The
government of Canada is the system whereby the
federation of Canada
is
administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term
can mean either the collective set of managerial institutions or
specifically the Queen-in-Council. In both senses,
the construct was established at
Confederation, through the
Constitution Act, 1867, as a
constitutional monarchy, wherein the
Canadian Crown acts as the core,
or "the most basic building block," of the kingdom's
Westminster-style parliamentary democracy. The Crown is thus the foundation of the
executive,
legislative, and
judicial branches of the Canadian government.
Further elements of governance are outlined in the rest of the
constitution of Canada, which
includes written statutes, court rulings, and unwritten
conventions developed over
centuries.
Usage
In
Canadian English, the word
government is used to refer both to the whole set of
institutions that collectively govern the country as well as the
reigning monarch, or her
viceroy, in
her current council; when used in
the latter context, the word is usually capitalized to make the
distinction. Thus, Canadians would say that the
28th Ministry is the
Government that currently administers the Canadian
government. Contrasts can be drawn with the British usage
where
the government is synonymous with
the state
and the American usage where
the government is synonymous
with
the administration.
Because Canada is a federation,
the government can refer
to the
federal,
provincial, or
municipal
governments. Because aboriginal peoples "had legal systems prior to
the arrival of
Europeans", it could also
refer to an aboriginal government (acting as a municipal government
entity). In this article,
government refers to the
structure of the Canadian federal state.
Monarchy
As per the
Constitution Act,
1867, Canada is a
constitutional monarchy, wherein the
role of the reigning sovereign is both legal and practical. The
Crown is regarded as a
corporation, with
the monarch, vested as she is with all powers of state, at the
centre of a construct in which the power of the whole is shared by
multiple institutions of government acting under the sovereign's
authority; the Crown has thus been described as the underlying
principle of Canada's institutional unity, with the executive
formally called the
Queen-in-Council, the legislature the
Queen-in-Parliament,
and the courts as the
Queen on the
Bench.
While
Royal Assent and the
royal sign-manual are required to enact
laws,
letters patent, and
Orders-in-Council, the authority for these
acts stems from the Canadian populace, and, within the
conventional stipulations of
constitutional monarchy, the sovereign's direct participation in
any of these areas of governance is limited. As the monarch
presently
Queen
Elizabeth II is shared as head of state of
15 other countries in the
Commonwealth of Nations, she
appoints as her viceregal representative in Canada a
Governor General presently
Michaëlle Jean to act in her
stead; since 1947, the Governor General has been permitted to
exercise almost all of the sovereign's
Royal Prerogative, though some powers do
remain the Queen's alone. Further, the monarch and Governor General
typically follow the near-binding
advice of their
Ministers of the Crown in
Cabinet. It is important to note, however,
that the Royal Prerogative belongs to the Crown and not to any of
the ministers, and the royal and viceroyal figures may unilaterally
use these powers in exceptional
constitutional crisis
situations,
The Canadian monarchy is a
federal
one in which the Crown is unitary throughout all jurisdictions
in the country, with the
headship of
state being a part of all equally. As such, the sovereignty of
the federal and provincial regions is passed on not by the Governor
General or federal parliament, but through the overreaching Crown
itself. Though singular, the Crown is thus "divided" into eleven
legal jurisdictions, or eleven "crowns" one federal and ten
provincial. A
Lieutenant
Governor serves as the Queen's representative in each province,
carrying out all the monarch's constitutional and ceremonial duties
of state on her behalf, not the federal government's or the
Governor General's.
Executive power
The government is defined by the constitution as the Queen acting
on the advice of her
Privy Council.
However, the Privy Council comprised mostly of former members of
parliament, Chief Justices of the Supreme Court, and other elder
statesmen rarely meets in full; as the stipulations of
responsible government require that
those who directly
advise
the monarch and Governor General on how to exercise the
Royal Prerogative be accountable to the
elected
House of Commons,
the day-to-day operation of government is guided only by a
sub-group of the Privy Council made up of individuals who hold
seats in parliament. This body of
Ministers of the Crown is the
Cabinet.
One of the main duties of the Crown is to "ensure that a
democratically elected government is always in place," which means
appointing a
prime minister presently
Stephen Harper to thereafter head the
Cabinet. Per convention, the Governor General must appoint as Prime
Minister the person who holds the
confidence of the House of Commons; in
practice, this is typically the leader of the
political party that
holds a majority of seats in that chamber, currently the
Conservative Party. Should no
party hold a majority in the Commons, the leader of one party
either the one with the most seats or one supported by other
parties will be called by the Governor General to form a
minority government. Once sworn in by
the viceroy, the Prime Minister holds office until he resigns or is
removed by the Governor General, after either a
motion of no confidence or his
party's defeat in a general election.
Legislative power
Canada's
bicameral legislature, located on Parliament Hill
in the national capitol of Ottawa, consists of the
sovereign, the House of Commons, and the appointed Senate. The Governor General summons
and appoints each of the 105 members of the
upper house on the advice of his or her Prime
Minister, while the 308 members of the
lower
house are directly elected by eligible voters in the Canadian
populace, with each
Member of
Parliament representing a single
electoral district for a period
of not more than four years. Per democratic tradition, the House of
Commons is the dominant branch of parliament, the Senate and Crown
rarely opposing its will. The Senate, thus, reviews legislation
from a less partisan standpoint, and the monarch and
viceroy provide the necessary
Royal Assent to make bills into law and summon,
prorogue, and
dissolve parliament
in order to
call an election, as
well as reading the
Throne
Speech.
The Constitution Act, 1867, outlines that the Governor General
alone is responsible for summoning parliament, and a parliamentary
session lasts until a prorogation, after which, without ceremony,
both chambers of the legislature cease all legislative business
until the Governor General issues another royal proclamation
calling for a new session to begin. After a number of such
sessions, each parliament comes to an end via dissolution. As a
general election typically follows, the timing of a dissolution is
usually politically motivated, with the Prime Minister selecting a
moment most advantageous to his or her political party. The end of
a parliament may also be necessary, however, if the majority of
Members of Parliament revoke their confidence in the Prime
Minister's ability to govern, or the legally mandated four year
maximum is reached; no parliament has been allowed to expire in
such a fashion.
Judicial power
The sovereign is responsible for rendering justice for all her
subjects, and is thus traditionally deemed the
fount of
justice. However, she does not personally rule in judicial
cases; instead the judicial functions of the Royal Prerogative are
performed in trust and in the Queen's name by Officers of Her
Majesty's Court.
The
Supreme Court of
Canada
the country's court
of last resort has nine justices appointed by the Governor
General and led by the Chief
Justice of Canada, and hears appeals from decisions rendered by
the various appellate courts from the provinces and
territories. Below this is the
Federal Court, which hears cases
arising under certain areas of federal law. It works in conjunction
with the
Federal Court
of Appeal and
Tax Court of
Canada.
Federalism
The powers of the parliament of Canada are limited by the
constitution, which divides legislative abilities between the
federal and provincial governments; in general, provincial
legislatures may only pass laws
relating to topics explicitly reserved for them by the
constitution, such as education, provincial officers, municipal
government, charitable institutions, and "matters of a merely local
or private nature," while any matter not under the exclusive
authority of the provincial Legislatures is within the scope of the
federal parliament's power. Thus, parliament alone can pass laws
relating to, amongst other things, the
postal
service, the
census,
the military, navigation and shipping,
fishing,
currency,
banking,
weights and measures,
bankruptcy,
copyrights,
patents,
First Nations, and
naturalization. In some cases, however, the
jurisdictions of the federal and provincial parliaments may be more
vague. For instance, the parliament in Ottawa regulates
marriage and
divorce in
general, but the solemnization of marriage is regulated only by the
provincial legislatures. Other examples include the powers of both
the federal and provincial parliaments to impose taxes, borrow
money, punish crimes, and regulate
agriculture.
Notes
References
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