According to the Parliament of Canada’s website, at the first reading in the House or Senate, propositions for new laws or changes to the ones in place is written down (“Process of Passing a Bill”). From thereon, it becomes a Bill and is printed in order for the first reading to occur (Parliament of Canada). They are, then, given a second reading, which is when most of the parliamentary debate occurs regarding the bills’ ideas (Parliament of Canada). If members of parliament find the idea behind the bill interesting enough, it will be passed and go on to four other stages; the committee stage, the report stage, the third reading and is required to be signed by the head of state, who, in Canada, is known as the Governor General (Parliament of …show more content…
It is the elected portion of Parliament. The 338 representatives, who have a seat in the House, have won most of their district’s vote (Library of Parliament). The House of Commons, also, oversees the current government and keeps it in check since the current government must maintain the support of most of the sitting members of parliament (Mintz et al., 327). It is a part of the legislative branch of government (Stewart). The House function is to maintain a government for a reasonable time so that the current government in power does not stay for too long or is changed at a rapid pace (Steward). The members of the House can introduce and vote on different Bills …show more content…
Additionally, I wanted to elucidate what benefits could have the possibility to arise of Bill C-237. I knew that, with my action, I could not change an institution or a system. I thought that, by influencing my member of parliament who has a word in what laws are passed, he can bring his view to the Liberal Party, which would then bring the possibility of change. I wrote a letter to my member of Parliament, the secretary to the Minister of Agriculture, Jean-Jacques Poissant, regarding his vote on Bill C-237. This letter was a critique of his vote, which would have helped obtain gender parity with reducing the reimbursement parties receive for their election expenses if they have more than 10 percent of the difference between the number of male and female candidates for the general election (Bill C-237). Bill C-237 was introduced by the New Democratic Party as a private member’s bill, which does not often translate into law (openparliament.ca). Defeated at the Second Reading by the house on October 19th, 2016
The civic issue that my point of view has changed on is the 1st speaker’s issue for the second speaker’s corner reflection. The speaker’s issue is that more Canadians need to vote. He states that only about 60% of the citizens voted in the last federal election. He also continues and says that if 60% of the population is voting for a government that is representing 100% of the population, you can’t really call that a truly democratically elected government anymore. By having more people to vote, we can have a government that represents our country the best since everyone’s opinions are considered. This can allow our country to develop into an even greater country. The speaker suggests that Canada should introduce some form of mandatory voting legislation to encourage people to vote. This civics issue is important to all Canadian citizens because our government represents 100% of the Canadian population. This is also another
In contrast to the Canadian parliamentary system, which has remained fairly static and unchanged since Victorian times, the Canadian legal system has undergone a tremendous evolution over the last century and a half. When looking at Canadian history in depth one discovers the repeated movement to take power from the superiors or the overruling and place it into the palms of the people. As seen through examples our western law (canadian law) has slowly branched off from the supremacy of God (mosaic law), to the supremacy of the monarchy (bristish law), finally to a realization of the importance of citizen participation in the creating, governing, and administrating of the laws (Greek law).
In this section, I will briefly discuss the effects of Trudeau’s Senate reforms and argue that reform is better than abolishment.
It can be concluded that Bill C-51 was not thought out in a proper professional manner which led to various concerns amongst people from within the parliament as well as citizens of Canada. It is extremely vital to make amendments to the Bill because doing so will give the people more confidence in the system and in our government. Eliminating all the confusion created within the Bill is the right way forward, however the Ministries should ensure that the safety of its people come first, yet at the same time given their basic human rights. It can be a difficult situation to amend a Bill such as Bill C-51 since it is on a very fragile topic. Facing criticism Hence Trudeau's government will have to be extremely careful handling the Bill, keeping
A Bill has a number of stages that it goes through before it is presented to the Queen to be signed. It starts off as a discussion in the House of Commons, and if decided to be an effective new policy idea then it is sent off
Dating back to its admission into statehood, reform has been an undeniable element of California. It could even be argued that many important landmarks in our state history were defined by acts of reform, such as the implementation of direct democracy into its state constitution during the progressive era of the late 19th and early 20th century. In modern California, it could be argued that there has been no greater landmark than the passage of Proposition 140.
In the UK, Parliament consists of the Monarchy, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. This has existed for centuries and has stood the test of time, in that it still exists. However a number of concerns have been raised about some of the functions and whether they function adequately enough (to a satisfactory or acceptable extent). Parliament currently carries out several functions and is the prime legislative body in the UK. It has many functions such as being representative, legitimising legislation, calling government to account as well as scrutinising and amending legislation. It is made up of representatives who are voted in order to represent
During the years before Confederation, there was much happening in the colonies that would eventually unite to become the Dominion of Canada in 1867. The Fathers of Confederation were the architects of the plan that resulted in the proposal that would bring the individual British American colonies together under a Federalist system. There were three main conferences which were held and to be included as a Father of Confederation. These conferences were The Charlottetown Conference - 1864, The Quebec Conference - 1864, and The London Conference - 1866.
Canada’s parliamentary system is designed to preclude the formation of absolute power. Critics and followers of Canadian politics argue that the Prime Minister of Canada stands alone from the rest of the government. The powers vested in the prime minister, along with the persistent media attention given to the position, reinforce the Prime Minister of Canada’s superior role both in the House of Commons and in the public. The result has led to concerns regarding the power of the prime minister. Hugh Mellon argues that the prime minister of Canada is indeed too powerful. Mellon refers to the prime minister’s control over Canada a prime-ministerial government, where the prime minister encounters few constraints on the usage of his powers.
In the year of 1867 the nation we know as Canada came into being. The Confederation in this year only came about after things had been overcome. Many political and economic pressures were exerted on the colonies and a federal union of the colonies seemed to be the most practical method of dealing with these pressures and conflicts. While Confederation was a solution to many of the problems, it was not a popular one for all the colonies involved. In the Maritime colonies views differed widely on the topic. Some were doubtful, some were pleased, others were annoyed and many were hopeful for a prosperous future.1
The House of Lords is the second chamber of the UK Parliament and is independent to the Commons although it complements the work of the Commons. Members of the Lords play a vital role in scrutiny, there are two main reasons for this, the first being that they are independent to the Commons and in many ways have increased power which they often use to stand up to the Commons by blocking reforms. Lords also have a better balance of parties so no government has a majority. The Government however can override Lords by using Parliament Act; this was used when the fox hunting ban was being put through under Blair’s government as there were too many in opposition of the ban in the House of Lords. The Parliament Acts, although rarely used, provide a way of solving disagreement between the Commons and the Lords. The Parliament Act of 1949 also prevents Lords from delaying bills for more than one year.
Canada was rushed into Confederation way too soon and has had problems due to this. Although through these past hundred fifty years, Canada has survived and is still going strong. Confederation started on July 1st, 1867 when three British Colonies came together to become four provinces. Although Canada went through Confederation, it is not a confederate association; it is a federal state which is not the supposed meaning of Confederation. Canada has evolved majorly since Confederation back in 1867.
Canada is a huge country located between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean and consists of 10 provinces. This country is the host for immigrants from all over the world with different religions and cultures. It embraces all of these diverse groups of people. It was essential that some arrangements be made to accommodate for these divers groups’ needs and ultimately in the year 1960 legislation of Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was a huge step toward these affairs. The Charter was enacted by the parliament in order to respect each person’s rights and eligibilities in different areas and it is divided into subsections.
The Special Joint Committee of the House of Commons and the Senate was implemented in 1980 in the wake of the Quebec referendum on independence. The goal of the committee was to hear submissions from the public on amendments to the Constitution. In a three-month consultation period, 914 individuals and groups submitted briefs before the committee (Clément, 2015). Hoping to have a direct impact on the Canadian constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, five organizations
The consequences of the senate not being able to reform have been western provinces feeling like they are left out in the process of decision-making, policy making and other legislative decisions made by the federal government. “The senate was envisioned as a legislative body that would serve several functions in addition to legislation”(Lawlor, Crandol,2013). The senate is refereed as the sober second thought in terms of legislation review but the second thought is rarely concerning the western provinces. Western alienation is caused by regional misrepresentation which is mainly caused by the senate. According to Lawlor, some provincial governments have challenged the unilateral approach by the senate to restructure itself. However the Supreme Court Of Canada will consider a reference case on the constitutional status of senate reform in November 2013. This means that the senate may be reformed this year, the western provinces would prefer a senate that can represent their interests. The senate may need a reform in order to remove the discrimination of the west but in order to do this, it must reform the whole committee that the senate works with.