Government in Canada

The head of state in Canada’s government is the Queen of England. Many Canadians are very supportive of the monarchy, while others believe that it is no longer relevant to today’s reality and would like to end this connection with Britain. The Queen appoints a representative in Canada called the governor-general. This system of appointing a representative for the Queen is used throughout the British Commonwealth. In fact, the governor-general is more of a figurehead than an actual policy-maker, although most Canadians have a lot of respect for the men and women who have served Canada as governor-general.

The actual leader of the country is the prime minister. He or she is the leader of the party)' that has the most seats in the House of Commons. The House of Commons is made up of Members of Parliament (MPs) elected by the people. The prime minister appoints a cabinet from members of his or her party elected to the House of Commons. Each cabinet minister is the leader of a government department such as Health and Welfare, Defence or Citizenship and Immi­gration. The cabinet has a lot of power to influence decisions made by the govern­ment. Any Member of Parliament can present a bill (or request) for a vote by the House of Commons, but most bills come from the prime minister and cabi­net. Bills passed by the House of Commons become laws when they are approved by the Senate and signed by the governor-general.

The Senate is an appointed, not elect­ed body of men and women. People who are appointed senators can serve to age 75. They are appointed by the prime min­ister. The function of the Senate is to see that no laws are passed without very careful thought. Senators examine legisla­tion passed by the House of Commons, and if they think it is not good legislation or needs changes, they send it back for further consideration.

While Parliament (the House of Commons and Senate) makes the laws for us to follow, the courts have the power to interpret and apply those laws. In Canada, a person is presumed inno­cent until proven guilty. It is up to the courts to prove that a person is guilty. In other words, the benefit of the doubt goes to the accused. Every effort is made to ensure that innocent people are not convicted of crimes they did not commit.

Some laws in Canada are very con­troversial. When people are not in agree­ment with laws, they may write letters to their MPs or to the editors of newspapers, or join in demonstrations to express their views.

I. Words and word combinations to be remembered / Словаисловосочетаниядлязаучивания:

1. to support – поддерживать

2. no longer – больше не

3. relevant – уместный

4. connection – связь

5. governor-general – генерал-губернатор

6. the (British) Commonwealth (of Nations) – (Британское) Содружество (Наций)

7. figurehead – номинальный глава

8. respect – уважение

9. to influence - влиять

10. legislation – законодательство, законопроект, закон

11. tofollow – следовать, придерживаться (правил, законов)

12. to apply (the law) – применять (закон)

13. innocent – невиновный

14. guilty – виновный

15. to presume – предполагать, полагать

16. to prove – доказывать

17. to accuse – обвинять

18. benefit – выгода, польза

19. crime – преступление

20. toconvictofsomething – признавать виновным в чем-то

21. to commit – совершать (преступление)

22. controversial – противоречивый

23. editor – редактор

24. to express one’s view – выражать ч-л точку зрения