Political system of Canada

Let's study the

Political system of Canada

INDEX

1. Introduction to the country

2. Political running

3. Elections

4. Parliament

5. Main parties

6. Current political leaders

Introduction to the country

• 01/07/1867: Creation of Canada with the Constitution Act
• Capital city: Ottawa
• Official languages: English and French
• 5 main religions: 67.2% Christianity, 23.9% Atheism, 3.2% Islam, 1.5% Hinduism and 1.4% Sikhism
• Area: 9,984,670 km²
• Currency: Canadian Dollar CAD

2 - Political running

Canada is a federation since 1867 with three main levels of government: the country counts 10 provinces and 3 territories. The power is thus split between the federal government and the provincial and territorial governments. These ones handle various political subjects, such as education, the organization of the health system, the civil law, the celebration of marriages and the management of natural resources. So, Canada is a highly decentralized country in which the weight of the provinces matters a lot. Eventually, municipal level is about cities that take care about the libraries, parks, local police, roadways and so on.

3 - Elections

As Canada's system is named a federal..parliamentary..monarchy, citizens are expected to vote at least once every 5 years for their representatives. One member of Parliament is elected in each electoral district also called riding: the candidate with the highest number of votes wins and represents the district as MP.

After the election, the party with the most seats at the Parliament can form a government. However, it is a minority one if it has fewer than half the total seats: it is expected that two parties or more join together in a coalition.

When the party owns more than half the seats, it has control over the House and can form a majority government without needing any coalition with other political parties.

The Prime Minister and generally their ministers come from the Parliament: they have been elected as MPs (or sometimes ministers come from the Senate) and can participate into the government according to the party in power.

4 - Parliament

The Senate

House of Commons

• upper house
• 105 members appointed by the Prime minister
• represent all regions of the country
• also contributes to the legislative process by passing bills voted on by the House of Commons

• lower house
• 338 elected members
• composed of the majority (from which comes the Prime Minister), the opposition and other parties
• holds legislative power: can draw up and pass laws

5 - MAin parties

Parti Québécois

Conservative Party of Canada

The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada. Therefore, it is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party.

The Liberal Party of Canada

Formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the CPC is officially the current Opposition to the LPC government.

Oldest active federal political party of Canada, LPC is nowadays in power with the government of its leader, the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

centre-right to right-wing

centre-right to right-wing

centre to centre-left

6 - Current political leaders

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS

The monarch

prime minister

speaker of the senate

George Furey (since 2015)

Anthony Rota (since 2019) LPC

Queen Elizabeth II (since 1952)

Justin Trudeau (since 2015) LPC

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