PAT9150-ABED_1: Activity 1 page 3

Unit 1: Section 2: Workbook 4: Canada's Federal Political System

Read “Case Study: The Federal Accountability Act” on pages 39, 40, and 41 of your textbook, Issues for Canadians.

On page 39 of your textbook, read about the issues raised by the “sponsorship scandal". Note the role of the auditor general of Canada, also known as a watchdog, who identified the need for responsible and accountable government spending.
Next, review each step of the passing of Federal Accountability Act (FAA) on pages 40 and 41 of your textbook. This will be familiar to you as you have already investigated this process in the document titled, “How a Bill Becomes a Law".

Notice that after the bill went through the second house, it returned to the House of Commons and then back to the Senate to have more amendments reviewed and accepted. This was particular to the FAA — the usual path of a bill is through the first and second houses and then royal assent.

Respond to the “Critical Thinking Challenge” question on page 39 of your textbook.

Place your answer in your Activities folder.

watchdog: a person, group, or organization that promotes government accountability

Vocabulary

Record the definition for watchdog on your Issues for Canadians Definitions handout.

As you complete the activities in this section, try to use the word watchdog in context. As you continue to use new vocabulary, the words become part of your personal dictionary.

Inquire and Respond

Return to the Functions of Government Chart to which you were introduced in Workbook 3.

Record the functions of the Supreme Court of Canada into the chart.

Save your updated chart to your Activities folder.

Going Beyond

The following are interesting facts about the Supreme Court of Canada:

The Supreme Court of Canada was established by an Act of Parliament in 1875 as a general court of appeal.
The Court sat for the first time on January 18, 1876, but it did not have any cases to hear. The Supreme Court heard its first case in April of that year.
The Court was originally composed of a Chief Justice and five puisne or associate judges. Today, the court is composed of a Chief Justice and eight puisne or associate judges.
Puisne judge: The word “puisne” is an old French word meaning younger. This term, used by the Supreme Court, distinguishes the Chief Justice from the other eight judges.
For years, Supreme Court decisions could be appealed to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in England. The right of appeal was abolished for criminal cases in 1933 and in all other cases in 1949.
The original Supreme Court of Canada was housed in a building located at the corner of Wellington and Bank Streets in Ottawa. The building had been the stables of Parliament before being converted into the Supreme Court building.
Two flagstaffs stand at the front of the Supreme Court building. The Canadian flag to the west is hoisted daily, but the flag to the east flies only when the Court is sitting.
The current Supreme Court building was designed by Montreal architect Ernest Cormier, who also designed the University of Montreal, the Government Printing Bureau in Gatineau, and the Québec Court of Appeal in Montreal.
The cornerstone of the Court building is dated May 19, 1939, and was supposed to be laid by King George VI. Queen Elizabeth I laid the cornerstone in the presence of the King, her husband, on May 20, 1939. (The arrival of their ship was delayed by a day due to bad weather on the Atlantic Ocean.)
The Supreme Court of Canada receives between 550 and 650 applications for leave to appeal every year and hears around 80 appeals.