CIVICS

Players and Processes 

Canadian Parliamentary System

3 components of government

1. Crown ~ head of state represented by governor general who gives royal prerogatives like royal assent, recommendations etc  

2. Senate ~ appointed by Crown, upper chamber, legislative branch

3. House of Commons ~ elected by riding, lower chamber, legislative branch 

Federal structure 

1. Crown

2. Executive (government w/PM and cabinet) and Legislative (House of Commons and Senate) 

Provincial structure

1. Lieutenant governor 

2. Premier + cabinet (government) 

3. Legislative assembly (Ontario) 

Key players in Gov (official and unofficial) 

1. Elected politicians, appointed, decision makers and opposition (MPs, MPPs, trustees, councilors and opposition) 

2. Political staff//exempt staff who support/protect politicians like council administrators, chief of staff, press secretary  

3. Non-partisan public service, bureaucracy staff or civil servants who implement policies regardless of political party/free from political pressure, give impartial political advice and administer/develop laws (ex: deputy minister, chief administrative officer, city manager) *these are the backbone of government, emphasis on talking to them

4. Outsiders who influence policy/laws (unofficial) who feed into and are affected by the decision-making process and hold significant stakes. Ex: lobby or government organizations, unions

5. Independent watchdogs (unofficial) ex: conflict of interest and ethics commission, auditors, ombudpersons

Public v Private worlds

Public: council/legislative sessions, question periods, photo ops and press/news conferences 

Private: closed cabinet meetings and party caucuses where crucial deliberations/decisions occur without the ‘public show’ 

Law making (federal + provincial) 

1. 1st + 2nd reading (idea is introduced, debated on, amended) 

2. Committee stage (committee studies the bill)

3. 3rd reading (debate, amends, votes) 

4. Report stage (senate goes through same process) 

5. Royal assent (bill becomes an act) + regulations (bill becomes a law) (regulations: rules to carry out the intent of statutes (acts) intended by parliament) 

Municipal (bylaws)

1. Idea + consultations with public

2. Staff report (recommendations, study proposal) 

3. Committee stage (vote, amend, debate) 

4. Council stage (debate, vote amend by city council) 

5. Bylaw passed/recommendations 

Conflict of interests: when a public official uses their power to provide an opportunity to improperly further private interests of another person. Ex: using a position to influence a decision/further private interests, giving preferential treatment/bribery, neoplasm, using insider information.

Conflict of interest act: an act that says “No public office holder or member of his or her family shall accept any gift or other advantage, including from a trust, that might reasonably be seen to have been given to influence the public office holder in the exercise of an official power, duty or function.”

Parliamentary caucus: members of the house of commons (typically senators, sometimes MPs) belonging to the same leading party that are collectively referred to as the parliamentary caucus. 

Pororagation: temporary pause on parliamentary proceedings

Confidence convention: a constitutional convention stating the PM and cabinet can only continue to exercise power if the majority of members of the house consent/approve. Without this approval, the government is defeated and the PM is expected to dissolve parliament for a general election or resign. 

Covering press conferences

Typical interactions come from interviews/people, observations and documentation:

• Financial: budget/expense reports, audits, financial statements

• admin/communications: memos, briefing notes, Information Previously Distributed (IPD)

Agendas: list of items to discuss in a meeting. Note: a memo requires 2/3rds of members to agree to talk about it. Ex: renovictions

For information: items on agenda to provide context/info to members to consider (at their own time)

For approval: items requiring formal agreement/action before a decision

For decision: items requiring a decision to be made

Briefing notes: internal document notes for senior leaders to provide them with necessary information on a topic. These can be obtained through a freedom of information act, and are in private governance. These documents are a part of a paper trail referring to various documents and records of activities/decisions. Ex: financial records, communication documents, annual reports and plans. 

Carried → approved without discussion

Held item → items on agenda that are not passed right away on consent and set aside for discussion. (they require further deliberation, questioning and public input before a decision is made). To do so: usually involves a presentation by staff, five minutes for the public to speak, counselors ask city staff questions, they approve the report, amend or move on. 

In camera → when no reporters are allowed in (private governance) examples when this can happen (municipal act s239) 

• Security of property of municipality/local board

• Personal matters on employee, employee negotiations or labour relations

• Legal action and/or solicitor client privileges 

• Trade secrets

• proposed/pending purchase of land by municipality/local board

Quorum: the minimum number of members of a body required to be present at a meeting for business/the meeting to occur

Motion: a formal proposal discussed and voted on in a meeting

Amendment: change/improvement made to a document/law or changing a law/document 

*to propose/introduce/table an amendment = to suggest

Meeting minutes → written records of what was said in a meeting 

City hall process

1. Go through items to be passed on consent

2. sort/hold items needed to be discussed and sort them

3. For each item held, staff may give a presentation

4. At a committee only, the public can speak (5 min each) and councilors can ask/delegate 

5. Counselors ask questions of city staff (QnA period between citystaff and councilors) 

6. Approve, receive support, amend or move onto next item

7. Meeting adjourned (ended, broken up) 

When covering these types of events, it's important to do background research (ex: background, relationship, issue(s) terminology and experts→ BRITE) 

• Research what’s going to be discussed at the meeting

• Ask the right questions, pay attention to and pick up on other journalists questions, use how and why for further explanation

*you are allowed to use responses from others questions

Held item → items held  back for discussion (better for in-depth reporting) 

When referring to a document, understand what the public needs to know, the underlying policy and why it matters to the public. 

Avoid jargon: government initiative→ government program,  be it resolved→ it was decided, referenced→ referred to etc 

When there, 

• Figure out what’s happening beforehand, match faces to names/speakers and introduce yourself to media relations. Be sure to arrive early!

• Take notes on reactions to votes, who voted for what and track down those affected by a decision who spoke or expressed themselves in the meeting

Advance story→ informs the public about an upcoming speech/meeting and what will happen, who will be there etc

Following story→ reports on an event/meeting already occurred and summarizes what happened/key takeaways

City hall & municipal structure 

Mayor: chief executive officer of the municipality, chairs meetings, veto powers (if deemed to interfere with provincial priorities), generally promotes city well-being, can appoint/dissolve CAOs, senior managers and chairs/vice-chairs under Bill 3, and bring matters forward to council 

City council: elected governing body to represent the public, develop policies (from a motion or bylaw) and determine services 

City clerk: official record keeper, notes meeting minutes, votes, runs municipal elections and is in charge of freedom of information requests/handling of information

City treasurer: keeping financial records, collecting revenues, payments for city services, providing financial reports and managing city investments

City manager: (in theory) managing/controlling city operations and effective service deliveries (now shifted to mayor or council by bill 3) and other assigned duties 

Auditor general: financial watchdog, reports to city council to ensure funds are being used property (independent from city) 

Integrity commissioner: independent, handling conduct, conflicts of interests and ethics for city officials

Advisory committees: committees of volunteers appointed by council that provide advice on special interests

Standing committees: committees of city councilors, public and experts that study, delegate and amend specific issues/interests 

Nominating committee: committee making recommendations on council membership, agencies and boards

Consent agenda: list of items approved without discussion, aimed at making processes more efficient. When needed to be discussed, items are held. 

Public information and media relations: department responsible for communicating city priorities, collaborating with external communications and dealing with the media for the city

Single-tier municipality: a municipality that is responsible for providing all government services, not a part of an upper-tier structure (Ottawa and many northern communities) 

Lower-tier municipalities: regional tier of government that provides localized service (parks, libraries, local road maintenance, fire) within a larger municipality

Upper-tier municipalities: regional level of governance that provides services for a larger geographical area made up of several lower-tier regions (public health, main roads, waste management) 

Resolution: to see motion

Money

Federally– money from income tax, import fees, tariffs,

Provincially- money from sales tax, land transfers, taxes on certain products, land trades

Municale level- money from property taxes, fines 

Transfer payments: money from government to specific people or organizations without receiving goods in return

Grants: unconditional, based on need payments

Contributions: payments with formal agreements and based on an outcome

Procurements: when governments/organizations acquire money from external sources (usually with contract)

Budget: planned revenue/cost for annual/multi year period (looking forward)

Financial statements: actual reports on revenue used, money spent within a year (looking back)

Fiscal year- a 12 month period for accounting purposes. Ex: 

• Schools- Sept.1-Aug 31

• Federal + Provincial - April 1- March 30

Capital budget: money for major projects over several years

Operating budget: money for daily expenses (fire prevention, road maintenance) 

Federal debt/accumulated deficit: difference between total liabilities and total assets 

Interest: cost changed by lender for borrowed money

GDP:  mesaused federal output by production of goods in a country + income earned from that production during a period

Inflation: rise of average price overtime

Productivity: how much value an economy produced each hour worked

Expenditure: money out

Revenue: money in 

Budget lockup: controlled environment when journalists are given access to government budget documents before public release and under strict conditions to prevent their release until a designated time