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Grade 10 Civics
terms from Canadian Civics
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Backbencher | A Member of Parliament who is not a minister and does not sit on the front benches reserved for Cabinet ministers or for opposition party officials. |
| Ballot | The piece of paper you use to vote. It lists the names of all the candidates in your riding. |
| Bill | A suggestion for a law that Parliament is asked to consider. |
| Budget | The plan of where the Government is going to get money this year and how it will spend its money. |
| Cabinet | The group of people chosen by the prime minister to help him or her run the country. They are also usually Members of Parliament, which means that Canadians have elected them. |
| Cabinet Minister | A Member of Parliament who is usually head of a government department. The Leader of the Government in the Senate is also a member of Cabinet. |
| Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms | An important part of the Canadian constitution that ensures that all people in Canada are guaranteed certain basic rights and freedoms. |
| Candidate | The people who want to be elected. |
| Capital | The city where Parliament is located and the government carries out its business. The capital city of Canada is Ottawa. Each province and territory also has a capital city. |
| Chamber | The meeting room in which all Senators or Members of Parliament meet to discuss and to vote. The Senators and Members of Parliament each have their own meeting room. |
| Chief Electoral Officer of Canada | The officer of Parliament responsible for overseeing the administrative conduct of all federal elections and referenda. |
| Citizen | A Canadian citizen is a person who was born in Canada or who moved here and met the rules to become a Canadian |
| Civil servant | A civil servant is someone who works for the administrative service of a government, called the civil service (or public service). Federally, the civil service includes government departments, Crown corporations and various agencies. |
| Confederation | The agreement by the provinces to join in order to form the nation of Canada and create a federal Parliament. This happened in 1867 with four provinces (ON, Que, NB and Nova Scotia). Other provinces and territories joined at later dates. |
| Constituency | The area in Canada that a Member of Parliament represents in the House of Commons (also known as a riding or electoral district). |
| Constituent | A person living in an area represented by a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons. |
| Constitution | The set of rules which a country like Canada follows to work well as a nation. |
| Democracy | A country that is governed by people who are elected by its citizens to make decisions on their behalf. |
| Deputy Returning Officer (DPO) | The person who gives you a ballot at your polling station. |
| Elect | To pick one person from a group of several people by voting. The person with the most votes is elected. |
| Election | The selection of a person or government by voting. In Canada, elections for Members of Parliament must be held at least every five years. |
| Elections Canada | An independent body set up by Parliament to administer federal elections in Canada. |
| Elector | An elector is a Canadian citizen who is at least 18 years old on election day and has the right to vote. Also called a voter. |
| Electoral district | Another word used for constituency or riding. |
| Federal Government | The Government of Canada that acts and speaks for the whole country. |
| Governing party | The political party that forms the government because it had more of its members elected to the Chamber by the people than any other political party. |
| Government | The ruling authority running the business of the country. |
| Governor General | The representative of the British monarch (Queen or King) in Canada who acts on the monarch’s behalf with the advice of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. |
| Head of Government | The Prime Minister is the Head of Government and looks after the business of the country. |
| Head of State | The British monarch (Queen or King) is the Head of State of Canada. The Governor General represents the monarch in Canada. |
| House of Commons | The elected Members of Parliament together form the House of Commons. This term also refers to the Chamber where they meet regularly. |
| Independent (Senator or Member of Parliament) | A member of the Senate or House of Commons who does not belong to a political party. |
| Law | A rule for all Canadians made by the Senators and Members of Parliament through discussion and voting. |
| Leader of the Official Opposition - House of Commons | The leader of the political party that elected the second most MPs in the election. The members of this party do not always agree with the ideas of the governing party and often question them about their decisions. |
| Leader of the Opposition - Senate | The Leader of the party which holds the largest number of seats in the opposition. |
| Local Government (Municipal) | The council that manages the business of a municipality (village, town or city). The council members are elected by the people living in that area. |
| Lower House | Another name for the House of Commons. |
| Senate | When the Speaker takes the Chair, the Mace Bearer places the Mace on the Table to signify that the Senate is in session |
| House of Commons | When the Speaker enters the Chamber on a working day, the Sergeant-at-Arms places the mace on the Table in front of the Members of Parliament in the House of Commons. |
| Majority Government | The governing party has more than half of the total number of MP's elected to the House of Commons. |
| Mayor | The head of a municipality (village, town or city). In some small municipalities, this person is called a Reeve. |
| Media | The radio, television, Internet, magazines and newspapers and the journalists who work for them. |
| Member of Parliament (MP) | A person elected to the House of Commons. There are 308 Members of Parliament representing all of the areas of Canada in the House of Commons. |
| Minority Government | The governing party has less than half of the total number of MPs elected to the House of Commons. In order to remain the government, it has to cooperate with the opposition Members. |
| Monarch | A Queen or King. The British monarch is also the monarch of Canada |
| Official Opposition | The political party that elected the second most MPs in the election. |
| Parliament | Makes the laws that apply across Canada. It is made up of the Governor General as the Queen’s representative, the Senate and the House of Commons. |
| Parliament Hill | The site of the Parliament Buildings (Senate and House of Commons) in Ottawa. |
| Party | A group of people who share similar ideas about how to run the country and work together to try win the most seats, or places, in Parliament. The prime minister is the head of the winning party. |
| Polling Station | The place where you go to vote. |
| Political Party | A group of people who share similar beliefs about how the country should be run. |
| Politician | A person who holds or seeks a government office. |
| Poll Clerk | The person who crosses your name off the voter’s list to show you have voted. |
| Prime Minister | The Head of Government and leader of the governing party. The Prime Minister is also a Member of Parliament and represents a constituency. |
| Provincial or territorial government | Every province and territory in Canada has a legislature which makes laws for the people living in that province or territory. This legislature is located in the capital city of the province or territory |
| Queen | Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is Queen of Canada. |
| Reading (of a bill) | A word used for the stages where a bill is debated in Parliament before it is passed to become law. |
| Reeve | The head of a small municipality (usually a village) |
| Representative | A Senator or Member of Parliament who makes decisions on behalf of Canadians. |
| Riding | Another word for constituency or electoral district. |
| Senate | Also known as the Upper House of Parliament. This term also refers to the room where Senators meet regularly. |
| Senator | A member of the Senate in Canada. The Senate has 105 Senators to represent regions of Canada. Senators are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. |
| Speaker of the House of Commons | The Member of Parliament who is elected by the other Members of Parliament to run their meetings and to keep order in the House of Commons. |
| Upper House | Another name for the Senate. |
| Vote | (1) The way citizens choose a representative in an election. (2) The process Senators and MPs use to make a decision. |
| Voters List | Shows the names of all the electors who are registered to vote. |
| Voting Screen | The private area where you go to mark your ballot. Voting in Canada is by secret ballot. |
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