BC Government

There are four levels of government active in BC: federal, provincial, regional and municipal.

The two political bodies of federal government include a 301-seat House of Commons and 105-seat Senate, of which 34 Members of Parliament (MPs) and six senators are from BC. The Prime Minister and appointed Ministers make up the federal cabinet. Major federal parties include the Liberal Party of Canada, the Conservative Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party of Canada, and the Bloc Québécois.

With specific exceptions, all parliamentary legislation must be approved by the House of Commons, the Senate and the Governor General before it can become law. Most parliamentary legislation is introduced by the government.

BC Parliment Building in VictoriaBy convention, the political party with the most elected members in the House of Commons will take the leading role in forming the government. If it has a majority of seats (151), then it automatically forms a majority government. If it has fewer than 151 seats, the leading party will seek the cooperation of other parties. The leader of this party becomes the Prime Minister. The party with the second highest number of seats usually becomes the Official Opposition. Its leader becomes the Leader of the Opposition.

The Prime Minister chooses a Cabinet from members of the leading party in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister and Cabinet must maintain the confidence of the House of Commons, a practice known as “responsible government.”

Each member of Cabinet is responsible for the management of certain aspects of the federal government. To this end, most Cabinet members oversee the operations of one or more federal departments or agencies. The most senior officials in departments are called Deputy Ministers. They are not elected, and are, generally career public servants, directly responsible to the Cabinet Minister.

Population distribution in BC BC Legislature is comprised of the Lieutenant Governor and 79 elected members of the legislative assembly (MLAs). The legislature has a maximum term of five years. The province’s legal system is made up of the Provincial Court of BC, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of BC.

Local government is made up of incorporated municipalities and regional districts. Municipalities provide important infrastructure and services like roads, garbage collection and sewage. They also have the authority, delegated by the province, to create and enforce bylaws within municipal boarders.

The map above shows the location of BC's municipalities in 2001.



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