Unit 1: Section 2: Workbook 3: Canada's Federal Political System


Activity 2: Role of Political Parties


Get Focused

Have you been to a party lately? Perhaps it was a family gathering, or a graduation, or a celebration of your team winning a game. Whatever it was, you were probably with people you enjoy hanging out with, such as your friends and family members. We choose naturally to group with people who have similar likes and dislikes as we do or with people who have similar ideas and want to do the same things as we do.

In government, people who have similar perspectives or ideas and agree on major issues often belong to the same political party.

political party: a group of people who hold a similar political perspective

The role of a political party in Canada is to promote a perspective within government and the country. A political party is an organization of people who hold a similar political perspective. Any Canadian citizen can be a member of a political party. Did you realize that any Grade 9 student can be a member of a political party?

Political parties have a central role in Canadian federal politics.
 
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Click on the following link to see how many seats each political party won in the 2019 federal election.

https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en/floorplan

To win a majority, the government must win more than half of the 338 seats - that's at least 169 seats. Did the Liberal Party win the majority of seats? What difference did winning only 157 seats make?

Winning a majority is the ideal situation for a political party. As you continue to investigate the role of political parties, you will understand what a majority or minority government means.

 
In this activity, you will investigate this question:

What is the role of political parties in Canada's federal political system?