People in Government

The Queen

•Head of state• Role is mainly ceremonial therefore she does not have real power•She is responsible for summoning parliament or provincial legislature to meet, appointing senators and calling elections

Queen Elizabeth II of England

The Governor General

Michaelle Jean

•The Queen’s representative in Canada at the federal level• performs the Queen’s responsibilities in Canada on behalf of the Queen•She is responsible for summoning parliament or provincial legislatures to meet, appointing Senators, calling elections. He role is mainly ceremonial

The Prime Minister

Stephen Harper

• Leader of a political party with the most seats in the House of Commons• Most powerful person in Parliament • recommends to the Governor General the appointment of Senators, the appointment of judges to the Supreme court and determines when elections will be held

The Cabinet

Members of the Parliament selected By the Prime Minister to be responsibleFor an area of Public Policy

Minister of Defence Minister of Finance

House of Commons

• Contains 308 (elected) Members of Parliament • responsibilities include making laws, raising or lowering taxes and debating issues of public policy

Senate

• Contains 100 Senators appointed by the Prime Minister • responsible for reviewing laws passed by the House of Commons and representing the regions of Canada

Backbencher

• a member of Parliament who is not in Cabinet • they get their names from where they sit in the House of Commons (in the back benches)

Shadow Cabinet

Stephane Dion

• the leader of the opposition leads the shadow cabinet • the shadow cabinet criticizes the actions of the cabinet

Opposition

• All other parties in the House of Commons other than the largest one• the official opposition is the second largest party in the House of Commons

Members of Parliament

• Elected to represent the voters from each riding or electoral district• they follow the instructions of the leader of their political party