Name the three branches of government in Canada and their primary roles.

• A. Legislative (Parliament, makes laws); Executive (Prime Minister and Cabinet, enforces laws); Judicial (courts, interprets laws)
• B. Parliamentary, Presidential, Military
• C. Judicial, Administrative, Electoral
• D. Legislative, President, Supreme Court

Answer: (A)

Think about how laws are made and applied in Canada. The three branches are: the legislative branch, Parliament, which is responsible for making laws; the executive branch, led by the Prime Minister and Cabinet (and the Crown’s representatives in Parliament), which enforces laws and runs the government; and the judicial branch, made up of the courts, which interprets and applies laws and settles disputes. This separation of powers helps keep government balanced and prevents any one group from having unchecked authority. The other options don’t fit Canada’s system—there isn’t a presidential or military branch as a separate branch, and terms like administrative or electoral aren’t used to describe the branches of government here.