5. What Canada's Government Does

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What Does Canada's Government Do?

Canada’s government is in charge of laws and programs that

• Manage our relationship with the rest of the world and
• Help Canadians have a better life

Here are some programs that you may know about or use:

National Defence is the army, navy and air force. Each province does not have its own army.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) fight crime all over Canada along with local police.  

Citizenship &Immigration follows rules about who can move to Canada and how they can become Canadians. They also take care of passports and rules for what you can bring back when you travel outside of Canada.

Royal Canadian Mint makes our money, so everyone uses the same money no matter where you are in Canada.

Canada Revenue Agency collects income tax money and GST on what you buy. This money pays for programs to help Canadians.

Canada Post makes sure everyone can get mail and that it costs the same no matter where you live in Canada.

Environment Canada figures out what the weather will be like so you know what to wear to be warm and dry. It also sets standards for clean air and water.

Employment Insurance helps you with money for a while if you are laid off from work. It also has information about jobs for people when they look for work.

Canada Pension and Old Age Security make sure that people have some money to live on after they retire.

Statistics Canada does a census every 10 years. They ask personal questions so the government can plan the programs Canadians need to have a good life.

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What Do MPs Do?

Members of Parliament (MPs) work in Ottawa and in their own community. When they are in Ottawa, they

Meet in the House of Commons to debate and make laws all together.

Sit on Committees to look over possible laws to make sure they will be the best rules. They listen to experts and ask them questions.

Meet with their party (Caucus meetings) and plan what is best, so they will all say the same thing.

Meet with people in their office and at events. These people include their staff, advocates and lobbyists, and visitors from their community who have problems or ideas.

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You Can Hear and See What Canada's Government Does

Many meetings of the House of Commons and Committees are recorded. You can see or hear them on a computer with the Internet.

The website is http://www.parl.gc.ca/
(You can click on this picture to see it bigger.)

You can also find out what bills the government is looking at. A bill is a proposed law. MPs and Senators may make changes to a bill before it is passed and becomes law. If you think a bill will help or hurt Canadians, you can tell your MP.

The Senate is the second body of parliament. It looks over laws that the House of Commons approved to see if they are good for all Canadians. Each Senator represents all of Canada, not just one riding or area.

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How to Hear and See What Canada's Government Does

Click on "Webcasts" on the Parliament of Canada web page. Then you will see a web page like this one. (Click on this picture to see it bigger.)

Use the little calendar to pick a month and find out what meetings are on each day.
Each meeting on the big calendar has a little picture that tells you if there is a recording.

• You can listen to the meeting if the picture is black.
• You can watch the meeting if the picture is green.
• There is no recording if the picture is red.

You can watch all of the House of Commons sessions. Here is a bit from Question Period.

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