The Government of
Canada (French: Gouvernement du Canada), formally Her Majesty's Government
(French: Gouvernement de Sa Majesté), is the federal democratic administration
of Canada, and by a common authority levies taxes to pay for common goods; in
Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions
or specifically the Queen-in-Council. In both senses, the construct was
established at Confederation, through the Constitution Act, 1867, as a federal
constitutional monarchy, wherein the Canadian Crown acts as the core, or
"the most basic building block," of its Westminster-style
parliamentary democracy. The Crown is thus the foundation of the executive (the
Cabinet, a committee of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada), legislative (the
Parliament of Canada), and judicial (various federal courts) branches of the
Canadian government. Further elements of
governance are outlined in the rest of the Canadian constitution, which
includes written statutes, court rulings, and unwritten conventions developed
over centuries.
MONARCHY
As per the
Constitution Act, 1867, Canada is a constitutional monarchy, wherein the role
of the reigning sovereign is both legal and practical, but not political. 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. Royal Assent and
the royal sign-manual are required to enact laws, letters patent, and orders in
council, though 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. The current
monarch is Queen Elizabeth II. As an individual, she is also the head of state
of 15 other countries in the Commonwealth of Nations, though, she reigns
separately as Queen of Canada, an office that is "truly Canadian" and
"totally independent from that of the Queen of the United Kingdom and the
other Commonwealth realms." Her Majesty appoints a federal viceregal
representative, the Governor General of Canada, currently David Johnston. Since
1947, the governor general has been permitted to exercise almost all of the
sovereign's Royal Prerogative, though there are some duties which must be
specifically performed by, or bills that require assent by, the Queen; these
include applying the royal sign-manual and Great Seal of Canada to the appointment
papers of governors general, the issuance of letters patent, the creation and
modification of Canadian honours, the approval of any change in her Canadian
title, and the creation of new Senate seats.
The Royal
Prerogative also extends to foreign affairs: on the advice of the Cabinet, the
sovereign or governor general negotiates and ratifies treaties, alliances,
international agreements, and declarations of war, and the governor general, on
behalf of the Queen, both accredits Canadian high commissioners and ambassadors
and receives similar diplomats from foreign states. Similarly, the issuance of
passports falls under the Royal Prerogative and, as such, all Canadian
passports are issued in the monarch's name and remain her property.
EXECUTIVE POWER
The government is
defined by the constitution as the Queen acting on the advice of her privy
council. However, the Privy Council—consisting 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 thepolitical
party that holds more seats than any other party 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—
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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 or she
resigns or is removed by the governor general, after either a motion of non-confidence
or his party's defeat in a general election.
LEGISLATIVE POWER
The Parliament of
Canada, the bicameral national legislature located on Parliament Hill in the
national capital of Ottawa, consists of the Queen (represented by the governor
general), the appointed Senate (upper house), and the elected House of Commons
(lower house). The governor general summons and appoints each of the
(currently) 105 members of senators on the advice of the prime minister, while
the (currently) 308 members of the House of Commons (Members of Parliament) are
directly elected by eligible voters in the Canadian populace, with each member
representing a single electoral district for a period mandated by law of not
more than four years; the constitution mandates a maximum of five years. Per
democratic tradition, the House of Commons is the dominant branch of
parliament; the Senate and Crown rarely oppose its will. The Senate, thus,
reviews legislation from a less partisan standpoint.The Constitution
Act, 1867, outlines that the governor general is responsible for summoning
parliament in the Queen's name. 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
courts.
The Supreme Court
of Canada—the country's court of last resort—has nine justices appointed by the
governor general on recommendation by the prime minister 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.
posted by Juan Pablo Dircio A.
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