOO much information on the Queen... I think he might secrectly be in love... Don't tell him he is in denile
I would have to disagree on just writing down the word of the pariment and the government without putting more information on how it is chosen and the actual power it uses.
However Fiveparadox has... TOO much information on the Queen... I think he might secrectly be in love... Don't tell him he is in denile
Thin ice, Finder.
Way to attempt to degrade someone.
I am very rapidly losing my respect for you.
Way to attempt to degrade someone.
I am very rapidly losing my respect for you.
Screw off, Finder.
You were attempting to discredit my posts without just cause, and I don't need to, nor do I intend to, stand for that. I quite understand how our system of governance works here in Canada, thank you, and I would appreciate it if you could discontinue your continuing practice of throwing mud at whichever posts you don't like by trying to imply that I have no idea what goes on.
You were attempting to discredit my posts without just cause, and I don't need to, nor do I intend to, stand for that. I quite understand how our system of governance works here in Canada, thank you, and I would appreciate it if you could discontinue your continuing practice of throwing mud at whichever posts you don't like by trying to imply that I have no idea what goes on.
Sorry if you feel that way. I do not believe I am throwing mud at your posts but offering a balanced view to your own. I'll edit the information out of my other post if it so offends you. I think it is immportant for people to understand our goverment and how it is elected or not, and what power it actually uses and and does not use.
(editing)
(editing)
If you would perhaps re-read my posts above, you would see that I made it quite clear that the Governor General exercises power only in Council (from the Prime Minister, in a majority of cases), and that the Commons are indeed the elected Chamber. I'm not sure where I'm skipping out on the important information.
I don't see why this post in which Five so very nicely and accurately answered the question needs backhanded comments on. The person who posted this just for an explanation, not a discussion on how we felt about our system and the pros and cons of such.
I know that if i had a question about anything parliamentary, i would ask Five first On that i agree..but the pointless insult had no merit.
I know that if i had a question about anything parliamentary, i would ask Five first
On that i agree..but the pointless insult had no merit.Semperfi_dani, I was making a point of adding electoral information and the use of power which I feel is immportant. I do not usually apologize to believing our government should be democratically elected and not appointed as much of it currently is. Also noting the Checks and Balances are set up in our government but not used because of the aforementioned.
Was there any reason to degrade my post then, Finder?
This member asked for quite particular information, and I responded to those questions. Yes, our head of state is the Queen of Canada. We have a prime minister, not a president. I listed our four political parties. I noted our relationship with the U.S., and I noted our current leader and party. Nobody asked for information on our election or appointment system; if they had, I would have given it.
This member asked for quite particular information, and I responded to those questions. Yes, our head of state is the Queen of Canada. We have a prime minister, not a president. I listed our four political parties. I noted our relationship with the U.S., and I noted our current leader and party. Nobody asked for information on our election or appointment system; if they had, I would have given it.
Hey, i agree that there are some changes that i feel the parliamentary system should be changed...but thats for another post all together really.
And you know i like ya Finder, but in general, i get uncomfortable when people are unnecesarily mocked or attacked within a post. Thats what Wreck Beach if for. I would love to see the personal comments left out of the other forums.
Yay Finder ...Yay Five!
And you know i like ya Finder, but in general, i get uncomfortable when people are unnecesarily mocked or attacked within a post. Thats what Wreck Beach if for. I would love to see the personal comments left out of the other forums.
Yay Finder ...Yay Five!