CANADIAN GOVERNMENT

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—

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.