Explain Fiscal federalism (4 points)
- The federal government collects a lot more revenue than the provinces
- Different provinces collect different amounts of revenue
- The goal is to provide the same level of services across Canada
- Fiscal federalism refers to the different ways that funds are transferred from the federal to the provincial level (e.g. transfers and equalization payments), and from ‘have’ provinces to ‘have not’ provinces, in order to ensure service levels are approximately equal.
How does a bill become a law (7 points)
- First Reading: The bill is considered read for the first time and is printed
- Second reading: Members debate the bill’s principle
- Committee stage: Committee members study the bill clause by clause
- Report Stage: Members can make other amendments
- Third reading: Members debate and vote on the bill
- Senate: The bill follows similar process in the senate
- Royal Assent: The bill receives royal assent after being passed by both Houses
Federal role in policy (Cannabis example)
The Federal government’s responsibilities are to set:
strict requirements for producers who grow and manufacture cannabis, industry-wide rules and standards, including:
-types of cannabis products available for sale
-packaging and labelling requirements for products
-standardized serving sizes and potency
prohibitions on the use of certain ingredients
good production practices
-tracking requirements of cannabis from seed to sale to keep it out of the illegal market
-restrictions on promotional activities
Provincial/Territory role in policy (Cannabis example)
Provinces and territories are responsible for developing, implementing, maintaining and enforcing systems to oversee the distribution and sale of cannabis. They would also be able to add their own safety measures, such as:
- increasing the minimum age in their province or territory (but not lowering it)
lowering the personal possession limit in their jurisdiction
- creating additional rules for growing cannabis at home, such as lowering the number of plants per residence
- restricting where adults can consume cannabis, such as in public or in vehicles
Judiciary role in policy
To ensure that legislation and its implementation is consistent with the Charter (they also advise the executive as the executive is considering introducing policy).
Executive Branch of government in Canada
This is the decision-making branch made up of the monarch as the head of state and the Prime Minister, as head of government, and his or her Cabinet
Legislative Branch of government in Canada
This branch makes the laws of the country. Formally known as the Parliament of Canada and includes the monarch, the House of Commons, and the Senate
Judiciary Branch of government in Canada
Interprets and applies the law. It includes judges and the courts and operates independently from the other branches of government. Courts operate at both federal and provincial levels. The federal courts include the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Canada (Trial Division and Appellate Division), and the Tax Court.
What is an Ideology?
Shared way of thinking = behaviours
Beliefs, values and attitudes
How political parties decide their platform
Major political ideologies (3 points)
- Collective to Individual : All helping each other VS All for themselves
- Egalitarian to Elitist : Everybody equal, not based on class VS Based on class, okay to have a hierarchy of rights, and services
Regulation to Liberty : Government control over different things, uphold certain living, and improve social welfare VS Let everybody handle it themselves
Explain the over laying political ideologies (6 points)
- Communism (collective, egalitarian, regulation)
- Social democracy (collective, egalitarian, regulation, but less so than communism)
- Toryism (collective, elitist, regulation)
- Liberalism (individual, liberty)
- Neo-conservatism (individual, elitist, liberty)
- Fascism (collective, elitist, regulation)
The liberal party of Canada
Business liberalism vs welfare liberalism
Economic rights vs human rights
Individual focus through campaign
Conservative party of Canada
History of division and amalgamation
Focus on Individualism and Liberty
New democratic party
Social democratic (collective, egalitarian, regulation)
Which Canadian party is closely associated with social democratic values?
New democratic party (NDP)
Which branch of government introduces legislation?
Legislative Branch
Why is ideology important?
Ideology influences how (and whether) we work towards social welfare.
Ideology influences beliefs about:
-What is a problem in society
-Why it’s a problem (what caused it)
-What should be done about it – who should act and how
-Whether we think the action was successful
Who is responsible for improving social welfare?
Continuum: Societal responsibility – individual responsibility
Societal sectors of social welfare organization:
- Government: Federal, provincial, municipal (legislative, spending, implementation)
- (Relatively) recent moves to push centrist
combination of government and market: ‘third-way’
- ‘Third sector’ increasingly important. Includes voluntary and community organizations, social enterprises, cooperatives etc.
When to implement social policies
- to prevent problems from arising (intervention)
- to avoid problems for those at risk (maintenance)
- to react to problems that have occurred (amelioration)
What are municipal policy areas?
- By-laws
- Emergency services
- Libraries
- Planning/zoning
- Waste disposal incl. recycling and organics
- Parks and recreation
- Transit
- Traffic and Roads (and bike lanes)
- Police
- Community health centres and community houses
- Cannabis retail
- Supervised injection sites
