Canada is made of a democratic parliament and a monarch which is constitutional. The law assumes the most superior authority and government acts on democratic systems. The Canadian government is people driven and acts as a crown deriving its power from the citizens. The British native systems were the sources of its parliamentary system which colonialists and explorers passed on to the continent.
The federal government constitutes of three branches namely the Judiciary, the legislature and the executive. The legislature is three made up of three organs including the House of Commons which comprise elected members, the senate which consists of appointed members and the executive comprising of the bureaucratic government and the cabinet.
Law making in Canada is collective and carried out by the provincial, territorial and federal governments therefore giving rise to a federal nation. In Canada the government and its ministers are held accountable for their actions. This means that the ministers who are the head of departments should be responsible for outcomes of the policies that they make. For them to be responsible they have to involve the House of Commons who are the representatives of the people in decision making.
The ministers are held accountable for the manner in which they use their powers in effective administration of their relevant departments. Opposition members in the caucus and House of Commons act as watchdogs to ensure that the government and its ministers are held accountable for the policies made (Tomlin, 1985). The back benchers are opposition members in house who either may belong to a certain political party or not affiliated to any party. They ensure effective representation of the minority in the house by checking the exercise of power by those in government and effective legislation which should cater for dissenting views. They perform the watch dog functions by making sure that dissenting opinions on cabinet policies are openly conveyed and defended (Myers, 2009).
There are four central agencies in the federal government of Canada namely; Privy Council office, department of Finance, prime minister's office and the Treasury Board. The heads of the agencies are appointed by the prime minister. They help in coordinating the huge and varied organizations forming the government and giving advice to the ministers and prime minister. They perform vital functions in prioritizing the government initiatives by coordination of the line departments, give solutions to problems arising between ministries and appropriate resource allocation (Myers, 2009). Caucus in the parliament of Canada refers to a group of house members affiliated to a certain party and at many instances coming from the same regions. The caucus are important to maintain cohesiveness to ensure proper organization and viability which is to their own mutual advantage and that of their parties (Tomlin, 1985). Merit principle is a guideline used by the Canadian government for appointment to public offices. This replaced patronage ensuring appointments with no political interference. It was adopted to address the need for more technical and specialized skills when promoting and hiring. This was a great concern in appointments to governor in council where some recommendations were made: that appointment should just more than patronage, different degrees of scrutiny are needed for different positions and nomination is the best protocol in search for the best candidate (Myers, 2009). Affirmative action policy is observed in Canada to ensure equity to all appointments to all the citizens especially women and the minority. This policy targets to protect its citizens from discrimination on the following grounds: religion, family status, race, sex, disability, marital status, colour, ethnic or national origin.
The Equity section of the Canada fundamental bill of rights has undergone amendments to accommodate the rising needs. Agenda setting in Canada is important as it gives the insights of the working of its political system and policy formulation process. This enables to avoid any changes in policy outcomes thereby ensuring political attention stability (Tomlin, 1985). The federal government of Canada consists of diverse and huge organizations therefore most of the powers should not be concentrated on the prime minister. The parliament should make some reforms to cut down the powers of the prime minister. This will ensure legitimacy in the legislative process and policy implementation. The judges ought to be appointed by independent bodies for effective protection of the Charter of rights and Freedoms. Full democracy will only prevail on centralizing the powers held by the prime minister.
Works Cited
Maureen Appel Molot, Brian W. Tomlin. Canada Among Nations 1985. Toronto: James Lorimer & Company, 1986.
Patrick Malcolmson, Richard Myers. The Canadian Regime. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009.
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