Government
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The Government of British Columbia is responsible for managing the affairs of the province through policies and laws. It is divided into
three branches: the
executive, the
legislative, and the
judicial.
In our system of parliamentary democracy, governments are formed by political parties who have the confidence of the Legislative Assembly, meaning that a majority of MLAs support the government. Two types of government in British Columbia are:
If the leader of either type of governing party is supported by the majority of MLAs, they are normally asked by the
Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia to form a government by taking office as the Premier.
The Premier is the president of and appoints people to the Executive Council of British Columbia, which is also known as the Cabinet. The Executive Council holds considerable power since they form the executive branch of government. To ensure that this power is not abused, there are many practices that are used to the hold the government accountable. This accountability is foundational to parliamentary democracy and is exemplified in both the
individual and
collective responsibilities of Cabinet ministers and in the
parliamentary proceedings adopted by the Legislative Assembly.
Did You Know?
Before
political parties were introduced into B.C.'s parliamentary system, MLAs worked as
Independent Members. To form a government, MLAs would often organize themselves into to a loose coalition of Members that would work to pass budgets and legislation. The MLA appointed as Premier was often the leader of these informal alliances.