Canadian Politics

We have a subscription to MacLean's magazine (www.macleans.ca), which is Canada's main news magazine. Slowly but surely, I am learning about Canadian politics. It seems to be set up much more like the UK than like the US. For example, there is a Parliament instead of a Congress, and the Prime Minister is the head of the party in power (Canadians, please correct me if I am screwing this up!). Unlike the US, where elections are held at predictable times, elections can be held in Canada whenever the party in power wants to call one. A few more facts:

*The capital of Canada is Ottawa, Ontario.
*Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth is Canada's Head of State and the Queen of Canada. Her representative in Canada is the Governor General
*Parliament is divided into two chambers, the Senate and the House of Commons. Everyone in the Senate is appointed. Everyone in the House of Commons is elected.
*The head of the majority party in Commons is the nation's prime minister and the Head of Government (currently Stephen Harper, of the Conservative party).
*There are several major political parties, the biggest of which are as follows:
Liberal Party of Canada
Conservative Party of Canada
New Democratic Party of Canada
Bloc Québecois (a separatist party present only in Québec)