Demos and Kratia

The words in my title aren't names for characters in a book, though they would make good ones, I think!

They are actually Greek words that when you stick them together, mean democracy. What they really are is a story about how our governmental system here in Canada was formed. (You can see I've started studying for my PEYge adventure!) 

Parliamentary democracy was created in Greece but England sort of took it over and developed it a bit more. The English government instead of just having a King or Queen as they had in the past, decided to create a parliament.

Quick TIP:
Parliament comes from French word "parler" which means "to speak". 

The parliament started as a group of advisors to help the King or Queen make decisions. That kind of meant that the King didn't really have full power. He couldn't just yell "off with your head" and your head would be off. Thankfully, he'd have to first talk it over with his advisors, the parliament. This would at least give you a couple extra days with your head intact while they argued about what to do! :) 

In 1215, the English government passed something called the Magna Carta which is probably the most important law that there is. It meant that the British people had absolute rights and that the parliament had even more power than before... the King even had to go to them if he wanted to do something as simple as raise taxes! 

Over time, the English government developed more and more. In the late 17th century, people realized that the parliament had even more power than the King did. The parliament passed something saying that the King no longer was in power, it was the parliament who decided everything. And even though they had said with the Magna Carta that British people had absolute rights, they were doubly confirming it now, saying 'you definitely have these rights!'

The King still was there, but the parliament really controlled everything. 

Most people know that Canada was sort of controlled by the English government for a long time and so was the States. Then came the Revolution and we, as a Country, were on our own! Before we were all by ourselves, we were ruled the same way as England with a parliamentary democracy. We kept that system even after the Revolution. 

Our system in Canada continued to grow and change. 

We now have a:

Federal government 

who look after things related to Canada as a whole so ... immigration, the environment, national security and things like that

Provincial government 

who look after health care, roads and schools, farming, driving licences and things that affect Ontario

and Municipal government 

who look after roads, garbage collection, housing taxes, playgrounds in your village or city

The Legislative Assembly is provincial government. They meet at Queen's Park which is in Toronto. 

There, we have three different parties who have "seats" (there are 107 total seats) in the legislature.

The Ontario Liberal Party (they currently have 50 seats)
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (they currently have 37 seats)
The New Democratic Party of Ontario (they currently have 20 seats) 

There are two different types of provincial government:

1. Majority Government

There are 107 seats in the Legislature. In order to have a Majority Government, whichever party is in power (whichever party has the Premier in power), have to have at least 54 seats (that's exactly half the seats in the Legislature.) If they do, then that means that they can pass laws, bills and budgets without needing any votes from other parties. 

2. Minority Government

We currently have a Minority Government. This means that the party in power (now, it's the Liberal party) has less than 54 seats so they need the support (and votes) of other parties (like the New Democratic Party) in order to pass laws, bills or budgets. If we have a Minority Government, they need to have confidence of the House, meaning they need to pass all of their laws and budgets because if they lose confidence of the House, that means they lose power and have to have a re-election. 

Quick Tips: 

Ontario currently has a Minority Government because the party in power only has 50 seats (not 54)

The Liberal Party is in power (Kathleen Wynne is their leader, the Premier) 

The Opposition (the party with the second highest number of seats) is the Conservative Party

I'm learning so much about the parliament already. I can't wait to get to Queen's Park and really see first hand what the government does!

-- PeyThePEYge