V. The political system and the government.

Canada is an independent, self governing democracy whose form of Government is a Constitutional Monarchy which means that government in Canada flows from two areas: from a written Constitution, the function of which is to define Canadian society; and from the Monarchy, in whose name all acts, legislation, and other business of government is carried out.

Canada is a country with eleven governments – the federal one at the centre of Ottawa, and one in each of the ten provinces. There are legislative assemblies in the Yukon, Nunavut and the Northern Territories, which also exercise real government within their territory. The provinces are in turn divided up into counties and municipal districts each with their councils. Thus Canadians are, for their numbers, one of the most governed of all people.

The Constitution

Canada’s constitution consists of written documents and unwritten conventions. The written constitution is embodied in the Constitution Acts, 1867-1982. In 1982 the Queen signed the Canada Act which gave Canada full responsibility for the Constitution and made Canada completely independent. The British North America Act of 1867is clearly the keystone of the Canadian constitutional system since it is the legal basis for the existence of the nation. It established a federal state with a parliament modeled on the British system. The federation is now composed of ten Provinces and three Territories, since 1999. The central government, based in Ottawa, is empowered to pass legislation in areas, such as foreign policy, which affect the entire country. The provinces have powers in their areas such as the administration of justice, education, health care, etc.

However, in a broader sense many other laws are also part of Canada’s constitution. Among them are certain other statutes of the British Parliament (such as the Statute of Westminster of 1931), certain statutes of the Canadian Parliament (such as the Canada Elections Act), and other written documents. These include the role of the Prime Minister in government and the principle of Responsible Government – meaning the power can only be exercised by elected government leaders that have the support of the nation’s elected representatives. Another convention is that all legislation passed by parliament requires Royal Assent by the Queen’s representative in Canada, the Governor-General. Technically, the Governor-General could refuse to assent to any legislation, but in practice this has never occurred. The convention in this case, then, is that the Monarch may never become involved in political matters. In addition, unwritten custom is also part of the Canadian constitution. For instance, a government will always resign if it loses a vote of confidence in Parliament.

Parliament

The power to make laws in areas of federal responsibility is vested in the Parliament of Canada. Among the areas of authority of the Parliament in Ottawa are trade and commerce, criminal law, banking and currency, defence, and external affairs.

Both English and French are official languages in Canada. All laws passed by Parliament must be written in the two languages. The signatures appearing on the French and English copies of this bill show approval by the three elements of Parliament: the House of Commons, the Senate, and the Governor-General representing the sovereign.

The Parliament of Canada consists of the Queen, an upper House known as the Senate and a lower House, the House of Commons. Senators are appointed by the Governor-General on the advice of the Prime Minister; the seats on the Senate are distributed on a regional basis. There are 112 senators. The House of Commons is an elected assembly in which each member represents one of 301 electoral districts distributed according to population.

General elections to choose the members of the House of Commons must occur at least once every five years. But in case the Prime Minister decides to call an election or the government party loses the support of the majority of members of the House of Commons they may occur more often.

Following an election, the Governor-General calls upon the leader of the party that won the greatest number of seats to become the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister selects a Cabinet from among his fellow party members. However, if no party has a clear majority in the House of Commons, it may be necessary for the Prime Minister to form a coalition government by bringing members of another party into his cabinet in return for political support. Cabinet ministers head the various executive departments of the Canadian government. Most ministers are members of the House of Commons, but Senate members are also eligible for Cabinet posts.

The main function of parliament is to pass laws, or legislation. To become law, proposed legislation known as a Bill must be passed by a majority of members in both the House of Commons and Senate, and then be given Royal Assent by the Governor-General. Most – but not all – bills are introduced in the House of Commons by the Government.

The Monarchy

The British monarch (since June2, 1953 Queen Elizabeth II) is Canada’s official head of state through which the entire authority of the government is set in motion and in whose name laws are enacted. The Queen’s role is set out in the Constitution Act of 1865, and that same act gives the monarch, commander-in-chief status over Canada’s armed forces. In practice, however, the Queen has little or no part to play in Canadian government. She appoints the Governor-General, but does so only on the Prime Minister’s recommendation. The Governor-General performs the monarch’s duties, and these duties have been ceremonial for many years.

Provincial Government

Canada’s provinces have a system of government which parallels the federal government in several ways. Members of a provincial legislature like those of the federal parliament, represent constituencies and approve legislation within their constitutional jurisdiction. A Lieutenant-Governor of a province, like the Governor-General, gives royal assent to the bills passed by the legislature. The Lieutenant-Governor is appointed by the Governor-General. The major difference between the provincial and federal systems of government is that the provinces have no equivalent of the federal Senate, that is the legislatures of the provinces are unicameral.

Provincial governments in Canada have authority over a wide range of matters. Among the most important of these responsibilities are civil law, civil rights, education, public health, management of public lands, and municipal government. The federal system allows for differences in government from province to province.

The Yukon, Nunavut and the Northern Territories are governed by elected representatives. Although the administration of each territory is technically in the hands of a Commissioner appointed by the federal Government, in practice the commissioner’s role has become very much like that of the provincial Lieutenant-Governor’s in that they follow the wishes of the territories’ elected representatives when exercising their authority. In the territories, real government is exercised by legislative assemblies.