Social Studies Grade Four

Module Two - Provincial Government Makes Decisions

• government, capital city, taxes, revenues, expenditures

Students will know that:

• the provincial government makes laws, finances projects, provides services, and collects taxes.

Students will:

• identify some roles and responsibilities of the provincial government .
• identify the relationship between taxes and services.

Students will:

• appreciate and value the role of the provincial government .

Students may:

• host an MLA.
• visit the legislature.
• participate in a simulation activity .

• Have students working in groups to list 10 different things they have done this week. Have each group share one thing and together identify any government involvement in that activity. For example, "I walked to school." (Government helped finance the sidewalk, school, school supplies, teacher's salary.)
• Identify the different levels of government. Write municipal government, provincial government, and federal government on the chalkboard. Write where each meets. Itemize the various services mentioned in the previous activity and place them into one of three categories. Additional examples might include: visit to the doctor, bicycle license, snow removal, rules governing daycare, laws about school, ride on a highway, police protection, visit from the fire department, and grandma's pension. Chart the information.
• Introduce provincial government . Find out who the local MLA is. It may be appropriate to invite her/him to class to discuss a specific topic.
• Learn about Saskatchewan's capital and the Legislative Buildings. Use current events and newspaper articles about an MLA, cabinet minister, premier, and lieutenant governor to identify responsibilities .
• Learn about taxes, revenues, and expenditures. Simulate the payment of taxes and government paying salaries, expenses (including services), and giving grants to various agencies.
• Learn about aboriginal governance by learning about activities of FSIN , The Métis Nation of Saskatchewan, and band councils. Use current events. Make comparisons between these governing bodies and local and provincial government. (The FSIN was created by treaty Indian people to represent their point of view. The Métis people have created their own political organization, The Métis Nation of Saskatchewan.)
• Select one or more program that falls under the jurisdiction of the provincial government (e.g., lotteries, Child First Program). Use the enclosed (and/or other) information to become familiar with the program. Identify the role of government in the program and its value to the students, community, and province.

Teacher background

Some pertinent information that may be incorporated in this study include the following:

• all people in Saskatchewan are represented within three different governments:
  • municipal government,
  • provincial government,
  • federal government;
• some people are represented by organizations that function in ways similar to the provincial government for example:
  • Band council,
  • Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN),
  • The Métis Nation of Saskatchewan;
• governments fulfil an important role in our society;
• governments in Canada meet human needs and wants by doing the following:
  • make and enforce laws,
  • provide services,
  • exercise the power given them;
• governments in Canada are made up of members who are elected through democratic procedures, have a term of office, and meet in a special place;
• each level of government deals with issues of primary importance at its level of authority;
• the municipal and provincial governments have responsibility for issues at the local or provincial levels;
• citizens have responsibilities related to governments;
• citizens can make their views known to governments;
• citizens are responsible for participating in meeting the problems of the present and future in a global world:
  • as problem- finders/solvers,
  • as decision- makers (voters, members of organizations),
  • as participants - leaders/followers (in the working of family, school, community, province, country, and world organizations);
• government decisions may be influenced in various ways; and
• people of Saskatchewan have the right and responsibility to hold informed opinions and exercise influence in appropriate ways.

Invite your local member of the Legislative Assembly to talk about the types of laws that the government of Saskatchewan makes and the role of the Legislative Assembly in making laws.

Point out that laws are enforced by the police and the courts. What is the job of the police force? Invite a police officer into your classroom to tell you what a police officer's duties are. Do the police punish people who break laws?

Government revenues and expenditures

To introduce the students to the idea of government revenues and expenditures, compare government operation to some organizations that they are familiar with (e.g., Brownies, soccer team). Discuss how the organization gets money from parents registering the child or from lotteries, and the money is spent on transportation, uniforms, and so on.

Make further comparisons with the family income and expenditures, and how the school SRC operates.

Make a list of buildings in your community that have been constructed and are maintained with tax money. The list might include schools, library, hospitals, the city or town hall. Use a camera to take photographs of these buildings. If you have been making a display of the three levels of government, these buildings can be added to the display in the appropriate place.

Make a list of all the workers in your community who are paid with tax money. Include teachers, fire fighters, police officers, doctors, nurses, highway maintenance people, and civil servants.

Suppose that the government stopped collecting taxes immediately. Write a story to tell what would happen or use another method of predicting the future. Discuss:

• the effect on schools;
• the effect on hospitals;
• the effect on the building and maintenance of highways; and
• how your family would spend its extra money.

Simulation activity

Using a simulation, develop understandings about revenue and expenditures. Use the following credit cards. Establish a list of jobs and services. Students will receive credits for jobs done (assignments, monitor duties, reading books, good manners) and will have to pay credits for various services (desk and locker rental, use of library, going to the washroom).

Photocopy the credit cards and give one to each student. How they spend them, save them, and go about getting additional credits should be left up to them, even though the teacher will need to give some guidance at the beginning. You may need to establish specific rules to meet the needs of your class.

The teacher should have several copies of each credit, for payments, trades, "change" and spares.

Credit Cards

Read a Book - Collect one Credit

Good Manners - Collect one Credit

Used the Blackboard - Pay one Credit

Punctuality - Collect one Credit

Used the Washroom - Pay one Credit

Rent for Desk - Pay one Credit

Used the Library - Pay one Credit

Rent for Locker - Pay one Credit

Did Monitor Duty - Collect one Credit

Completed Homework - Collect one Credit

Cleaned Desk - Collect one Credit

Left the Desk - Pay one Credit

Legislature

View the filmstrips "How Our Government is Formed" and "The Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly" included in the Saskatchewan Past and Present kit.

Visit the Legislative Building in Regina. If you visit while the Legislature is in session, you may sit in the visitors' gallery and watch the proceedings. To arrange a visit while the Legislature is in session contact the office of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, 129 Legislative Building, Regina. To arrange a visit when the house is not sitting, contact The Legislative Guides' Office, Room 23, Legislative Building, Regina.

Draw a picture of the part of the Legislative Building that most impressed you. This might be the dome, the Legislative Chamber, or one of the picture galleries. Display the drawings to create a record of your visit.

Use drama in context to learn about the Legislative Assembly. Ask a senior citizen in your community to be Lieutenant- Governor. Select students to be Speaker, Premier and Leader of the Opposition. Appoint several students (both male and female) to be Cabinet members. The rest of the students may be members of the opposition.

Begin by having the Lieutenant Governor read the speech from the throne. Next, the government should introduce a bill. Give the bill three readings and debate it after each reading. If time allows, introduce several bills and have a question period. When the session is over have the Lieutenant Governor adjourn your Legislative Assembly.

Collect newspaper pictures of the Premier and members of the Cabinet. Identify each picture. Find out what each Cabinet Minister is responsible for and write a description under the picture. Write to the Legislative Building in Regina and ask for information.

Write a short biography of one of Saskatchewan's Premiers. The Premiers and the dates they served are listed below. Tell what party the Premier belonged to and his major achievements.

Walter Scott 1905-16
W.M. Martin 1916-22
C.A. Dunning 1922-26
J.G. Gardiner 1926-29
J.T.M. Anderson 1929-34
W.J. Patterson 1935-44
T.C. Douglas 1944-61
W.S. Lloyd 1961-64
W.R. Thatcher 1964-71
A.E. Blakeney 1971-82
D.G. Devine 1982-92
Roy Romanow 1992- 

Write a paragraph describing what you would do if you were Premier. What laws would you make? Think about education, highways, health care and other areas where the province has responsibility.

Constituencies

Look at the constituency map for Saskatchewan and find out the name of the constituency your community is in. Obtain a constituency map from the Electoral Office, Suite 301, 2222 13th Ave., Regina, S4P 3M7, 787-4000.

Research to find out how many candidates ran in the last provincial election in your constituency. The winner is now your MLA .

Women and government

Women in Saskatchewan were not allowed to vote before 1916. Groups of women worked hard for years to convince the government to pass a law allowing them to vote. Some women collected petitions with hundreds of signatures. They sent these petitions to Premier Scott. Women finally won the right to vote on March 14, 1916. In small groups, research and discuss these questions:

• Why were women not allowed to vote for so many years?
• Should anyone in our society not be allowed to vote?
• What are some methods people can use to try to influence the government to change a law or make a law?

In 1919, the first woman MLA was elected in Saskatchewan. Her name was Sarah Ramsland. Examine the present government and the opposition. How many women are now holding seats in the Legislature?

Invite the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly to explain the operation of the Assembly.

Lotteries

Discuss non-profit organizations and the opportunities they provide for people. Discuss benefits of non-profit organizations, such as:

• promotion of healthy lifestyles;
• giving people something to do in their leisure time; and
• giving young people things to do and places to go, rather than hanging out at malls or on the street.

The teacher may choose to hand out the information and have the students working in groups to read and discuss it.

Child First Program

Note. When discussing this program, the teacher should be aware that some of the students in class might be beneficiaries of this program. Be sensitive to this fact and to how those students might feel about discussing the program in class.

In January 1993 the Minister of Education announced a new initiative aimed at improving the way services are delivered to school aged children and their families. The project is intended to help schools, families, and other agencies combat problems affecting the ability of children to learn. It's being funded by the Departments of Education, Health, and Social Services. It is a coordinated community action plan aimed at prevention. The program is to be adapted in each community according to the needs of the community. Local communities are responsible for identifying their needs and directing their program.

Study Saskatchewan's approach to assisting children. Begin with a brief study of the past situation. Make a focus of this study the way people from different agencies work together as a team, and the cooperative nature of this approach to assisting children.

Investigate the delivery of services to students in your school division. What services are available? How are these services administered? Invite a speaker to talk to your class about these services. Emphasize interaction between the school and the larger community.

Have students predict the future regarding assistance to children. Will there be a need for more or less in the future? What is their future role in providing child care services? Will they have a career in this area? What will their role be as a parent?

Have the students reflect on the cooperation and collaboration inherent in this approach to assisting children. Guide the students in making connections between the way this model works and their lives. Are there areas of their lives in school or at home where greater cooperation and collaboration would be beneficial?

Explore the saying It takes a community to raise a child. Many societies knew the importance of a community focus on raising a child. Today people are beginning to return to this traditional wisdom. Learn about approaches to raising children in Indian cultures. What programs are in place for helping children in your community?

Find out how the Child First program is being developed in your community. What agencies are involved? What initiatives have been undertaken? What are the local goals?

Have students speculate on ways they can contribute to the success of the program. How can their participation in planned events help themselves? other children?

Some students may wish to share with the class their experiences with child workers such as social workers or speech therapists. If so, provide opportunities for this. Child care workers may also be invited to speak about their work.

Student Information Page: Saskatchewan Lotteries