Canada's political system has three main components:
Parliamentary Democracy
Canada's system of government has three branches of Parliament; Governor General, House of Commons and the Senate, that debate laws before they vote on them. The monarch appoints the Governor General as her representative on the advice of the Prime Minister. Governor General appoints the senators to represent regions on the advice of the Prime Minister. The members of the House of Commons, however, are elected by the people to represent them in their ridings, therefore creating a parliamentary democracy.
This system of "responsible government" means the ministers must retain the confidence of a majority of the elected members in the House of Commons (federal) or Legislative Assembly (provincial).
Federal State
There are two concurrent jurisdictions in Canada: the central government in Ottawa and the ten provincial governments. These jurisdictions are "co-sovereign," in that each has exclusive constitutional responsibilities as well as some shared ones; together they make up the Canadian State. The three territories, while receiving their authority from the Parliament of Canada, have been granted the right to exercise many powers similar to those of provinces and their form of government continues to evolve.
Constitutional Monarchy
The Canadian Head of State is a hereditary monarch, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, who reigns over Canada's parliamentary democracy and federal state. The Queen is personally represented by the Governor General for Canada as a whole and by the Lieutenant Governor in each of the ten provinces. They carry out most of her functions as Head of State.
Learn more about the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan at www.ltgov.sk.ca.
Visit Canadian Heritage to learn more about the Canadian Monarchy.
