Glossary

• Author: Craig Forcese - Aaron Freeman
• Pages: 555-561

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Glossary

Address of Parliament: a parliamentary resolution expressing the wish or

request of Parliament.

Alternative vote: a voting system in which candidates are ranked by voters; if

no single candidate wins 50 percent of the f‌irst choices, the candidate with

the least number of votes is excluded and the preferences recalculated until

a majority candidate emerges.

Auditor General: the off‌icer of Parliament who serves as the auditor of the

accounts of Canada.

Cabinet: the collective decision-making body of the ministry.

Cabinet conf‌idence: a Cabinet document, as def‌ined in the Access to Informa-

tion Act, which is excluded from the application of that Act.

Cabinet solidarity: the convention requiring Cabinet ministers to support

Cabinet decisions in public.

Caucus: a plenary of parliamentarians from the same party that meets, typ-

ically in camera, to discuss party issues.

Chief Electoral Off‌icer (CEO): an off‌icer of Parliament charged with over-

seeing the administration of federal elections.

Commissioner of Canada Elections: an independent off‌icial, appointed by

the chief electoral off‌icer, charged with receiving and investigating com-

plaints about infringements of the Canada Elections Act.