How Canadians Govern Themselves - Parlement du Canada

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How Canadians Govern Themselvesboth Houses and has been assented to,in the Queen’s name, by the GovernorGeneral or a deputy of the GovernorGeneral (usually a Supreme Courtjudge). Assent has never been refusedto a federal bill, and our first PrimeMinister declared roundly that refusalwas obsolete and had becomeunconstitutional. In Britain, RoyalAssent has never been refused since 1707.There are about 20 standing committees(Agriculture and Agri-food, CanadianHeritage, Transport, and so on) whosemembers are appointed at the beginningof each session or in September of eachyear, to oversee the work of governmentdepartments, to review particular areasof federal policy, to exercise proceduraland administrative responsibilitiesrelated to Parliament, to consider mattersreferred to them by the House, and toreport their findings and proposals tothe House for its consideration.examination of particular subjects,including legislative committees whosemandate is solely to examine a particularpiece of legislation. It also establishes,with the Senate, joint committees of thetwo Houses.END OF A SESSIONWhen both Houses have finished asession’s business, Parliament is“prorogued” until the next session,which must, by law, come within a year.Included in the work of standingcommittees is the consideration of thegovernment’s spending estimates. TheStanding Orders provide for theseestimates to be sent to the committeesfor review.Finally, standing committees aredesignated as having certain matterspermanently referred to them (such asreports tabled in the House pursuant toa statute, and the annual report ofcertain Crown corporations). Each ofthese automatic Orders of Reference ispermanently before the committees,and may be considered and reported onas the committees deem appropriate.The House of Commons can, and does,set up special committees for theWhat Goes On in Parliament47
How Canadians Govern ThemselvesProvinces andMunicipalitiesEvery province has a legislativeassembly (there are no Upper Houses)that is very similar to the House ofCommons and transacts its business inmuch the same way. All bills must gothrough three readings and receiveRoyal Assent by the Lieutenant-Governor. In the provinces, assent hasbeen refused 28 times, the last in 1945,in Prince Edward Island. Members ofthe legislature are elected fromconstituencies established by thelegislature roughly in proportion topopulation, and whichever candidategets the largest number of votes iselected, even if his or her vote is lessthan half the total.Municipal governments — cities, towns,villages, counties, districts, metropolitanregions — are set up by the provinciallegislatures, and have such powers asthe legislatures see fit to give them.Mayors, reeves and councillors areelected on a basis that the provinciallegislature prescribes.Provinces and Municipalities48Municipal governments take careof city parks.There are now roughly 4,000 municipalgovernments in the country. Theyprovide us with such services as watersupply, sewage and garbage disposal,roads, sidewalks, street lighting, buildingcodes, parks, playgrounds, librariesand so forth. Schools are generallylooked after by school boards orcommissions elected under provincialeducation Acts.
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How Canadians Govern Themselves - Parlement du Canada

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