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Summary: The Canadian Parliamentary System

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As a head of our government, the leader of our nation and the individual that Canadians look to for change and prosperity, the Prime Minister (next to the Governor General of Canada) holds the greatest amount of governing power. Democratic parliamentary systems like the one in Canada, compromise with their general population in order to give the people a voice within government. It is important to understand how the parliamentary system works in order to understand what administrative powers the Prime Minister executes and whether they are effective or not. The presence of a responsible government ensures Canadians that the governing body is an elected assembly instead of having a monarch in power. The Prime Minister, citizens of Canada, as …show more content…

Parliament’s legislative branch of Government, with the three-part component, it is composed of the House of Commons, the Senate and the Queen (McTeer, 1995), who is represented by the Governor General in Canada (currently David Johnson) (G.G., 2015). These components of government serve more as a ceremonial role with such responsibilities as: “the installation of the Governor General; the Opening of Parliament; the Speech from the Throne, and Royal Assent ceremonies” (Parl. Library, 2011). The Governor General is appointed by the Prime Minister, who advises the Queen about who shall be appointed with a lengthy term of five years, which may eventually be extended (Parl. Library, 2011). The other part of the puzzle consists of the Executive branch of government. This branch consists of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. The Prime Minister runs the Cabinet; he/she controls the ministerial appointments (Parl., 2012). Being responsible for government policy, it is crucial for the Cabinet to have confidence of the House of Commons (Parl., 2012). Not everyone can be a part of Cabinet, so the Ministers who are chosen by the Prime Minister are “Members of House of Commons… and at least one Senator… who serves as the Leader of the Government in the Upper house (Parl., 2012). Each Cabinet Minister is assigned specific roles they must fulfil within government (House of Commons, 2008), and the Cabinet lasts as long as the Prime Minister is in power. Another factor that grants the responsible government power is winning majority seats in the House of Commons. Simply defined by Joseph Howe, responsible government indicates the responsibility to the people in Canada; as it “is more commonly described as an executive or Cabinet that is dependent on

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