The document provides an overview of Canada's federal system of government. It describes the three levels of government - federal, provincial, and municipal. It outlines the main responsibilities of each level, with the federal government responsible for issues like national defense, the provincial governments responsible for health and education, and municipal governments responsible for local services. The document also summarizes the three branches of government - the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. It explains the roles of key federal government positions and bodies, including the monarch, Governor General, Prime Minister, Cabinet, Prime Minister's Office, and the bureaucracy.

1. Canada’s Federal System
Civics 11
Chapter 3
SS 11
Chapter 9
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2. Review of Chapter 2 – Create a ‘T’ chart
under each question, your guess goes on
the left and real answer on right side
• What are the 3 levels of government in
Canada?
• What are the main responsibilities of the federal
government?
• How about the provincial government?
• The municipal government?
• What type of government did the BNA Act of
1867 set up in Canada?

4. Branches of Government
• Governments in Canada have three
branches:
(1) Executive -
(2) Legislative
(3) Judicial

5. What is the
Executive Branch of Gov’t?
• Comprised of the Cabinet and the bureaucracy (i.e.,
public servants), this branch carries out the
government business, manages actions, performs
day-to-day operations and implements laws of
Canada.
• Head of State is the Queen of England (…represented
by Governor General of Canada).
• Head of Government is the Prime Minister.

6. What is the
Legislative Branch of Gov’t?
• They make and debate the laws.
• It is also called Parliament.
• Parliament consists of the monarch and a
bicameral legislature (i.e., an elected House of
Commons and an appointed Senate).

7. What is the
Judicial Branch of Gov’t?
• Comprised of judges and the various courts of
Canada, this branch decides who broke the law and
the punishment that corresponds.
• The Supreme Court of Canada is the court of last
resort. The Supreme Court has nine justices led by the
Chief Justice of Canada.
• Each justice is appointed by the Governor General.
• This court hears appeals from decisions rendered by
the various appellate courts from the provinces and
territories.

8. To Recap…
(1) Legislative – makes laws
(2) Executive – implements the laws
(3) Judicial – uphold laws
 To offer an example,
• the Legislative Branch would create a law about the time
of year that a person could fish.
• The Executive Branch would see to it through setting up
various ministries and agencies that people only fished during
that time.
• The Judicial Branch would put anyone on trial that broke
the law and fished outside of the allotted time and would
decide upon an appropriate punishment.

9. Still confused?

10. Executive Branch of
Government
•Monarch
•Prime Minister
•PM’s Office
•The Cabinet
•The bureaucracy

11. What is the Monarch’s Role?
In the Legislative Branch:
• The Queen in theory has the final say in
the passage of bills by giving Royal
Assent
• The Queen is represented by the
Governor General, and fulfils this duty.
• Royal assent is a formality – once a bill
has been passed 3 times in the House
and 3 times by the Senate, it will become
law because the GG will definitely sign the
bill.

12. Governor General
In the Executive Branch, the same is true:
• The GG represents the Queen and acts as the
Canadian Head of State.
• With his/her executive power, the GG has to
make sure that Canada always has a gov’t.
• If a gov’t is defeated, he/she would normally
call an election.
• Under very unusual circumstances, he/she
might call on the Official Opposition to try and
form a gov’t.
• Under extreme conditions, the GG could
appoint people to form an interm gov’t.

13. How is the Head of State different
from the Head of Government?
• In the American system, the president fills
both functions.
• A possible advantage of our system is that
our Head of State does not get involved in
political matters and can concentrate on the
many ceremonial functions that must be
carried out in a totally non-partisan way.

14. Questions to Consider about
Canada’s Head of State
1. Do you think that we should continue to
have the Queen (or her successors) as
the official Canadian Head of State?
2. Should our Governor General be
appointed, elected, or abolished?
3. What would be the advantages or
disadvantages of whatever course of
action you would choose in questions 1
& 2?

15. What does the Prime Minister do?
• Leader of the party that won the most seats in
the last election – he/she is considered the
Head of Government.
• Has immense power, especially in a majority
gov’t.
• Can order the elected MPs in the governing
party to vote for all gov’t bills, so the bills pass
through Parl and become laws.
• Appoints members of the Cabinet and replaces
them if necessary.

16. • Appoints people to important positions in the
country: GG, Chief of the Defense Staff, all
Justices of the Supreme Court, all Canadian
ambassadors, the Head of the CBC.
• Other appointments to various boards or
commissions.Prime Minister launches national
Mental Health Commission.doc
• Represents the country at important
international meetings, such as the G8,
NAFTA, and APEC.

17. The Prime Minister’s Office
• The PM always appoints many advisors
• The PMO is responsible for press and public
relations, the PM's large correspondence,
speaking engagements, etc; it advises on
candidates for appointment to the numerous
order-in-council appointees.
• The PMO has become very powerful, and
even Cabinet Ministers often have to check
with the PMO before making a speech.

18. The Cabinet
• Consists of all the Ministers who are in charge
of the various gov’t Ministries, such as defence,
finance, foreign affairs, industry, and
international trade, etc.
• There are around 25 Cabinet Ministers,
appointed by the PM from the MPs in his/her
party (gov’t).
• The PM considers gender balance, rep from
visible minorities, regional balance when
selecting his/her Cabinet Ministers.

19. • CMs are responsible for their own Ministry
or dept and have to be answerable in, or
accountable to, the H of C for the actions
of their Ministry – in Question period.

20. The Bureaucracy
• Also known as the Civil or Public Service.
• Composed of many people who work for the
gov’t in Ottawa and across the country.
• They administer all the policies and laws of the
gov’t and country.
• Each Ministry has thousands of civil servants in
Ottawa and across the country.

21. • Ex. Revenue Canada – makes sure all
taxpayers pay the correct amount of tax to
gov’t.
• Others include Passport Office,
Employment Canada, Parks Canada,
Privy Council Office, and Crown
Corporations (CBC, Post Office).

22. What do you think?
1. Should CBC be owned by the gov’t?
2. Do you think that Crown Corporations
should be taken out of Canadian gov’t
control, and sold to the private sector?