英語學習:加拿大的Responsible Government

加拿大都市网

Illustration by Ricky Hor

Responsible Government

In 1840, Upper and Lower Canada were united as the Province of Canada. Reformers such as Sir Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine and Robert Baldwin, in parallel with Joseph Howe in Nova Scotia, worked with British governors toward responsible government.
The first British North American colony to attain full responsible government was Nova Scotia in 1847–48. In 1848–49 the governor of United Canada, Lord Elgin, with encouragement from London, introduced responsible government.
This is the system that we have today: if the government loses a confidence vote in the assembly it must resign. La Fontaine, a champion of democracy and French language rights, became the first leader of a responsible government in the Canadas.

Responsible Government 問責制政府
unite = join together to become one unit 聯合;結合
reformer 改革家
in parallel with = occurring at the same time and related in some way 同時進行
work toward 向某一目的努力
attain = succeed in getting something 達到(目的)
encouragement from the word encourage = make someone more hopeful and determined 鼓勵;鼓舞
London = the capital of Britain (here it refers to the British government) 英國倫敦(此處指在倫敦的英國政府)
introduce 引入
system 制度
confidence vote = a process in which elected representatives indicate whether or not they support the leader or the government 信任或不信任投票
assembly = a group of elected officials who make or change laws (此處指 legislative assembly)立法議會
resign = give up a position 辭職
champion = someone who fights or speaks publicly in support of a belief 擁護者;支持者

問責制政府
1840年,上下加拿大併合成為加拿大省。改革者例如路易方亭及羅伯特.鮈德溫,和在新斯高沙省的約瑟.豪跟英國委任的總督一起建立問責制政府。
1847–48年,新斯高沙省是第一個建立問責制政府的英屬北美殖民地。1848–49年,加拿大省省長額爾金伯爵,受到英國政府的鼓勵,引進一個問責制政府。
這便是我們現有的制度:若政府在議會不信任投票中落敗便要下台。路易方亭是民主和法語權利的擁護者,成為加拿大問責制政府的首任領導人。

 

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