Deck 8: The Machinery of Government

Question 1

How many branches of government are there in the Canadian federal government?

A) Four
B) Three
C) Two
D) Seven
E) Five

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which of the following is part of the Canadian bureaucracy?

A) Senate
B) Cabinet
C) Crown Corporations
D) Monarch
E) Supreme Court of Canada

Answer 2

C

Question 3

What is the legislative branch of government responsible for doing?

A) Making laws
B) Debating public issues and providing a forum for competition between political parties
C) Representing the people and being accountable to them through periodic elections
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Answer 3

D

Question 4

What is the executive branch of government responsible for doing?

A) Implementing the laws
B) Interpreting the law's meaning
C) Ensuring that the public's business is carried out efficiently, accountably, and in accordance with the law
D) Both A and B
E) None of the above

Question 5

Which branch of government is meant to be non-partisan and free from interference by the government?

A) Legislative
B) Judicial
C) Bureaucratic
D) Executive
E) None of the above

Question 6

Who is the top bureaucrat in the federal public service?

A) The prime minister's chief of staff
B) The Deputy Minister of Finance
C) The Chief Clerk of the Privy Council
D) The Clerk of the House of Commons
E) The Governor

Question 7

What political system does Canada use?

A) Democratic Parliamentary
B) Democratic Monarchy
C) Constitutional Republic
D) Constitutional Monarchy
E) Parliamentary Republic

Question 8

Who refused Mackenzie King's request for a new election in 1926?

A) Robert Borden
B) Arthur Meighen
C) Vincent Massey
D) Lord Byng
E) Queen Elizabeth

Question 9

What did Stephen Harper ask the governor general for late in 2008?

A) Dismissal
B) Dissolution
C) Prorogation
D) To Resign
E) Veto

Question 10

What two parties agreed to a coalition pact in late 2008?

A) Conservative and BQ
B) NDP and Green
C) Liberal and NDP
D) Liberal and Conservative
E) NDP and BQ

Question 11

Who currently embodies the authority of the Canadian state?

A) The cabinet
B) The prime minister
C) Prince Harry
D) Queen Elizabeth II
E) The Supreme Court

Question 12

According to David Docherty's study, what does the average MP spends most of his or her time doing?

A) Election preparation
B) Party work
C) Constituency work
D) Legislative work
E) Policy and issue development

Question 13

Who was the governor general from 1999 to 2005?

A) Lord Byng
B) Michaëlle Jean
C) Adrienne Clarkson
D) Romeo LeBlanc
E) John Ralston Saul

Question 14

What did Queen Elizabeth II avoid during her 2010 summer tour of Canada?

A) Canadians
B) Water
C) Quebec
D) The prime minister
E) Ottawa

Question 15

How did Quebeckers respond to a 2009 visit to Montreal from Prince Charles and Lady Camilla Parker-Bowles?

A) Eggs and chants
B) Fireworks
C) Tea Parties
D) Parades
E) Rewarding the Order of Quebec

Question 16

Who selects cabinet ministers?

A) The governor general
B) The Supreme Court
C) The Senate
D) The monarch
E) The prime minister

Question 17

Who is at the centre of the policy-making process?

A) The prime minister and cabinet
B) The monarch and governor general
C) Central agencies
D) The Supreme Court
E) None of the above

Question 18

Who are the only individuals that can introduce any legislation or other measure that involves the raising or spending of money?

A) Cabinet ministers
B) Governors general
C) Backbenchers
D) Senators
E) Supreme Court justices

Question 19

Which of the following is not among the expectations of the judicial branch of government?

A) To implement the law
B) To be non-partisan
C) To interpret the law's meaning
D) Not to substitute its preferences for those of elected public officials
E) All of the above are expectations

Question 20

It is understood that the person who leads the dominant party in the House of Commons has the power to decide which of the following matters?

A) When a new election will be held
B) The administrative structure and decision-making process of government
C) Who will be appointed to, or removed from, cabinet
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 21

Who is the head of government in Canada?

A) The governor general
B) The Queen
C) The Clerk of the Privy Council
D) The Speaker of the House
E) The prime minister

Question 22

Which of the following is not generally considered to have central agency status?

A) The Department of Finance
B) The Privy Council Office
C) The Treasury Board Secretariat
D) The House of Commons Finance Committee
E) All of the above have central agency status.

Question 23

Which of the following is staffed primarily by partisan employees?

A) The Department of Finance
B) The Treasury Board Secretariat
C) The Governor
D) The Privy Council Office
E) The Prime Minister's Office

Question 24

How does the influence of a Canadian prime minister compare to that of an American president?

A) Much weaker
B) Incomparable
C) Considerably stronger
D) Roughly equal
E) Depends on the governor general

Question 25

How is judicial independence protected?

A) The establishment of judicial salaries and conditions of service by law
B) The requirement that judges relinquish formal ties to the political parties of their choice, including prohibitions on making monetary contributions to parties
C) The inability for governments to single out any particular judge for special reward or punishment
D) Both A and C
E) All of the above

Question 26

The federal Minister of Finance often has connections to whom?

A) Toronto or Montreal corporate elite
B) American Treasurer
C) British Chancellor of the Exchequer
D) Governor general
E) Provincial treasurers

Question 27

In order to overcome opposition to the GST, what did Brian Mulroney do in 1988?

A) Authorized an advertising campaign
B) Appointed temporary Senators
C) Appointed a bipartisan cabinet
D) Called an election
E) Entered into a coalition government

Question 28

What has been the range in cabinet size in recent decades?

A) 20-40 ministers
B) 5-10 ministers
C) 10-15 ministers
D) 40-80 ministers
E) 15-20 ministers

Question 29

Which term refers to the excessive centralization of power in the hands of the prime minister and marginalization of the House of Commons?

A) Substantive equality
B) The democratic deficit
C) Royal assent
D) The Westminster System
E) Legitimation

Question 30

What is the name of the highest court in Canada?

A) Court Martial Appeal Court
B) Military Court
C) Supreme Court
D) Federal Court of Appeal
E) Provincial Superior Court

Question 31

In the formal organization of the Canadian Government, which of the following is not contained in the executive?

A) Senate
B) Monarch
C) Bureaucracy
D) Cabinet
E) All of the above are contained in the executive.

Question 32

Despite holding a majority of the province's seats, which prime minister who served from 1957 to 1963, was never perceived as particularly sensitive to Quebec's interests?

A) Louis St. Laurent
B) John Diefenbaker
C) Mackenzie King
D) Lester Pearson
E) Pierre Trudeau

Question 33

Who was the British prime minister who led the Conservative-Liberal Democratic coalition government from 2010 to 2015?

A) Boris Johnson
B) David Cameron
C) Tony Blair
D) Gordon Brown
E) Theresa May

Question 34

What issue did Governor

A) Foreign Affairs
B) Health Care
C) Gun Control
D) Climate Change
E) Balanced Budgets

Question 35

In attempting to reshape the public role of the governor general, what message did Adrienne Clarkson send in 2001?

A) A warning to members of parliament on decorum
B) A message to the prime minister on democracy
C) A phone call to the American President on Canadian foreign policy
D) A congratulatory message to a same-sex couple who wed in Toronto
E) A note to the Queen about Canada's independence

Question 36

What province did Michaëlle Jean suggest should share their "unprecedented prosperity"?

A) Nova Scotia
B) Manitoba
C) Ontario
D) Quebec
E) Alberta

Question 37

What is another name for the revenue budget?

A) Expenditure budget
B) Assets
C) Economic statement
D) Debits
E) Estimates

Question 38

What does an expenditure budget do?

A) Provides the government's analysis of the state of the economy and where the government plans to steer it
B) Represents the government's spending plans for the forthcoming fiscal year
C) Outlines the government's plans to change the tax system
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 39

What does a revenue budget do?

A) Represents the government's spending plans for the forthcoming fiscal year
B) Provides the government's analysis of the state of the economy and where the government plans to steer it
C) Outlines the government's plans to change the tax system
D) Both B and C
E) None of the above

Question 40

What did Prime Minister Kim Campbell abolish in cabinet?

A) Inner and outer cabinet
B) Swearing
C) Opposition members
D) Senators
E) Heritage Minister position

Question 41

What is seen by many as the most powerful committee in cabinet?

A) Expenditures
B) Estimates
C) Priorities and Planning
D) Policy and Plans
E) PM's Power Circle

Question 42

Who was the principle author of the 2000 Clarity Act?

A) Jean Chrétien
B) Stephen Harper
C) Preston Manning
D) Stéphane Dion
E) Paul Martin

Question 43

What is the main or only purpose of central agencies?

A) They are parts of the bureaucracy that support the decision-making activities of the Prime Minister.
B) They are parts of the bureaucracy that support the decision-making activities of the courts.
C) They are parts of the bureaucracy that support the decision-making activities of cabinet.
D) They are parts of the bureaucracy that support the decision-making activities of the Senate.
E) None of the above

Question 44

What does the Department of Finance do?

A) Has final say over how much money is printed each year
B) Has final say over all spending decisions of the Bank of Canada
C) Creates the annual budget
D) Plays the leading role in the formulation of economic policy
E) Both A and C

Question 45

What is the Privy Council Office?

A) The cabinet's secretariat
B) The nerve centre of the federal public service
C) A principal source of policy advice to the Prime Minister
D) Both A and C
E) All of the above

Question 46

What title does Donald Savoie argue is a misnomer because the individual reports to the prime minister and not the cabinet as a whole?

A) Minister of Finance
B) Clerk of the Privy Council
C) President of the Treasury Board
D) Secretary
E) Chief of Staff

Question 47

What happens during the third reading phase of passing a bill?

A) Vote is taken on the entire bill, with amendments
B) Governor general signs the bill
C) Bill is tabled in either the House of Commons or the Senate
D) Debate on both principles and details of the bill and vote on any amendments
E) Debate takes place on the principles of the bill and a vote is taken

Question 48

What does the term "prime ministerial government" reflect?

A) Criticisms of Canada's system of government
B) Criticisms of any nation with a prime minister as the head of government
C) Observations that power is centralized with the prime minister
D) Both A and C
E) All of the above

Question 49

Which of the following is not a counterweight to the prime minister's power?

A) Provincial capitals
B) The media
C) The judiciary
D) Parliament
E) None of the above is a counterweight to his or her power.

Question 50

What is the final stage of passing a bill?

A) Tabling
B) Debating
C) Voting
D) Hearing of witnesses
E) Royal assent

Question 51

What section of the Constitution Act, 1867 requires that any legislation or other measure that involves the raising or spending of public revenue must be introduced by cabinet?

A) Section 33
B) Section 92
C) Section 15
D) Section 91
E) Section 54

Question 52

What have all senators been appointed as since 2016 (to at least 2019)?

A) New Democrats
B) Independents
C) Members of Parliament
D) Liberals
E) Conservatives

Question 53

How many seats did the federal Liberal party win in Saskatchewan in the 2015 federal election?

A) Nine
B) Zero
C) One
D) Four
E) Two

Question 54

How many seats did the federal Liberal party win in Alberta in the 2015 federal election?

A) Zero
B) Four
C) One
D) Two
E) Nine

Question 55

What was the name of Justin Trudeau's most powerful cabinet committee?

A) Operations
B) Economic Affairs
C) Social Affairs
D) Agenda, Results and Communications
E) Priorities and Planning

Question 56

Who was Canada's chief representative on free trade negotiations with the United States during the 2015-2019 Justin Trudeau Liberal government?

A) Stephen Harper
B) Paul Martin
C) Justin Trudeau
D) Chrystia Freeland
E) Jane Philpott

Question 57

How many people approximately work for the Department of Finance (2018)?

A) 50
B) 5,000
C) 250
D) 1,500
E) 750

Question 58

What decade has the Department of Finance been dominant since?

A) 1860s
B) 2010s
C) 1960s
D) 1990s
E) 1930s

Question 59

What position has become a rival to the Department of Finance in terms of economic advice?

A) Parliamentary Budget Officer
B) Independent Officer
C) Speaker of the House
D) Solicitor
E) Minister of Economics

Question 60

Which cabinet committee is in a sense, the "guardian of the [federal government's] purse strings"?

A) Priorities and Planning
B) Social Affairs
C) Economic Affairs
D) Operations
E) Treasury Board

Question 61

The Canadian Government's legislative branch is responsible for interpreting the law's meaning.

Question 62

The Canadian Government's judicial branch is nonpartisan and independent of government intervention.

Question 63

The prime minister of Canada is advised by the Queen on who to appoint as the governor general.

Question 64

The governor general and lieutenant-generals sometimes refuse to pass legislation if the Queen dislikes it.

Question 65

The prime minister is not directly elected by the Canadian people.

Question 66

Most of the legislation passed in Parliament is introduced by the cabinet.

Question 67

When voting on legislation, Members of Parliament regularly break with the party to represent their constituents better.

Question 68

The prime minister and cabinet regularly use mass media to communicate their policies to Canadians.

Question 69

The Canadian revenue budget must be presented every year.

Question 70

The Prime Minister's Office is staffed by elected members of government.

Question 71

Provincial cabinets are somewhat larger than federal cabinets.

Question 72

Between 2016 and 2019 Independent senators have voted with the Liberal government 95 per cent of the time.

Question 73

Pierre Trudeau had a simple system of cabinet committees.

Question 74

Canada stopped being a constitutional monarchy in 1982.

Question 75

There are clear written rules about the selection of the prime minister and the dissolution of Parliament.

Question 76

Normally, the prime minister's request that Parliament be dissolved and a new election held will be granted automatically.

Question 77

In 1926, Governor

Question 78

The Byng precedent suddenly and rather unexpectedly became relevant several weeks after the 2015 election.

Question 79

Each new session of Parliament begins with the Speech from the Throne, in which the prime minister reads a statement explaining the government's legislative priorities.

Question 80

Every winter, usually around late February, the Minister of Finance tables the estimates in the House of Commons.