How Canadians Govern Themselves - Parlement du Canada

How Canadians Govern Themselveson the leader of the victorious party tobecome Prime Minister and form a newCabinet. The Prime Minister choosesthe other Ministers, who are thenformally appointed by the GovernorGeneral or, in the provinces, by theLieutenant-Governor. If no party gets aclear majority, the Cabinet that wasin office before and during theelection has two choices. It can resign,in which case the Governor General orLieutenant-Governor will call on theleader of the largest opposition party toform a Cabinet. Or the Cabinet alreadyin office can choose to stay in office andmeet the newly elected House — which,however, it must do promptly. In eithercase, it is the people’s representativesin the newly elected House whowill decide whether the “minority”government (one whose own party hasfewer than half the seats) shall stay inoffice or be thrown out.If a Cabinet is defeated in the House ofCommons on a motion of censure orwant of confidence, the Cabinet musteither resign (the Governor Generalwill then ask the Leader of theOpposition to form a new Cabinet) orask for a dissolution of Parliament anda fresh election.In very exceptional circumstances, theGovernor General could refuse a requestfor a fresh election. For instance, if anelection gave no party a clear majorityand the Prime Minister asked for afresh election without even allowingthe new Parliament to meet, theGovernor General would have to sayno. This is because, if “parliamentarygovernment” is to mean anything, anewly elected House of Commons mustat least be allowed to meet and seewhether it can transact public business.Also, if a minority government isParliamentary Government4Canada, 200512 34Canada, 18671. Ontario2. Quebec3. New Brunswick4. Nova Scotia