The Samara Centre for Democracy's research and educational programming shines new light on Canada’s democratic system and encourages greater political participation across the country, to build better politics, and a better Canada, for everyone.
These teaching tools were developed based on our research and are meant to help you teach young people how they can engage meaningfully with democracy. (Scan down the page to ensure you've seen all the activities.)
We hope you find the below lesson plans helpful in your classroom. If you have any questions or comments, please contact Kendall Anderson.
Civic engagement is much more than voting. Voting happens very rarely and democracy is something that must happen every day.
As well, your students may not be eligible to vote!
Voting doesn’t happen in a vacuum—it requires a lot of planning and thinking and discussion beforehand.
Samara surveyed Canadians on the 20 ways to be an active citizen beyond voting.
- Online (posting on facebook, writing a blog)
- In-person activities (discussion at dinner table)
- Civic engagement (volunteering)
- Activism (petitioning)
- Formal politics (joining a party, donating to a candidate).
Teachers and professors are making CitizenSparks a part of their curriculum by encouraging students to get political beyond the classroom, online and in the newspapers. The fourteen thought-provoking questions that comprise the CitizenSparks series can also serve as discussion prompts in classrooms and group discussions.
CIVIX
Our sister organization CIVIX offers mock elections and lots of other great experiential learning activities. Check out their website for more information.
The Outsider's Manifesto: Surviving and Thriving as a Member of Parliament reveals the MPs' advice to future Parliamentarians and offers recommendations for change.
You can also download and use the Educator's Guide, which offers discussion questions as well as activities based on the Member of Parliament Exit Interviews.
Political parties are groups of people with shared views, who form organizations that create or influence government by competing in elections. To have candidates on a ballot in a federal election, parties must be registered with Elections Canada. Parties can organize themselves in a variety of ways. Here’s an example:
The party leader is the head of both the parliamentary caucus and the party. He or she makes key decisions about the direction of the party and platform. Party members typically vote to select a leader.
Parliamentary caucus is made up of those Parliamentarians (MPs, and sometimes Senators) from a single party who have the leader’s permission to participate. It convenes weekly behind closed doors and allows members to bring forward views privately.
Political staff are paid for by Parliament and serve the MP that hires them. They hold a variety of jobs in both the local constituency office and on Parliament Hill.
The Executive is made up of the party leader and other representatives selected through election or appointment to lead internal party operations.
Party staff are paid by the party to oversee its day-to-day operations, including fundraising, recruitment of party members, research and election readiness.
Party members participate in leadership review and selection, local candidate selection and policy conventions. They are people, as young as 14, who pay an annual fee to the party (permanent residents are also eligible to join).
Riding Associations (Electoral District Associations) are local party organizations that oversee the nomination of the local party candidate at election time. Between elections, they fundraise, keep local members engaged, and provide a local presence for the national party.
At Samara, we're enthusiastic about procedure and the history of our institutions. We wanted to find a fun way to present what can sometimes be pretty dense information.
And so we present Samara's pop-up video guide to the Speech from the Throne!
We've condensed the events using past footage to provide a who's-who and the what's-what of the SFT ceremony in under 5 minutes.
If you liked the video, please feel free to embed on your own site and share widely!
Do you have an idea for another pop-up procedure video?
Let us know!
Become a Samara Teacher Advisor
We would like to adapt more of our projects into learning materials that can be used to teach students about Canadian democracy.
Samara is always looking for ways to expand its reach into schools and universities, and we’d like to get your feedback on how we can develop our learning materials so that they best meet the needs of your curriculum.
If you are passionate about teaching civics and engaging students in the democratic process, we invite you to become one of Samara’s Partners in the Classroom. To join our volunteer teachers team, please email your resume to Kendall Anderson through our Contact Us page, indicating which subject(s) and at what level you teach.