Responsibilities in Education
Inland Waters.
Canada holds vast reserves of water: its rivers discharge nearly 9% of the world's renewable water supply, it contains a quarter of the world's wetlands, and it has the third largest amount of glaciers (after Antarctica and Greenland). Because of extensive glaciations, Canada hosts more than two million lakes: of those that are entirely within Canada, more than 31,000 are between 3 and 100 square kilometers (1.2 & 38.6 mi²) in area, while 563 are larger than 100 km²
Rivers
The St. Lawrence (3050 km long) is Canada's most important river, for it provides a seaway for ships from the great lakes to the Atlantic Ocean.
The Ottawa is its tributary.
The longest Canadian river is the Mackenzie, which flows 4241 km through the Northwest Territories from the Great Slave Lake to the Beaufort Sea (the Arctic Ocean). A tributary of the Mackenzie is the South Nahanni River, which is home to Virginia Falls, a waterfall about twice as high as Niagara Falls. The Laird is another tributary of the Mackenzie. Mackenzie's length is counted together with the Peace.
The Athabasca is another river of the arctic basin.
Other large water recourses include the Yukon in the north and the Columbia in the Southeast, parts of these rivers flow through the US territory.
The Frazer flows from the Rockies into Pacific.
The Saskatchewan, the Nelson and the Churchill are the large river emptying into the Hudson Bay.
Lakes
There are some 2 million lakes in Canada. They cover about 7.6% of the Canadian landmass.
Most of the lakes are glacial. The 4 Great lakes are the most visible results of the ice age in Ontario.
The largest Lake Superior is the world's largest body of fresh water. The other Great Lakes in Canada are: Huron, Eerie and Ontario. They are traversed by the Canada-US border. Canada shares them with the US.
The largest lake situated entirely in Canada is the Great Bear Lake in the Northwestern territories.
Another large lake in the Northwestern territories is the Great Slave Lake.
Saskatchewan (Lake Athabasca) and Manitoba (Winnipeg and Manitoba are the remains of the Lake Agassiz, which covered much of the province right after the ice age) are provinces of more than 100 000 lakes each.
State system .The Canadian political system as it is known today was first drafted by the "Fathers of Confederation" at the Quebec conference of 1864. This then became law when the constitution act was passed in 1867. This act gave the formal executive authority to Queen Victoria (Queen of Great Britain) which made Canada a sovereign democracy. The Canadian political system is therefore loosely based on the British system. Now, Canada is an independent Federal parliamentary state with the Queen still the head of state. Her powers are extremely limited however, as the Parliament passes the laws which the Queen gives the "Royal Assent" as the final step. The Governor General of Canada is the Queens representative in Canada and carries out all the Royal obligations when the Queen is not in Canada. The Governor is always a Canadian chosen by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister. The length of office is normally five years for the Governor General. The Houses of Parliament (housing the Federal Government and the seat of the Canadian Political System) are located in Canada's capital city, Ottawa. There are 3 main sections to the Canadian Parliament. The Queen as the Head of state, the Senate (appointed on the Prime Minister's recommendations) and the elected House of Commons. The Federal Government has the power to "make laws for the peace, order and good government of Canada" which includes International policies, Defence, Immigration, Criminal Law, Customs and Border control. The Senate(the upper house)It has less power than the house of commons. Senators who are appointed by the Governor General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. The Senate has 104 members. Senators are appointed by the Governor General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.These Senators are men and women from all of the Provinces and from a wide variety of backgrounds. They can serve on the Senate up until age 75 and have to be a Canadian citizen, over age 30, own $4,000 of equity in land in their home Province, have over $4,000 as personal net worth and live in the Province represented. Each Province or Territory has a set number of Senators - 24 each from the Maritimes, Quebec and Ontario, 6 each from Alberta, BC, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, 6 from Newfoundland and Labrador and a further 1 each from the three Territories. The main role of the Senate is to read over and examine the "Bills" sent from the House of Commons though they can also initiate Bills. This process ensures that no rogue bills will become law, though only rarely do the Senate reject a Bill - sending it back to the House for amendment. The Bills are subjected to the full legislative process by the Senate and if passed will be given to the Governor General for Royal Assent and thus become Law. basically, the Senate is the quality control of the Canadian Political System! Today most of the Governor General’s powers have disappeared and he follows the directions of the Cabinet.House of Commons(the lower house)The real power of the Canadian Political System is held by the House of Commons. Here, the members of Parliament (MP's) are elected by the general public during a Federal election - normally every 5 years. The country is split up into constituencies (total 308 by population size) and whichever candidate has the most votes wins the right to represent that constituency and take their "seat" in the Parliament. The Cabinet consists of 20 or more ministers, chosen by the Prime Minister from leaders of the majority party in the House of Commons. Each Most candidates represent a particular political party and the party with the most "seats" takes over as the Government. The main parties in the Canadian political system are Stephane Dion's Liberals , Stephen Harpers Conservatives (ruling), Jack Layton's New Democratic Party, The Bloc Quebecois (limited to Quebec) and The Green Party to name the largest. In the Canadian Judicial System, it’s the Supreme Court of Canada with its strength of nine judges that reign over the entire judicial scenario. Moreover, the whole political system is empowered by significant government departments comprising the following- The National Defense Department,The Finance Department,The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade,The Revenue Department,The Human Resource Department,The Department for Public safety and Emergency. The two leading political parties in Canada are the Progressive Conservative Party and the Liberal Party. The New Democratic Party is also rather influential. The leader of the political party that wins the election becomes the Prime Minister of Canada (currently Stephen Harper of the Conservatives). The Prime Minister effectively runs the country with the support and advice of his Cabinet. The Cabinet is made up of "Ministers" chosen by the Prime Minister to be responsible for certain areas of the Government. There are ministers of Health, Finance, Defence and Immigration to name a few. These areas of responsibility are called "Portfolio's" and each minister will have a large team of civil servants (normally the experts in that field) working for him/her. Only the ministers change during an election - not the civil servants. Though the MP's represent their local constituency, their main duties are debating the laws to be made and, depending on their Party, either supporting or opposing the Government. The opposition is the political party with the second most seats in the House and their main job is to hold the government accountable for their decisions. This is a vital part of the canadian political system as a strong opposition can ensure that controversial bills do not pass through as law. A Government with a lot of seats in the House will be strong and able to pass most laws they want through Parliament. Conversely, a weak Government (such as now) doesn't have the majority of the seats and has to rely on the support of another party to form an effective Government. After each election, the Senate and the House of Commons either elect (House) or appoint (Senate) a Speaker. The Speaker is in charge of proceedings and has to be impartial, enforcing the rules of the House/Senate during debates and votes. The Speaker presides over the House from a raised chair with the Government MP's om the right and the opposition on the Left. Making The LawsAll legislation introduced into the canadian political system has to be passed as a law of the country. To start with, the House of Commons members introduce a "Bill" (legislative proposal). The details of the Bill are read in the House without debate and then the Bill is printed (the first reading).During the second reading the principles of the Bill are debated followed by a vote. If successfull, the Bill is then sent to the Committee stage. A committee will listen to testimony, examine the Bill and then submit a report to the House recommending it as it is, with amendments or be scrapped. From here it goes to the report stage. In the report phase, any amendments are debated and voted on. Then it will pass to the third reading. This is where the House finally debates and votes on the final draft - if it passes the vote it is sent to the Senate. The Senate put the Bill through the same process as the House - if it comes through all that (normally does!) it is given Royal Assent and becomes Canadian Law! Though you can only vote in the Federal elections once you have Canadian citizenship. The Constitution of the country was only adopted in 1982. Provincial GovernmentsThe Provincial Goverment systems are based along the same principles as the Federal system. The Provincial Government is called the Legislative Assembly and the Queens representative in the Assembly is the Lieutenant Governor. Normally, every 4 - 5 years an election is called by the current Premier. At the end of the election, the Lieutenant Governor asks the leader of the party with the most "seats" to become the Premier of the Province and form the Government. The Premier then chooses the Executive Council to help run the Province. They develop policies and have similar responsibilities in the Legislative Assembly as the Federal Cabinet. As mentioned in the Provincial pages, the Provincial Government is responsible for healthcare, education, driver licensing and registrations and the Provincial budget amongst other things. As there are differences between the Provinces, Territories and the main canadian political system, use the Provincial Government sites we link to for detailed information.
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The problem of Quebec
Quebec is Canada’s largest province in area and second in population (after Ontario). Quebec remained a French colony until the British took control of it in 1763. Today, the population of Quebec is about 7 million people. Most of the population is of French origin: more than five million people, 350,000 of British origin. 4/5 of French Canadians live in Quebec province. Many of them regard Quebec as the centre of their society and culture, and their effort to preserve it has led to a movement of French Canadian nationalism. Quebec has sometimes considered whether it should separate from the rest of Canada and become a nation by itself. Some people in Canada do not like some of the things the government has allowed Quebec to do in order to keep it as a part of Canada, for example, making French the official language of business and education in Quebec.
Surrounded by an English-speaking society and living in an economy dominated by an English-speaking elite, the Quebecois (French-speaking residents of Quebec) made a concerted effort beginning in 1960 to increase their control of Quebec affairs. Some nationalists support a separatist movement that seeks independence for the province; others offer a more moderate alternative, keeping Quebec in Canada but giving it more powers than the other provinces. The English-speaking minority in Quebec is opposed to its separation from Canada as well as most minorities. The other provinces also oppose it and are not much more sympathetic to the more moderate alternative. Both the Parti Quebecois (Партия Квебека), the party elected in 1993 to govern Quebec, and the Block Quebecois (Блок Квебека), the party elected the same year to represent it in Canada’s Parliament, are officially dedicated to separation.
Education System.
Since Education is a provincial responsibility in Canada (provincial legislatures make laws in education), the educational system varies from province to province.
It includes:
6 to 8 years of elementary school
4 to 5 years of secondary (high) school
3 to 4 yeas at the university undergraduate level
Education in Canada consists of 10 provincial and territorial systems, including:
free public and "separate" (denominational) schools
private schools
Children are required by law to attend school from the age of 6 to 7 until they are 15 or 16/ (schooling is compulsory for children between the ages of 6 and 16 with some variations)
Public schools are publicly funded, so public education through secondary (or high) school is free.
Most post secondary schools, however charge tuition fees, with the exception of Quebec, where general and vocational colleges (post-secondary schools by nature) are also publicly funded, they require only a minimal registration fee.
Responsibilities in Education
Unlike many other industrialized countries, Canada has no Federal educational system: for the Constitution vested the exclusive responsibility for education in the provinces.
Each provincial system is:on the one hand similar to the others, but on the other hand reflects its particular region, history and culture. There is the Department of education in each province. It is headed by an elected (not appointed) minister. The Department:sets educational standards,draws curriculums,gives grants to educational institutions.Responsibility for the administration of elementary 2 secondary schools is delegated to local school boards or commissions, which are elected. The boards: set budgets, hire teachers and negotiate with them, shapes school curriculums with provincial guideline.
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