Politics In Canada

This duplication is caused by both countries historical background. Canadians still have the British Queen as the head of the government. Even now Canada has sometimes support some British political campaigns and this demonstrates its dependence on the Great Britain in international and foreign affairs politics till present times. Canada has a British style government in which a parliament consists of the queen, the Senate and the House of Commons. The Queen of England is more a symbolic participant as the Queen of Canada and appoints a governor general to act on her behalf in a purely ceremonial manner. A prime minister and his cabinet answer to the House of Commons which comprises two hundred and eighty two members. This arrangement comes about through a democratic vote that results in a maximum five year term. The Senate which consists of mostly retired politicians who are appointed on the advice of the prime minister, is mainly for consultation. Provincial governments have a fair amount of autonomy with an elected premier governing areas such as education and natural resources. Because they are not provinces, the Yukon, Nunavut and Northwest territories depend more on Ottawa as the capital of the country and on its federal laws.

Aboriginal peoples have long sought independence in the form of self government and have achieved some of this recently. The balancing of powers between federal, provincial and the northern territories is ongoing. One of the political issues that have gained international attention in the past is the province of Quebec and its move toward separation from the rest of Canada.