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Social Studies 9

Social Studies 9 · Worksheets

How Canada is governed

Ten questions of mixed difficulty, covering Government. Print it, or work through it on screen — the answer key starts on its own page.

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How Canada is governed

Social Studies 9 · maddyhelps.com

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Circle the best answer for each question. Use the space to note the reasoning or the source detail that decided it.

  1. A political science professor: "In Canada, the ministers who run the government also sit in Parliament. They must answer questions in the House, and if the government loses a vote on its budget, it can fall." Which principle is the professor describing?

    1. a) Responsible government
    2. b) Judicial independence
    3. c) Representation by population
    4. d) Separation of powers

  2. Results in one riding: Okafor, 41% of the votes; Lavoie, 35%; Chen, 24%. Under Canada's first-past-the-post system, what happens?

    1. a) Lavoie and Chen can combine their votes to take the seat
    2. b) Okafor wins the seat, though most voters chose someone else
    3. c) No one wins until a runoff gives someone more than 50%
    4. d) The seat goes to the party that wins most seats nationally

  3. A news alert reads: "Housing bill passes third reading in the House of Commons." What must still happen before the bill becomes law?

    1. a) The Supreme Court must review and approve it first
    2. b) Nothing, because the elected House has approved it
    3. c) A majority of the provinces must vote to accept it
    4. d) It must pass the Senate and then receive Royal Assent

  4. A voter in Medicine Hat: "The Prime Minister's name was never on my ballot. I voted for my local candidate, and her party won the most seats." What does this show about how Canada gets its Prime Minister?

    1. a) The PM is usually the leader of the party with the most seats
    2. b) The Senate chooses the PM from among its own members
    3. c) The Governor General picks whichever MP seems most able
    4. d) Canadians elect the PM directly in a separate national vote

  5. An MP: "I disagree with part of this bill, but I'll vote for it. If I vote against my party, I could lose my committee role and the leader's support in the next election." The MP is describing

    1. a) lobbying
    2. b) responsible government
    3. c) party discipline
    4. d) a free vote

  6. A spokesperson for a farm association: "We speak for canola growers across Alberta. This month we met with five MPs to ask them to vote against a new tax on fertilizer." The spokesperson's organization is

    1. a) a lobby group
    2. b) a political party
    3. c) a Cabinet committee
    4. d) the Official Opposition

  7. At which stage of the lawmaking process do MPs first debate the main idea, or principle, of a bill?

    1. a) Committee stage
    2. b) Second reading
    3. c) First reading
    4. d) Report stage

  8. Which branch of Canada's federal government interprets laws and decides whether they fit the Constitution?

    1. a) The legislative branch
    2. b) The judicial branch
    3. c) The executive branch
    4. d) The Official Opposition

  9. Two newspapers report on the same federal budget. Paper 1: "Budget brings relief for struggling families." Paper 2: "Budget spending spree will cost taxpayers billions." What does the difference between the headlines best show?

    1. a) One of the two papers must be reporting false information
    2. b) Newspapers are required by law to take opposite sides
    3. c) Media can frame the same event to push readers toward a view
    4. d) The government released two different budgets that day

  10. A backbench MP: "My bill to ban a harmful chemical passed the House and the Senate and received Royal Assent last June. But the department still hasn't written the regulations needed to enforce it." Which conclusion does this source best support?

    1. a) The Senate can block a law after it has received Royal Assent
    2. b) Making a law and carrying it out are jobs for different branches
    3. c) The courts must approve a law before it can be enforced
    4. d) Only a bill written by Cabinet can ever become a law

Answer key · How Canada is governed

Social Studies 9 · maddyhelps.com

  1. a) Responsible government — Responsible government means the executive must keep the confidence of the elected House of Commons, so ministers answer questions there and a lost budget vote can bring the government down. Separation of powers is the tempting answer, but Canada deliberately joins the executive and the legislature, unlike the United States.
  2. b) Okafor wins the seat, though most voters chose someone else — First-past-the-post needs only more votes than any other candidate, not a majority, so Okafor wins with 41% while 59% voted for someone else. That gap is the main criticism of the system; runoff votes belong to other electoral systems, not Canada's.
  3. d) It must pass the Senate and then receive Royal Assent — A bill must pass both the House of Commons and the Senate in the same form, then receive Royal Assent from the Governor General. Courts do not approve bills in advance; they rule on a law only if someone challenges it later.
  4. a) The PM is usually the leader of the party with the most seats — Voters elect only their own MP. The leader of the party that can hold the confidence of the House of Commons, almost always the one with the most seats, becomes Prime Minister. Expecting to vote for the PM directly borrows from the American system, where the president is chosen in a separate election.
  5. c) party discipline — Party discipline is the pressure on MPs to vote with their party, enforced by the party whip and the leader. A free vote is the opposite: the rare vote in which a party lets its MPs follow their own judgment.
  6. a) a lobby group — A lobby group, or interest group, tries to influence government decisions on behalf of its members without running candidates. A political party runs candidates in elections and wants to form the government.
  7. b) Second reading — At first reading a bill is only introduced and printed, with no debate. Second reading is the debate on its principle; committee stage comes after, when a small group of MPs studies it clause by clause and hears witnesses.
  8. b) The judicial branch — Courts interpret laws and can strike down one that breaks the Constitution, including the Charter. Parliament, the legislative branch, makes laws and the executive carries them out; mixing up making a law with interpreting it is the usual slip.
  9. c) Media can frame the same event to push readers toward a view — Both headlines can describe the same budget accurately; the loaded words "relief" and "spending spree" show each paper's slant. Assuming one must be false misses how framing works: through what a writer chooses to stress, not only through lies.
  10. b) Making a law and carrying it out are jobs for different branches — Parliament, the legislative branch, passed the law, but the executive (ministers and their departments) writes the regulations and enforces it. The source itself shows a backbencher's bill becoming law, so the claim that only Cabinet bills can pass is contradicted by the evidence.