Text 4. POLITICAL SYSTEM AND ECONOMY OF CANADA

The form of the government of Canada is a constitutional monarchy.

Canada is ruled by a parliamentary system with the head of state officially remaining the monarch of Britain. Within Canada the appointed governor general is the monarch's representative. The upper house, or Senate, is made up of appointees. Mostly it acts as a rubber stamp for the wishes of the elected lower house, or House of Commons. The head of the political party with the most elected representatives in the House of Commons becomes the prime minister, the leader of the country.

The constitution consists of both written proclamations under the Constitution Acts (1867 and 1923) and unwritten conventions. The political parties are the Progressive Conservatives, the Liberals (Grits), the Conservatives (Torries), the Reform Party of Canada and the Democratic Party.

Canada's current flag was proclaimed in 1965 after 2000 public design entries were hotly debated in parliament. In the centre of the flag there is a red sugar maple leaf, Canada's best known symbol. The side bars represent the ocean boundaries and are not blue because an important reason for the entire procedure was to show independence from Britain and France. Before the new flag, between 1924 and 1965, the Red Ensign, which included Union Jack, rippled over the country.

The Canadian economy is based on abundant natural recourses. There natural riches include fish, timber and wood products, minerals, natural gas, oil and hydroelectricity.

The agricultural sector, primarily in wheat and barley, accounts for much of the Canadian export total. The most important manufactured product is motor vehicles. Hi-tech industries and developers in the space and computer fields are recent additions to this area but remain small.

Учебное издание

Л. Г. Ярмолинец

Н. Т. Агафонова

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