What is a 'parliamentary democracy'?

Discover Canada defines parliamentary democracy in one direct sentence. The guide writes: In Canada's parliamentary democracy, the people elect members to the House of Commons in Ottawa and to the provincial and territorial legislatures. These representatives are responsible for passing laws, approving and monitoring expenditures, and keeping the government accountable. The mechanism the test wants is therefore a system where the people elect members to the House of Commons.

Three duties go with that elected role. Discover Canada names them in the same sentence: passing laws, approving and monitoring expenditures, and keeping the government accountable. So in a parliamentary democracy, the people don't just vote at election time — through their elected representatives, they continuously hold government to account.

The parliamentary half of the term is part of how that accountability works. Discover Canada writes: "Cabinet ministers are responsible to the elected representatives, which means they must retain the 'confidence of the House' and have to resign if they are defeated in a non-confidence vote." So Cabinet — the executive — must keep the elected chamber's support in order to stay in office. That is what makes the system parliamentary: the executive and the legislature are linked through confidence rather than separated like in a presidential system.

Parliamentary democracy is one of three labels Discover Canada attaches to Canadian government. The country is also a constitutional monarchy (head of state is a hereditary Sovereign) and a federal state (powers divided between federal and provincial). Parliamentary democracy is the part that explains how Canadians elect their representatives and how those representatives hold government accountable.

The question is testing whether new citizens know how Discover Canada defines a parliamentary democracy. The guide commits to one mechanism: the people elect members to the House of Commons (and to the provincial and territorial legislatures). The right test answer matches that.

The wrong answer choices each describe systems Discover Canada rules out. The Prime Minister does not appoint members of the legislature; voters elect them. The Senate does not elect members of Parliament. The Governor General does not make all decisions — the role is constitutional and non-partisan, with the Sovereign's powers limited by the Constitution.