Citizenship Challenge Civics Education Guide

ACTIVITY THREE: THE CABINET Prime ministers are not meant be experts on every aspect of governing, so they delegate responsibilities, or portfolios , to individuals that become “experts” in that area. These people are called ministers and together they form the Cabinet . The Cabinet exists to advise the prime minister on issues that affect the country, like defence, the environment, or culture and heritage. The prime minister can have as many, or as few, ministers as they want. The ministers are usually elected Members of Parliament from the same political party as the prime minister. You have been invited to form a government at your high school and it is now time to select your Cabinet. As prime minister, you can create as many Cabinet positions as you feel are needed to address the issues you believe are important to your school. This is an effective way to show the rest of the school what issues you think need to be addressed and what is worth protecting. Use the table in the Your Cabinet Worksheet available on the Education Portal to sketch your government. Extension: In provincial governments, the premier also creates a Cabinet. Look at the ministries created by your current provincial government to discover what the government believes are important priorities for the province. Next, choose a different province and look at its ministries to understand their priorities. Can you find areas of common ground between the two provincial governments? Can you find things that one government appears to value that the other does not see as a priority? Cabinet postings can usually be found on the websites of the premiers. If you live in a territory with a different government structure, compare and contrast what your government prioritizes (and how they manage responsibilities) with another provincial or territorial government. Modification: Provide a flowchart for students to illustrate how Cabinets work. Form strategic pairs with stronger students to complete the activity. KEY TERMS & DEFINITIONS: Portfolios: Responsibilities, delegated by the prime minister, to ministers who become experts in that area. Ministers: MPs who are invited by the prime minister to head major government departments. Cabinet: The committee of ministers that holds executive power, chaired by the prime minister. KEY TERMS & DEFINITIONS: Parliament: The legislative branch of government in Canada, which at the federal level is the House of Commons and the Senate. Governor General: The Crown’s representative in Canada, carrying out the tasks of the monarch on Canadian soil. The governor general fulfills an important role in upholding the traditions of Parliament and other democratic institutions. Lieutenant-Governor: The Crown’s representative in each province, appointed by the governor general on the prime minister’s advice. House of Commons: A democratically elected body whose members are known as Members of Parliament (MPs). It is the centre of political power in Canada and where MPs meet to debate policy, vote on key legislation, and hold the government to account. Majority Government: A government that has at least 50% + 1 of the seats in the House of Commons. This means that they have the potential to win every vote because they have more seats than the other parties. Minority Government: A government that has less than 50% of the seats in the House of Commons, but still more seats than the next largest party. In the case of a minority government, if the other parties unite against them, they could be defeated in a vote. Stamp commemorating Jeanne Sauvé, Canada’s first female Governor General (Dreamstime/ Sergei Nezhinskii/80793323). Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II (Dreamstime.com/ Speedfighter17/14432948). A federal elections ballot from Elections Canada (Dreamstime/ Photopal604/63896418). Parliament’s House of Commons (Dreamstime.com/Wangkun Jia/20897988).