Elections Canada Unit of Study

ELECTIONS CANADA UNIT OF STUDY

A.  Canada became a country on July 1st, 1867 with Ottawa, Ontario being named the capital city. In Ottawa are the headquarters for the government. Those headquarters are called the Parliament Buildings.

The hierarchy of the government of Canada is:

Governor General

Senate

Prime Minister

Deputy Prime Minister

Members of Parliament

(MP’S)

Cabinet Ministers Official Opposition Backbenchers

Administrative Staff for all MP’s

There will be a Federal Election on May 2, 2011 in Canada and you are going to be a part of the action. Before we get to the Election there are some things you must understand about the Election procedure.

Helpful websites to assist you in completing the assignments in this unit:

http://www.parl.gc.ca/common/index.asp

http://www.canada.gc.ca/home.html

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/edu/zone/edu02a_0000-eng.htm

http://canadaonline.about.com/od/federalelections/a/federalelection.htm

http://www.elect.ca/
http://www.elections.ca/

B.  Political Terms

Ballot: paper used for casting a vote.
Backbencher: the term given to someone who is a MP but doesn’t hold a key position.
Ballot Box: box where the votes are placed.
Cabinet: the Prime Ministers chosen group of elected MPs who advise him.
Cabinet Minister: an MP who has been appointed to head up a certain area – like Finance, or Defense or Justice. So their titles would be ‘Minister of Finance’, Minister of Defense, Minister of Justice. The Cabinet Ministers have huge clout and sit in the most important spots in the House of Commons. Check out the link below to see exactly where everyone sits. http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/process/house/GeneralInformation/SeatingPlan.pdf
Candidate: qualified person running for election.

·  Must be 18 years of age

·  Must be a Canadian citizen

·  Must be living in the country for at least 6 months.

Canvassing: candidates meet voters in person. They can do this a numerous ways: door to door, barbeque or banquet, driving around in buses.
Caucus: a meeting of all members of the same political party. Ex) All the Liberal members meet to discuss their strategies.
Constituency: a section of Canada where citizens vote for their MP. There are 308 constituencies in Canada.

Front Runner: candidate who seems to be in the lead.

House of Commons (H of C): the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. This is where the elected MPs meet and debate issues.

Incumbent: a person who currently holds public office.

Issue: a topic that is a matter of debate or controversy during a campaign.

Member of Parliament (MP): a person who wins the most votes in their constituency and represents their constituency in Ottawa.

Non-partisan: not supporting or controlled by any of the regular political parties.

Official Opposition: the political party that wins the second highest number of seats in the House of Commons becomes the Official Opposition.

Partisan: candidates who are elected as representatives of their political parties.

Political Party: group of people wanting the same kind of government

Platform: a statement of the beliefs of the party on issues.
Polls: a place where votes are cast and recorded. Many schools are used as ‘polling stations’.

Popular vote: the actual number of votes cast by individuals for candidates.

Senate: the upper house of Canadian Parliament made up of people who have been appointed by the Governor General. The Senate members are appointed for life. If someone is appointed to the Senate their title is Senator.

Slogans: sayings to convince people to vote for the candidate.

Speaker of the House: The Speaker of the House of Commons is a member of parliament elected by secret ballot by all MPs to preside over the House of Commons. The speaker is responsible for keeping order. The Speaker must remain neutral and only votes on issues to break a tie.

Assignment #1: with the election definitions create two crossword puzzles using the website: www.puzzlemaker.com . For long terms like ‘Speaker of the House’, just use ‘Speaker’. I also want you to try to put the clues in your own words.

C.  There are 4 main political parties in Canada: Liberal, Conservative, New Democrat and Bloc Quebecois.
Assignment #2: Using the Internet fill in the chart below. You may copy and paste the logo. http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=pol&dir=par&document=index&lang=e You can use this website to assist you with filling in the chart.

Political Party Name / Liberal / Conservative / New Democrat / Bloc Quebecois
Leader of Political Party
Background Information on Leader
(birth info, where grew up, family, schooling, occupation, previously held political positions). Please put in point form. You can add space if needed.
Logo of Political Party
Slogan of Political Party

D.  The country is divided into sections. The size of these sections is based on population. The sections are called ‘constituencies’ or ‘ridings’. Each constituency votes in one member to be their MP. In Canada we have 308 constituencies therefore there are 308 MPs.

****The political party with the most MP’s wins and forms the government that runs or governs Canada. The leader of the winning political party becomes the Prime Minister of Canada.

In Canada, we have 308 constituencies. This means there will be 308 MP’s sitting in the House of Commons. Some of these MP’s will be Democrats, some Conservatives, some Bloc Quebecois and some Liberals.

308 MP’s in total soooooooo… to have a majority government a political party must win 154 constituencies. A majority government means they will have the most votes in the Legislative so no one can ‘gang’ up on them. That is the magic number in Canada. With a minority government the other two parties could join their votes and overrule the party in power and actually vote them out of office OR force another election. Sounds complicated but it’s not. Look at the numbers below to help you understand.
Assignment #3: You must fill in the third column plus complete the math assignment below the chart.

EX)

Majority Government Sample / Minority Government Sample / Present Government
New Democrat Party – 25 MPs / New Democrat Party – 141 MPs
Conservative Party – 155 MPs / Conservatives – 39 MPs
Liberal Party – 110 MPs / Liberal Party – 68 MPs
Bloc Quebecois – 18 MPs / Bloc Quebecois 60 MPs
Total – 308 Members of Parliament / Total – 308 Members of Parliament

Math Assignment: Find the percentage of votes for each political party. Be sure to show your work. Ex) If the Bloc Quebecois has 18 out of 308 seats then 18/308 = 5%.
New Democrat Party ~ ______
Conservative Party ~ ______
Liberal Party ~ ______
Bloc Quebecois Party ~ ______

E.  Assignment #4: Use the link below to fill in the chart. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Canadian_federal_electoral_districts

Province / Number of Constituencies/Ridings

Electoral Ridings

Which province has the most ridings/constituencies? Why?

Created by MJ Sherven GSCS

F.  Federal Issues. Each level of government is responsible for various issues in our society.

Assignment #5: Make a list of 12 issues that the Federal government is responsible for in Canada. You can use this website to assist you. http://www.craigmarlatt.com/canada/government/government.html

Federal Responsibilities
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

G.  Assignment #6: Using the websites on the first page – find the answers to the questions below.

1.  Who is the Prime Minister of Canada? ______

2.  Who is the Deputy Prime Minister? ______

3.  What party is the Official Opposition? ______

4.  Who is the leader of the Official Opposition? ______

5.  Who is the Speaker of the House? ______

6.  What party does the Speaker of the House come from? ______

7.  Who is the Governor General? ______

8.  Cabinet Minister positions are when someone is in charge of a certain area in the government – like Finance - there is a “Minister of Finance”. This person is in charge of the finance area and the Prime Minister relies on them to be knowledgeable in this area. The Ministers are almost always from the Prime Minister’s political party. List 10 Cabinet Minister Positions : ______
______

H.  Assignment #7: Fill in the chart about Saskatchewan’s Members of Parliament. The first one has been completed for you.

Member of Parliament / Political Party / Region
Lynne Yelich / Conservative / Saskatoon Blackstrap

I.  Assignment #8: What percentage does each party have in Saskatchewan?
Ex) If Bloc Quebecois has 3 seats out of the 14 then to find the percentage you would
Bloc Quebecois ~ 3/14 = 21%.
Liberal ~ ______
Conservative ~ ______
NDP ~ ______
Green Party ~ ______

Assignment #9: What percentage does each party have in Canada? Please remember that there are 308 seats in total.
Ex) If Bloc Quebecois have 14 seats in Canada then to find the percentage –
14/308= 4% of total seats in Canada.
Liberal ~ ______
Conservative ~ ______
NDP ~ ______
Bloc Quebecois ______

J.  Saskatoon Ridings: There are 4 ridings that Saskatoon is in: 1)Saskatoon/Blackstrap 2) Saskatoon/Biggar/Rosetown 3) Saskatoon/Wanuskewin and 4) Saskatoon Humboldt.
Assignment #10: You are going to study the candidate background and their stand on issues on any TWO of these constituencies. One of the ridings must be where you live and the other can be your choice. Below is an outline of what I want for each candidate you cover. Remember that the ‘issues’ are the responsibilities listed in Assignment #5.

Constituency #1: SASKATOON/BLACKSTRAP

Liberal Candidate: ______
Picture of Candidate:

Background Information(where they grew up, family, children, schooling, occupation) : ______
Stand on issues: (outline the candidates view on the issues – will be in their pamphlets) ______

Conservative Candidate: ______

Picture of Candidate:

Background Information(where they grew up, family, children, schooling, occupation) : ______

Stand on issues: (outline the candidates view on the issues – will be in their pamphlets) ______

NDP Candidate: ______

Picture of Candidate:

Background Information(where they grew up, family, children, schooling, occupation) : ______

Stand on issues: (outline the candidates view on the issues – will be in their pamphlets) ______

Green Party Candidate: ______

Picture of Candidate:

Background Information(where they grew up, family, children, schooling, occupation) : ______
Stand on issues: (outline the candidates view on the issues – will be in their pamphlets) ______

Constituency #2: ______

Liberal Candidate: ______
Picture of Candidate:

Background Information(where they grew up, family, children, schooling, occupation) : ______
Stand on issues: (outline the candidates view on the issues – will be in their pamphlets) ______

Conservative Candidate: ______

Picture of Candidate:

Background Information(where they grew up, family, children, schooling, occupation) : ______

Stand on issues: (outline the candidates view on the issues – will be in their pamphlets) ______

NDP Candidate: ______

Picture of Candidate:

Background Information(where they grew up, family, children, schooling, occupation) : ______

Stand on issues: (outline the candidates view on the issues – will be in their pamphlets) ______

Green Party Candidate: ______

Picture of Candidate:

Background Information(where they grew up, family, children, schooling, occupation) : ______
Stand on issues: (outline the candidates view on the issues – will be in their pamphlets) ______

Assignment #11: Report on one of the candidates that you wrote about in Assignment #10. You will take the information from what you learned in assignment #10 and create a news cast style on the candidate using one of the webcams. You will be graded on your clarity, eye contact, and any visual perks you might want to add (picture of candidate would be highly recommended). Record your report and save it to your Google account & student number.

______Eye contact
______Delivery of Information
______Voice quality
______Visual Perks
****Each of these will be given a grade /4.

K.  Election Results. The Federal Election will take place on May 2, 2011. After the election you will complete the assignments below.

Assignment #12:

Political Party / Leader of Party / Number of Constituencies Won ~ MPs

What political party is forming the government? ______

Who will be the Prime Minister? ______

Does the new Prime Minister have a majority government? ______

Who is the Official Opposition? ______

Who is the leader of the Official Opposition? ______

Assignment #13: There are 4 constituencies in and around Saskatoon. Name the person, and political party that won for each constituency.

Constituency / Political Party / Newly Elected MP
Saskatoon/Blackstrap
Saskatoon/Biggar/Rosetown
Saskatoon/Wanuskewin
Saskatoon/Humboldt

Created by MJ Sherven GSCS