Is the Canadian government similar to England?
Republicanism in Canada
Republicans in Canada assert that their country's monarchy, due either to its popular associations with the United Kingdom, its shared nature, or both, cannot be representative of the Canadian nation. Their position is that because of its hereditary aspects and the sovereign's role as Supreme Governor of the Church of England (though he or she is such in England only; the monarch has no religious role in Canada), the monarchy is inherently contrary to egalitarianism and multiculturalism. Further, though it diverges from both the official position of the Canadian government and the opinions of some judges, legal scholars, and members of the Royal Family themselves, republicans deem the King or Queen of Canada to be either a solely British or English individual representing a British institution foreign to Canada. Founded on this perception is the republican assertion that national pride is diminished by the monarchy, its presence negating the country's full independence achieved in 1982, and makes Canada appear colonial and subservient to the United Kingdom, under which they feel Canadians suffered "military, economic, and cultural subjugation." Instead, equating anti-monarchism with patriotism, they desire a Canadian citizen to act as head of state and promote the national flag and/or the "country" as a more fitting locus of allegiance.
Foreign relations of Canada
The foreign relations of Canada are Canada's relations with other governments and peoples. Britain was the chief foreign contact before World War II. Since then Canada's most important relationship, being the largest trading relationship in the world, is with the United States. However, Canadian governments have traditionally maintained active relations with other nations, mostly through multilateral organizations such as the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, La Francophonie, the Organization of American States, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
The British North American colonies which today constitute modern Canada had no control over their foreign affairs until the achievement of responsible government in the late 1840s. Up to that time, wars, negotiations and treaties were carried out by the British government to settle disputes concerning the colonies over fishing and boundaries and to promote trade. Notable examples from the colonial period include the Nootka Convention, the War of 1812, the Rush–Bagot Treaty, the Treaty of 1818, the Webster–Ashburton Treaty, and the Oregon Treaty. Before the granting of responsible government, British diplomats handled foreign affairs and had the goal of achieving British goals, especially peace with the United States; domestic Canadian interests were secondary. The Canadian–American Reciprocity Treaty of 1854 signaled an important change in relations between Britain and its North American colonies. In this treaty, the Canadas were allowed to impose tariff duties more favourable to a foreign country (the U.S.) than to Britain, a precedent that was extended by new tariffs in 1859, 1879 and 1887, despite angry demands on the part of British industrialists that these tariffs be disallowed by London.
Canada
The direct participation of the royal and viceroyal figures in areas of governance is limited. In practice, their use of the executive powers is directed by the Cabinet, a committee of ministers of the Crown responsible to the elected House of Commons of Canada and chosen and headed by the Prime Minister of Canada (at present Justin Trudeau), the head of government. The governor general or monarch may, though, in certain crisis situations exercise their power without ministerial advice. To ensure the stability of government, the governor general will usually appoint as prime minister the person who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is thus one of the most powerful institutions in government, initiating most legislation for parliamentary approval and selecting for appointment by the Crown, besides the aforementioned, the governor general, lieutenant governors, senators, federal court judges, and heads of Crown corporations and government agencies. The leader of the party with the second-most seats usually becomes the Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition and is part of an adversarial parliamentary system intended to keep the government in check.
Question Period
Question Period in Canada, as an instance of Question time in Westminster tradition, is similar to the Prime Minister's Questions practice of the Parliament of the United Kingdom; however it is important to note that the Canadian version occurs daily as opposed to weekly, runs 45 minutes instead of 30 and questions may be asked to any cabinet member, not just the Prime Minister. In the UK Parliament, other Cabinet members have Question Time on other days, so it is a daily occurrence but to specific Ministers.
Province
In unitary states such as France and China, provinces are subordinate to the national, central government. In theory, the central government can create or abolish provinces within its jurisdiction. On the other hand, although Canada is now considered a federal state and not a confederation, in practice it is among the world's more decentralized federations. Canadian Confederation and the Constitution Act, 1867 conferred considerable power on the provincial governments which they often use to pursue their own goals independently of the federal government.
British people
It was not until 1977 that the phrase "A Canadian citizen is a British subject" ceased to be used in Canadian passports. The politics of Canada are strongly influenced by British political culture. Although significant modifications have been made, Canada is governed by a democratic parliamentary framework comparable to the Westminster system, and retains Elizabeth II as The Queen of Canada and Head of State. English is the mostly commonly spoken language used in Canada and it is an official language of Canada.
Progressive Party of Canada
More important than these effects on individual parties, the Progressive Party also had a great effect on Canada's governmental system — it was the most successful early example of a third party in Canada. Despite Duverger's law of political science, the Canadian Parliament has always had a third, and sometimes a fourth or even fifth, party present ever since (although no third or fourth party had ever formed a national government in Canada until the Liberal Party rose from third place following the 2011 election to government in 2015.) The Progressives thus served both as a model and a cautionary tale for those that followed after.Does not include MPs elected as United Farmers, Labour, Independent, Independent Progressive or other designations who may have been part of the Progressive Party caucus. (see United Farmers of Alberta)
Politics of Canada
Canada has been dominated by two relatively centrist parties at the federal level, the centre-left Liberal Party of Canada and the centre-right Conservative Party of Canada. The historically predominant Liberals position themselves at the center of the political scale with the Conservatives sitting on the right and the New Democratic Party occupying the left. Five parties had representatives elected to the federal parliament in the 2015 election: the Liberal Party who currently form the government, the Conservative Party who are the Official Opposition, the New Democratic Party, the Bloc Québécois, and the Green Party of Canada.The bicameral Parliament of Canada consists of three parts: the monarch, the Senate, and the House of Commons.
Politics of Canada
Canada is described as a "full democracy", with a tradition of liberalism, and an egalitarian, moderate political ideology. Far-right and far-left politics have never been a prominent force in Canadian society. Peace, order, and good government are stated goals of the Canadian government. An emphasis on social justice has been a distinguishing element of Canada's political culture. Canada has placed emphasis on equality and inclusiveness for all its people.
Stand-your-ground law
In Canada, as in England, there is no duty to retreat under the law. Canada's laws regarding self defense are similar in nature to that of England, as they center around the acts committed, and whether or not those acts are considered reasonable in the circumstances. The sections of the Canadian criminal code that deal with self defense or defense of property are sections 34 and 35, respectively. These sections were updated in 2012 to clarify the code, and to help legal professionals to apply the law in accordance with the values Canadians hold to be acceptable.
Military Aid to the Civil Community
Canadian legislation and practice is very similar to that of the UK, adjusted to reflect the constitutional authority and responsibility of provinces. Provinces are responsible for dealing with most situations requiring emergency military assistance. The military is frequently called out by provinces to deal with forest fires, floods, and ice storms and even lost children.
Canadian federalism
Canadian federalism () involves the current nature and historical development of federal systems in Canada. Canada is a federation with 11 jurisdictions of governmental authority: the country-wide federal Crown and 10 provincial Crowns. (Three territorial governments in the far north exercise powers delegated by the federal parliament, and municipal governments exercise powers delegated by the province or territory.) Each, generally independent from the others in its realm of legislative authority, derives its authority from the Canadian Crown and includes the Queen-in-Parliament, the Queen-in-Council, and the Queen's Bench. Most sectors are under federal jurisdiction (such as foreign affairs and telecommunications) or that of the provinces, such as education and healthcare. The division of powers is outlined in the Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly the British North America Act 1867), a key document in the Constitution of Canada.
History of Western civilization
Canada continued to evolve its own national identity in the post-war period. Although it was an independent nation, it remained part of the British Commonwealth and recognized the British monarch as the Canadian monarch as well. Following the war, French and English were recognized as co-equal official languages in Canada, and French became the only official language in the French-speaking province of Quebec. Referenda were held in both 1980 and 1995 in which Quebecers, however, voted not to secede from the union. Other cultural changes Canada faced were similar to those in the United States. Racism and discrimination largely disappeared in the post-war years, and dual-income families became the norm. Also, there was a rejection of traditional Western values by many in Canada. The government also established universal health care for its citizens following the war.
Executive Council of British Columbia
Almost always made up of members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia the Cabinet is similar in structure and role to the Cabinet of Canada while being smaller in size. As federal and provincial responsibilities differ there are a number of different portfolios between the federal and provincial governments.
Socialism in Canada
In 1961, the CCF joined with the Canadian Labour Congress to form the New Democratic Party (NDP). The NDP is more moderate and social-democratic than its predecessor, the CCF. The Regina Manifesto of the CCF called for abolishing capitalism, while the NDP merely wants to reform capitalism. They are generally perceived as being responsible for the creation of universal healthcare, pensions, a human rights code and for the development of Canada's social safety net in general. In the past the NDP has formed provincial governments in British Columbia, Yukon Territory, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Nova Scotia. At present only Alberta and British Columbia have a New Democratic government, while the NDP is the second largest party in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and the Yukon. At the federal level the NDP has held strong influence over various minority governments, in particular a Liberal minority led by Pierre Trudeau from 1972-1974 during the 29th Canadian Parliament. During this period the NDP was successful in forcing the government to create a state-owned oil company, called Petro Canada.
Canada–United Kingdom relations
British–Canadian relations are the relations between Canada and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, being bilateral relations between their governments and wider relations between the two societies. The two countries have intimate and frequently cooperative contact; they are related through mutual migration, through shared military history, through a shared system of government, through language, through the Commonwealth of Nations, and their sharing of the same Head of State and monarch. Despite this shared legacy, the two nations have grown apart economically and politically: Britain has not been Canada's largest trading partner since the nineteenth century. Currently Canada and Britain are in different trade blocs, such as NAFTA and the European Union respectively, as well as Britain's independent trade negotiations due to its process of leaving the EU after Brexit. Nonetheless, the two share a defence agreement, NATO and frequently perform military exercises together with Canada hosting the largest British Military Base outside the United Kingdom.
Canada
Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories. In turn, these may be grouped into four main regions: Western Canada, Central Canada, Atlantic Canada, and Northern Canada ("Eastern Canada" refers to Central Canada and Atlantic Canada together). Provinces have more autonomy than territories, having responsibility for social programs such as health care, education, and welfare. Together, the provinces collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. Using its spending powers, the federal government can initiate national policies in provincial areas, such as the Canada Health Act; the provinces can opt out of these, but rarely do so in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces. The major difference between a Canadian province and a territory is that provinces receive their power and authority from the "Constitution Act, 1867" (formerly called the "British North America Act, 1867"), whereas territorial governments have powers delegated to them by the Parliament of Canada. The powers flowing from the Constitution Act are divided between the Government of Canada (the federal government) and the provincial governments to exercise exclusively. A change to the division of powers between the federal government and the provinces requires a constitutional amendment, whereas a similar change affecting the territories can be performed unilaterally by the Parliament of Canada or government.
Canadians
Canadian government policies such as official bilingualism; publicly funded health care; higher and more progressive taxation; outlawing capital punishment; strong efforts to eliminate poverty; strict gun control; and, most recently, legalizing same-sex marriage and cannabis are social indicators of Canada's political and cultural values. American media and entertainment are popular, if not dominant, in English Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the United States and worldwide. The Government of Canada has also influenced culture with programs, laws, and institutions. It has created Crown corporations to promote Canadian culture through media and has also tried to protect Canadian culture by setting legal minimums on Canadian content.
Canadian culture has historically been influenced by European culture and traditions, especially British and French, and by its own indigenous cultures. Most of Canada's territory was inhabited and developed later than other European colonies in the Americas, with the result that themes and symbols of pioneers, trappers, and traders were important in the early development of the Canadian identity. First Nations played a critical part in the development of European colonies in Canada, particularly for their role in assisting exploration of the continent during the North American fur trade. The British conquest of New France in the mid-1700s brought a large Francophone population under British Imperial rule, creating a need for compromise and accommodation. The new British rulers left alone much of the religious, political, and social culture of the French-speaking "habitants", guaranteeing through the "Quebec Act" of 1774 the right of the "Canadiens" to practise the Catholic faith and to use French civil law (now Quebec law).
Women in Canadian politics
Canada is a constitutional monarchy whose head of state, currently Queen Elizabeth II, is represented in Canada by the Governor General and in the provinces by the Lieutenant Governors, who perform the ceremonial functions of the head of state in the Westminster system. The heads of state of the territories are Commissioners representing the federal government, not the Queen. All are ceremonial roles with negligible real political power. The Governor General and Lieutenant Governors are appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister.
Canada–United Kingdom relations
In recent years there has been growing support for the idea of freedom of movement between the UK, Canada and Australia, New Zealand with citizens able to live and work in any of the four countries - similar to the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement between Australia and New Zealand.The contemporary political relationship between London and Ottawa is underpinned by a robust bilateral dialogue at head-of-government, ministerial and senior officials level. As Commonwealth realms, the two countries share a monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, and are both active members within the Commonwealth of Nations. In 2011, British Prime Minister David Cameron gave a joint address to the Canadian Parliament and in 2013, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper addressed both Houses of the British Parliament.
Politics of Canada
The politics of Canada function within a framework of parliamentary democracy and a federal system of parliamentary government with strong democratic traditions. Canada is a constitutional monarchy, in which the monarch is head of state. In practice, the executive powers is directed by the Cabinet, a committee of ministers of the Crown responsible to the elected House of Commons of Canada and chosen and headed by the Prime Minister of Canada.
Monarchism in Canada
The system is generally viewed by supporters of the monarchy as well functioning, and, as such, adhere to the analogy of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Along those lines, at a 1968 constitutional conference in which Quebec delegates raised the proposal of a republic, the other provincial representatives agreed that the monarchy had worked well and was not a matter for discussion; two years later Pierre Trudeau, who was by then in the Cabinet of Lester Pearson, said: "I wouldn't lift a finger to get rid of the monarchy ... I think the monarchy, by and large, has done more good than harm to Canada." Later, Trudeau said: "Canadians should realise when they are well off under the monarchy. For the vast majority of Canadians, being a monarchy is probably the only form of government acceptable to them. I have always been for parliamentary democracy and I think the institution of monarchy with the Queen heading it all has served Canada well." Former Governor General Roland Michener said in a 1970 speech to the Empire Club of Canada: "Canadians refuse to consider the question at all on the simple ground that what we have works. Isn't this the acid test of any system?"; and one of his viceregal successors, Ed Schreyer, stated: "on a list of 100 things that need fixing, the monarchy ranks 101st."
Executive Council of Alberta
The Executive Council of Alberta, or more commonly the Cabinet of Alberta, is the Province of Alberta's equivalent to the Cabinet of Canada. The government of the province of Alberta is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy with a unicameral legislature—the Legislative Assembly, which consists of 87 members elected first past the post (FPTP) from single-member constituencies. The premier is normally a member of the Legislative Assembly, and usually draws the members of Cabinet from among the members of the Legislative Assembly. The legislative powers in the province however, lie with the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Its government resembles that of the other Canadian provinces. The capital of the province is Edmonton, where the Alberta Legislative Building is located. Government is conducted after the Westminster model.
Canada and weapons of mass destruction
The Government of Canada formally agreed to every major North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) strategic document, including those that implied a US strike-first policy. This may suggest that successive Canadian governments were willing to follow US and NATO doctrine even if said doctrine was counter to the publicly favoured (and politically supported) doctrine of Mutual Assured Destruction. Professors J.T. Jockel and J.J. Sokolsky explore this assertion in-depth in their article "Canada's Cold War Nuclear Experience". Furthermore, Canada allowed for forward deployment of US bombers and participated actively and extensively in the NORAD program; as well, Canada cooperated with the US when it came to research, early warning, surveillance and communications. Canada was second only to West Germany in hosting nuclear related facilities. In short, the Canadian Government was thoroughly committed to supporting US nuclear doctrine and deployments through the Cold War, in spite of any popular reservations concerning this dynamic.
Canadian federalism
Manitoba, Newfoundland and Quebec posed reference questions to their respective courts of appeal, in which five other provinces intervened in support. In his ruling, Justice Joseph O'Sullivan of the Manitoba Court of Appeal held that the federal government's position was incorrect; the constitutionally-entrenched principle of responsible government meant that "Canada had not one responsible government but eleven." Officials in the United Kingdom indicated that the British parliament was under no obligation to fulfill a request for legal changes desired by Trudeau, particularly if Canadian convention was not followed. All rulings were appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada. In a decision later known as the "Patriation Reference", the court ruled that such a convention existed but did not prevent the federal parliament from attempting to amend the constitution without provincial consent and it was not the role of the courts to enforce constitutional conventions.
Queen's Privy Council for Canada
The government of Canada, which is formally referred to as "Her Majesty's Government", is defined by the Canadian constitution as the sovereign acting on the advice of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada; what is technically known as the "Queen-in-Council", or sometimes the "Governor-in-Council", referring to the Governor General of Canada as the Queen's stand-in. The group of people is described as "a Council to aid and advise in the Government of Canada, to be styled the Queen's Privy Council for Canada," though, by convention, the task of giving the sovereign and governor general advice (in the construct of constitutional monarchy and responsible government, this is typically binding) on how to exercise the Royal Prerogative via Orders in Council rests with by the Cabinet—a committee of the Privy Council made up of other ministers of the Crown who are drawn from, and responsible to, the House of Commons in the parliament. This body is distinct but also entwined within the QPC, as the President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada customarily serves as one of its members and cabinet ministers receive assistance in the performance of their duties from the Privy Council Office, headed by the Clerk of the Privy Council.
Canadian federalism
Much distribution of power has been ambiguous, leading to disputes which have been decided by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council and (after 1949) the Supreme Court of Canada. The nature of the Canadian constitution was described by the Privy Council in 1913 as not truly federal (unlike the United States and Australia); although the British North America Act, 1867, states in its preamble that the colonies had expressed "their desire to be federally united into one Dominion", "the natural and literal interpretation of the word [federal] confines its application to cases in which these States, while agreeing on a measure of delegation, yet in the main continue to preserve their original Constitutions". The Privy Council determined that the Fathers of Confederation desired a "general Government charged with matters of common interest, and new and merely local Governments for the Provinces". Matters other than those listed in the British North America Act, 1867, as the responsibility of the federal or provincial parliaments fell to the federal legislature (the reverse of the arrangement between the federal and state congresses in the United States).
Canada–United Kingdom relations
Canada maintains a High Commission in London. The United Kingdom, in turn, maintains a High Commission in Ottawa, along with Consulates-General in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, and Vancouver. In recent years Canada has sought closer Commonwealth cooperation, with the announcement in 2012 of joint diplomatic missions with the UK and of the intention of extending the scheme to include Australia and New Zealand, both of whom already share a head of state with Canada. In September 2012, Canada and the United Kingdom signed a Memorandum of Understanding on diplomatic cooperation, which promotes the co-location of embassies, the joint provision of consular services, and common crisis response. The project has been criticised by some Canadian politicians as giving the appearance of a common foreign policy and is seen by many in the UK as an alternative and counterweight to EU integration.
Succession to the Throne Act, 2013
A Queen's University professor of law, Mark Walters, supported the government's position, agreeing that Canada has no laws of succession, since the preamble of the Constitution Act 1867 (which states: "Whereas the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick have expressed their Desire to be federally united into One Dominion under the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland [sic], with a Constitution similar in Principle to that of the United Kingdom") should be interpreted as meaning Canada must always have as its monarch the same person as is monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. He concluded that, though "it makes sense for the Canadian Parliament to comply with the convention that it recognizes [that its consent be granted to a change by Britain to its royal succession laws]", the Succession to the Throne Act 2013 is not necessary, since it "is not required by, and will have no effect upon, existing Canadian law".
Liberalism in Canada
Liberalism has been a major trend in Canadian politics since the late 18th century. Canada has the same features of other liberal democracies in the Western democratic political tradition. This article gives an overview of liberalism in Canada. It includes a brief history of liberal parties with substantial representation in parliament. Canadian liberalism is different from the American use of the term, as it contains ideas such as support for economic liberalism.
Outline of Canada
Canada is a federation that is governed as a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual and multicultural country, with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. Technologically advanced and industrialized, Canada maintains a diversified economy that is heavily reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon trade—particularly with the United States, with which Canada has a long and complex relationship.Geography of Canada
History of monarchy in Canada
While no indigenous North Americans in what is now Canada had what would be seen today as an official monarchy, some aboriginal peoples, before their first encounters with French and British colonisers, were governmentally organised in a fashion similar to the occidental idea of monarchy. Europeans often considered vast territories belonging to different aboriginal groups to be kingdoms, along the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River between the Trinity River and the Isle-aux-Coudres, and the neighbouring kingdom of Canada, which stretched west to the Island of Montreal—and the leaders of these communities were referred to as kings, particularly those chosen through heredity. Many had chieftains, whose powers varied from one nation to the next; in some examples, the chief would exercise considerable authority and influence on the decisions of the group, while in others he was more of a symbolic or ceremonial figure. In the latter cases, considering that many First Nations societies were governed by unwritten customs and codes of conduct, wherein the chieftain was bound to follow the advice of a council of elders, the form of government would have closely resembled a modern constitutional monarchy.
History of the Liberal Party of Canada
Under Laurier, and his successor William Lyon Mackenzie King, the Liberals promoted Canadian sovereignty and greater independence from the British Empire. In Imperial Conferences held throughout the 1920s, Canadian Liberal governments often took the lead in arguing that the United Kingdom and the dominions should have equal status, and against proposals for an "imperial parliament" that would have subsumed Canadian independence. After the King-Byng Affair of 1926, the Liberals argued that the Governor General of Canada should no longer be appointed on the recommendation of the British government. The decisions of the Imperial Conferences were formalized in the Statute of Westminster, which was actually passed in 1931, the year after the Liberals lost power.
Politics of Canada
The country has a multi-party system in which many of its legislative practices derive from the unwritten conventions of and precedents set by the Westminster parliament of the United Kingdom. The two dominant political parties in Canada have historically been the Liberal Party of Canada and the Conservative Party of Canada (or its predecessors) however, the social democratic New Democratic Party (NDP) has risen to prominence and even threatened to upset the two other established parties during the 2011 federal election. Smaller parties like the Quebec nationalist Bloc Québécois and the Green Party of Canada have also been able to exert their own influence over the political process.
Politics of Canada
The Canadian government operates the public service using departments, smaller agencies (for example, commissions, tribunals, and boards), and crown corporations. There are two types of departments: central agencies such as Finance, Privy Council Office, and Treasury Board Secretariat have an organizing and oversight role for the entire public service; line departments are departments which perform tasks in a specific area or field, such as the departments of Agriculture, Environment, or Defence.
Canada
Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. The country is a realm within the Commonwealth of Nations, a member of the Francophonie and officially bilingual at the federal level. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, and education. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Canada's long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture.
Canadian electoral system
The Canadian electoral system is based on a parliamentary system of government, modelled on that of the United Kingdom.
Pimicikamak government
The government of Canada has not acknowledged Pimicikamak's customary government in modern times. Its policy is that self-government is an inherent right of aboriginal peoples in Canada and that this right is recognized and affirmed by the Constitution of Canada. "The federal government supports the concept of self-government being exercised by Aboriginal nations or other larger groupings of Aboriginal people." but does not accept that an aboriginal people may exercise this right without first negotiating it. Negotiation and legislation of self-government can result in domestic, dependent status similar to that of Indian nations in the United States of America, whose governments are defined by Act of Congress. Canada has not generally accepted Pimicikamak's policy of exercising its inherent right.
The government of Canada prefers to deal with Cross Lake First Nation, a domestic, dependent, municipal form of government established by Act of Parliament. Under this federal legislation and the terms of various agreements, the Band Council acts as the agent of the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development in delivering programs to Indians on reserve.
Since 1999, several Band Councils have taken and held office pursuant to the "Pimicikamak Election Law, 1999" instead of the federal legislation.
Law of Canada
The Canadian legal system has its foundation in the English common law system, inherited from being a former colony of the United Kingdom and later a Commonwealth Realm member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The legal system is bi-jurisdictional, as the responsibilities of public (includes criminal) and private law are separated and exercised exclusively by Parliament and the provinces respectively. Quebec, however, still retains a civil system for issues of private law (as this domain falls within the exclusive jurisdiction of the provinces).
Government of Canada
The person who is monarch of Canada (currently Queen Elizabeth II) is also the monarch of 15 other countries in the Commonwealth of Nations, though, he or she reigns separately as King or 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". On the advice of the Canadian Prime Minister, the sovereign appoints a federal viceregal representative—the Governor General of Canada (currently Julie Payette)—who, since 1947, is permitted to exercise almost all of the monarch's Royal Prerogative, though there are some duties which must be specifically performed by, or bills that require assent by, the king or queen.
Economy of Canada
Canada has a private to public (Crown) property ratio of 60:40 and one of the highest levels of economic freedom in the world. Today Canada closely resembles the U.S. in its market-oriented economic system and pattern of production. As of 2017, Canada has 58 companies in the Forbes Global 2000 list, ranking seventh behind France and ahead of India.
Capital punishment in Canada
In November 2007, Canada's minority Conservative government reversed a longstanding policy of automatically requesting clemency for Canadian citizens sentenced to capital punishment. The ongoing case of Alberta-born Ronald Allen Smith, who has been on death row in the United States since 1982 after being convicted of murdering two people and who continues to seek calls for clemency from the Canadian government, prompted Canadian Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day to announce the change in policy. Day has stated that each situation should be handled on a case-by-case basis. Smith's case resulted in a sharp divide between the Liberals and the Conservatives, with the Liberals passing a motion declaring that the government "should stand consistently against the death penalty, as a matter of principle, both in Canada and around the world". However, an overwhelming majority of Conservatives supported the change in policy.
Cabinet collective responsibility
Parliamentary democracies such as Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada practice and adhere to cabinet collective responsibility. Rhodes, Wanna and Weller offer this description of the principle of cabinet solidarity in Westminster systems of parliamentary democracy: "Cabinet solidarity and collective responsibility are twin dimensions of responsible party government that enjoy constitutionality, albeit informally. They lie at the core of ministerial governance. Cabinet solidarity is purely a political convention designed to maintain or protect the collective good as perceived by a partisan ministry. It rests on the notion that the executive ought to appear a collective entity, able to maintain cohesion and display political strength".
Targeting (politics)
In Canada, which has a Westminster system similar to that found in the UK, the spread and effects of targeting are similar to that found in the United Kingdom. Canada, which has seen regionalism play a role in its national politics, will see odd targeting patterns, where a province, Alberta for example, might be ignored by a party which usually does not do well there, the Liberals for example, while an Edmonton, a large city in Alberta, will see heavy targeting as the Liberals attempt to win at least some representation from that province. The biggest contrast with the US system is the idea of a “Full Slate”; That is running a candidate in every possible seat. US congressional elections can pass with some members being elected without opposition, whereas in Canada, parties will normally try to field a full slate of Candidates.
Orders, decorations, and medals of Canada
After the creation of British North America, Canadians were entitled to receive British imperial honours, though the awarding of these was not consistently allowed. From Confederation until the Nickle Resolution in 1919, the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George served as the equivalent of today's Order of Canada, being the highest non-peerage honour available to Canadian politicians, judges, and civil servants. Appointments into the Order of the British Empire, into grades below those that carried a title, were also commonly made. Besides knighthoods, peerage titles (both hereditary and life) were also bestowed on Canadians, sometimes with uniquely Canadian designations—such as Baroness Macdonald of Earnscliffe and Baron Beaverbrook of Beaverbrook in the Province of New Brunswick and of Cherkley in the County of Surrey—and permitted those so honoured to sit in the House of Lords at Westminster. Such acts of recognition were carried out by the reigning British monarch. Prior to Confederation, the sovereign did so on the advice of the British prime minister, the names of those to be honoured either selected by the colonial governor or governor general in British North America and passed on to the Secretary of State for the Colonies and then the prime minister, by the Secretary of State for the Colonies and passed on to the prime minister, or by the prime minister himself. The British government felt no obligation to consult any government in British North America before bestowing an honour upon any resident of the colonies. Following Confederation, the Prime Minister of Canada submitted a list of names to the monarch via the governor general, though the governor general also continued to recommend individuals for honours without the Canadian prime minister's knowledge.
Succession to the Throne Act, 2013
During the abdication crisis in 1936, the British government, wishing for speed so as to avoid embarrassing debate in Dominion parliaments, suggested that the governments of the Dominions of the British Commonwealth—then Australia, New Zealand, the Irish Free State, the Union of South Africa, and Canada—regard whoever was monarch of the UK to automatically be monarch of their respective Dominion. As with the other Dominion governments, the Canadian Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, refused to accept the idea and stressed that the laws of succession were part of Canadian law and thus altering them required Canada's request and consent to the British legislation (His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936) becoming part of Canadian law. Sir Maurice Gwyer, first parliamentary counsel in the UK, reflected this position, stating the Act of Settlement was a part of the law in each Dominion.
Canada
Canada is described as a "full democracy", with a tradition of liberalism, and an egalitarian, moderate political ideology. An emphasis on social justice has been a distinguishing element of Canada's political culture. Peace, order, and good government are founding principles of the Canadian government. Canada has been dominated by two relatively centrist political parties at the federal level, the centre-left Liberal Party of Canada and the centre-right Conservative Party of Canada (or its predecessors). The historically predominant Liberal Party position themselves at the centre of the Canadian political spectrum, with the Conservative Party positioned on the right and the New Democratic Party occupying the left. Far-right and far-left politics have never been a prominent force in Canadian society. Five parties had representatives elected to the federal parliament in the 2015 election: the Liberal Party who currently form the government, the Conservative Party who are the Official Opposition, the New Democratic Party, the Bloc Québécois, and the Green Party of Canada.
Monarchy of Canada
Canada's constitution is based on the Westminster parliamentary model, wherein the role of the Queen is both legal and practical, but not political. The sovereign is vested with all the powers of state, collectively known as the Royal Prerogative, leading the populace to be considered subjects of the Crown. However, as the sovereign's power stems from the people and the monarch is a constitutional one, he or she does not rule alone, as in an absolute monarchy. Instead, the Crown is regarded as a corporation sole, with the monarch being the centre of a construct in which the power of the whole is shared by multiple institutions of government—the executive, legislative, and judicial—acting under the sovereign's authority, which is entrusted for exercise by the politicians (the elected and appointed parliamentarians and the ministers of the Crown generally drawn from among them) and the judges and justices of the peace. The monarchy has thus been described as the underlying principle of Canada's institutional unity and the monarch as a "guardian of constitutional freedoms" whose "job is to ensure that the political process remains intact and is allowed to function."
Canada
Canada's federal structure divides government responsibilities between the federal government and the ten provinces. Provincial legislatures are unicameral and operate in parliamentary fashion similar to the House of Commons. Canada's three territories also have legislatures, but these are not sovereign and have fewer constitutional responsibilities than the provinces. The territorial legislatures also differ structurally from their provincial counterparts.
Monarchy in the Canadian provinces
The operation of the Crown in the Canadian provinces is very similar to its function in the federal jurisdiction, wherein the role of the Queen is both legal and practical, and the Crown is regarded as a corporation, with the sovereign, vested as she is with all powers of state, as the centre of a constitutional construct in which several parts—the institutions of government acting under the sovereign's authority—share the power of the whole. Unlike with the federal Crown, however, the monarch personally has little direct involvement with the provinces, the exercise of the Royal Prerogative delegated entirely to the lieutenant governors, who are appointed by the governor general on the advice of the Prime Minister of Canada, though usually in consultation with the relevant provincial premier, and the monarch is informed of the prime minister's decision before the governor general gives the viceroyal sign-manual and affixes the Great Seal of Canada to the commission. The sovereign may still hold audience with the provincial premiers, however.
Municipal government in Canada
By the early 20th century, Canada was deeply involved in a period of municipal reform. An attempt to distinguish municipal government from the provincial legislature occurred, and the municipal governments were compared with a board of directors – this form of government was not for advancing a certain political party's view, it was for sitting down and running it 'like a business'. As such, the idea that a larger municipality should have more councillors was the same as having a large board of directors for a larger company; i.e., not functionally possible.
Parliament of Canada
In practice, the House of Commons' scrutiny of the government is quite weak in comparison to the equivalent chamber in other countries using the Westminster system. With the plurality voting system used in parliamentary elections tending to provide the governing party with a large majority and a party system that gives leaders strict control over their caucus (to the point that MPs may be expelled from their parties for voting against the instructions of party leaders), there is often limited need to compromise with other parties. Additionally, Canada has fewer MPs, a higher turnover rate of MPs after each election, and an Americanised system for selecting political party leaders, leaving them accountable to the party membership rather than caucus, as is the case in the United Kingdom; John Robson of the National Post opined that Canada's parliament had become a body akin to the American Electoral College, "its sole and ceremonial role to confirm the executive in power." At the end of the 20th century and into the 21st, analysts—such as Jeffrey Simpson, Donald Savoie, and John Gomery—argued that both parliament and the Cabinet had become eclipsed by prime ministerial power. Thus, defeats of majority governments on issues of confidence are very rare. In contrast, a minority government is more volatile, and is more likely to fall due to loss of confidence. The last prime ministers to lose confidence votes were Stephen Harper in 2011, Paul Martin in 2005 and Joe Clark in 1979, all involving minority governments.
Canadian Confederation
The form of government chosen is regarded as having created a federation that is a kingdom in its own right. John A. Macdonald had spoken of "founding a great British monarchy" and wanted the newly created country to be called the "Kingdom of Canada". Although it had its monarch in London, the Colonial Office opposed as "premature" and "pretentious" the term "kingdom", as it was felt it might antagonize the United States. The term "dominion" was chosen to indicate Canada's status as a self-governing polity of the British Empire, the first time it was used in reference to a country.
Dominion
In connection with proposals for the future government of British North America, use of the term "Dominion" was suggested by Samuel Leonard Tilley at the London Conference of 1866 discussing the confederation of the Province of Canada (subsequently becoming the Province of Ontario and the Province of Quebec), Nova Scotia and New Brunswick into "One Dominion under the Name of Canada", the first federation internal to the British Empire. Tilley's suggestion was taken from the 72nd Psalm, verse eight, "He shall have "dominion" also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth", which is echoed in the national motto, "A Mari Usque Ad Mare". The new government of Canada under the British North America Act of 1867 began to use the phrase "Dominion of Canada" to designate the new, larger nation. However, neither the Confederation nor the adoption of the title of "Dominion" granted extra autonomy or new powers to this new federal level of government. Senator Eugene Forsey wrote that the powers acquired since the 1840s that established the system of responsible government in Canada would simply be transferred to the new Dominion government:
The constitutional scholar Andrew Heard has established that Confederation did not legally change Canada's colonial status to anything approaching its later status of a Dominion.
Heard went on to document the sizeable body of legislation passed by the British Parliament in the latter part of the 19th century that upheld and expanded its Imperial supremacy to constrain that of its colonies, including the new Dominion government in Canada.
For decades, none of the Dominions were allowed to have its own embassies or consulates in foreign countries. All matters concerning international travel, commerce, etc., had to be transacted through British embassies and consulates. For example, all transactions concerning visas and lost or stolen passports by citizens of the Dominions were carried out at British diplomatic offices. It was not until the late 1930s and early 1940s that the Dominion governments were allowed to establish their own embassies, and the first two of these that were established by the Dominion governments in Ottawa and in Canberra were both established in Washington, D.C., in the United States.
Canada and the Canadian Question
The Canadian system of government is considered to be fundamentally worse than the US model, with Canada being a far more elitist country. The Canadian nation is portrayed to be a geographic, ethnic, economic and political absurdity, with its ultimate destiny in political union with the United States.
John Farthing
That the unwritten British Constitution is capable of such change, reform, and at times retraction, seems to Farthing to make it the most sensible form of government. It highlights, in a very Burkean way, the fact that the British system of government is truly a "contract between the living, the dead and those who are yet to be born." To Farthing, that is its essential genius, and something that Canada should not pass up too lightly in trying to emulate the United States - and other such ideological and inorganic systems of government.
Canadian English
Canadian spelling of the English language combines British and American conventions.Canadian spelling conventions can be partly explained by Canada's trade history. For instance, the British spelling of the word "cheque" probably relates to Canada's once-important ties to British financial institutions. Canada's automobile industry, on the other hand, has been dominated by American firms from its inception, explaining why Canadians use the American spelling of "tire" (hence, "Canadian Tire") and American terminology for automobiles and their parts (for example, "truck" instead of "lorry", "gasoline" instead of "petrol", "trunk" instead of "boot").
French terms in Canadian politics
In Canada, the political system is based on Westminster parliamentarism and has evolved with local traditions. One of the particularities of the Canadian experience of the British constitutional monarchy is the presence of the French language in the terms.Terms coming from France, usually adopted in Quebec:Terms closer to the United States:
Government of Canada
Polls have suggested Canadians generally do not have a solid understanding of civics, which has been theorised to be a result of less attention being given to the subject in provincial education curricula, beginning in the 1960s. By 2008, a poll showed only 24% of respondents could name the Queen as head of state; Senator Lowell Murray wrote five years earlier: "The Crown has become irrelevant to most Canadian's understanding of our system of Government." John Robson opined in 2015: "intellectually, voters and commentators succumb to the mistaken notion that we elect 'governments' of prime ministers and cabinets with untrammelled authority, that indeed ideal 'democracy' consists precisely in this kind of plebiscitary autocracy."
Debate on the monarchy in Canada
Some Canadian polls have referred in their questions to "British monarchy" or called the British monarch Canada's head of state. This terminology is at odds with the contemporary situation in Canada, wherein the monarchy is a Canadian institution separate from that of the United Kingdom, being called the "Canadian Crown" and "Canadian monarchy" by the government and constitutional scholars, and the monarch is uniquely titled as "Queen of Canada". The government of Saskatchewan has stated it is incorrect to denote the Canadian Royal Family as the "British Royal Family". Additionally, the Queen of Canada is considered Canadian.
Cabinet of Canada
The Cabinet of Canada () is a body of ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the tenets of the Westminster system, forms the government of Canada. Chaired by the prime minister, the Cabinet is a committee of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and the senior echelon of the Ministry, the membership of the Cabinet and ministry often being co-terminal; there are no members of the latter who are not also members of the former.
Government of Canada
The monarch (currently Queen Elizabeth II) is personally represented by the Governor General of Canada (currently Julie Payette). The Queen's Privy Council for Canada is the body that advises the sovereign or viceroy on the exercise of executive power. However, in practice, that task is performed only by the Cabinet, a committee within the Privy Council composed of ministers of the Crown, who are drawn from and responsible to the elected House of Commons in parliament. The Cabinet is headed by the prime minister (currently Justin Trudeau), who is appointed by the governor general after securing the confidence of the House of Commons.
Foreign policy of the Stephen Harper government
In November 2007, Canada's minority Conservative government reversed a longstanding policy of automatically requesting clemency for Canadian citizens sentenced to capital punishment. The ongoing case of Alberta-born Ronald Allen Smith, who has been on death row in the United States since 1982 after being convicted of murdering two people and who continues to seek calls for clemency from the Canadian government, prompted Canadian Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day to announce the change in policy. Day has stated that each situation should be handled on a case-by-case basis. Smith's case resulted in a sharp divide between the Liberals and the Conservatives, with the Liberals passing a motion declaring that the government "should stand consistently against the death penalty, as a matter of principle, both in Canada and around the world". However, an overwhelming majority of Conservatives supported the change in policy.
Canadian cultural protectionism
The effectiveness of the cultural protectionism measures have been somewhat uneven. T. B. Symons, shortly after the Fowler report's installation in Canadian law, released a report entitled "To Know Ourselves". The report looked at Canadian high-school history books and found that while the Winnipeg General Strike went without mention, the books contained two chapters on Abraham Lincoln. The report also looked at Canadian children's general knowledge of their government and most could not identify the Canadian head of state (Queen Elizabeth II) and the basis for Canada's law and founding (the British North America Act 1867).
Social conservatism in Canada
Canada's political and social history stems from long established ties to conservative institutions and ideals. The major founding institutions of pre-Confederation Canada, both in English and French Canada, were religious organizations. Groups such as the Jesuits in Quebec and various Anglican missions in Ontario gave rise to the founding educational, political and social hierarchies of the ensuing centuries. The Catholic Church's control and influence in Quebec was insurmountable for nearly 3 centuries prior to the Quiet Revolution. Similarly, British Toryism and Protestant puritanical ideals in Ontario were so deeply entrenched after the migration of conservative United Empire Loyalists fleeing the American Revolution that laws regarding alcohol, tobacco sales and gambling are still strictly regulated in Ontario. At the turn of the 20th century, Toronto had strict moralistic by-laws (which included a ban on Sunday sports into the 1950s as well as Sunday shopping into the 1980s). To this day, Ontario has some of the strictest liquor laws outside the Near and Middle East.
Monarchy of Canada
John Pepall argued in 1990 that a "Liberal-inspired republican misconception of the role" of governor general had taken root, though the Conservative government headed by Brian Mulroney exacerbated the matter. The position of prime minister has simultaneously undergone, with encouragement from its occupants, what has been described as a "presidentialisation", to the point that its incumbents publicly outshine the actual head of state. Additionally, it has been theorised the monarchy is so prevalent in Canada—by way of all manner of symbols, place names, royal tours, etc.—that Canadians fail to take note of it; the monarchy "functions like a tasteful wallpaper pattern in Canada: enjoyable in an absent-minded way, but so ubiquitous as to be almost invisible". David S. Donovan felt that Canadians mostly considered the monarch and her representatives as purely ceremonial and symbolic figures. It was argued by Alfred Neitsch that this undermined the Crown's legitimacy as a check and balance in the governmental system, a situation Helen Forsey (daughter of Canadian constitutional expert Eugene Forsey) said prime ministers take advantage of, portraying themselves as the embodiment of popular democracy and the reserve powers of the Crown as illegitimate.
List of Canadian federal parliaments
Canada uses a Westminster-style parliamentary government, in which the leader of the party with the most seats in the House of Commons becomes Prime Minister, even if he or she is not an elected member of parliament. The leader of the party with the second-most seats in the House becomes the Leader of the Official Opposition, and debate (formally called Oral Questions) between the parties is presided over by the Speaker of the House. When the party with the most seats has less than half of the total number of seats, it forms a minority government, which can be voted out of power by the other parties. The Canadian Parliament is located at Parliament Hill in the capital city, Ottawa, Ontario. The current assembly is the first session of the 42nd Canadian Parliament, since the confederation of Canada in 1867.
Government of Canada
In Canadian English, the word "government" is used to refer both to the whole set of institutions that govern the country (as in American usage, but where Britons would use "state"), and to the current political leadership (as in British usage, but where Americans would use "administration").
Canada Act 1982
Canada's modern political history as a union of previously separate provinces began with the "British North America Act, 1867" (currently officially called in Canada the "Constitution Act, 1867"). This act combined the Province of Canada (now Ontario and Quebec) with Nova Scotia and New Brunswick into a Dominion within the British Empire. Canada adopted a Westminster style government with a Parliament of Canada. A Governor General fulfilled the constitutional duties of the British Sovereign on Canadian soil. Similar arrangements applied within each province.
Government of Canada
The Government of Canada (), officially Her Majesty's Government (), is the federal administration of Canada. In Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council. In both senses, the current 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, legislative, and judicial 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.
Succession to the Throne Act, 2013
University of Ottawa professor Philippe Lagassé expressed in the media his disagreement with the government's proposed method of changing the succession in Canada, noting that, in the patriation of the Canadian constitution, section 4 of the "Statute of Westminster" (which required Canada's request for and consent to a British law before any such law became part of the laws of Canada) was repealed and section 2 of the "Canada Act 1982", also part of the Canadian constitution, subsequently and absolutely disallowed the parliament of the United Kingdom from legislating for Canada. Furthermore, Lagassé argued first that, as the Canadian Crown is a corporation sole, in which the office and office holder are regarded by law as inseparable, changing how the office holder is selected is a change to the office itself and, secondly, that, by seeking Royal Consent to the bill from the Governor General (which is required for any proposed law that will affect the monarch's prerogatives and privileges), the Justice Minister indicated that the alteration to the succession does indeed touch on "the Sovereign's constitutional status, powers and rights". Patrick Taillon, a professor of constitutional rights at Laval University, wrote in "Le Devoir" that he also felt the alterations to the succession should trigger Section 41 of the Constitution Act, 1982, and argued that certain laws related to the structures of the state were "constitutionalised" by the patriation of the constitution, despite not being listed in section 52(2) of the "Constitution Act, 1982"; the "Supreme Court Act", for example.
English Canadians
There is an element of the heroic that attaches to Sir John A. Macdonald, the Scottish lawyer from Kingston, Ontario who became Canada's first Prime Minister. His weaknesses (such as an alleged fondness for alcohol, and the multifaceted corruption inherent in the Pacific Scandal) and the controversial events surrounding the rebellions in the west have not erased admiration for his accomplishments in nation building for English Canadians. Macdonald's pragmatism laid the foundation of the national myth of the 'two founding nations' (English and French), which was to endure well into the twentieth century among a strong minority of English Canadians and was eventually reflected in the official government policy that flowed from the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism in the 1960s.
Political culture of Canada
The political culture of Canada is in some ways part of a greater North American and European political culture, which emphasizes constitutional law, freedom of religion, personal liberty, and regional autonomy; these ideas stemming in various degrees from the British common law and French civil law traditions, North American aboriginal government, and English civic traditions, among others.
Term of office
As a former British territory following the Westminster System, there are many similarities with the United Kingdom, although with some variations based on local customs, the federal system of government and the absentee monarch.
Being a Commonwealth realm, Canada shares a monarch with the United Kingdom and 14 other countries, who serves as head of state of all 16 realms until their death or abdication.
CANZUK
Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom are also Commonwealth Realms which share Elizabeth II as constitutional monarch and head of state. The countries share a number of institutional, linguistic and religious similarities such as the use of the Westminster parliamentary system of government, Common Law, British English terminology and the adoption of secular Christian values. The CANZUK countries form part of the English-speaking world and share a number of Anglosphere military initiatives with each other including Five Eyes intelligence, ABCANZ Armies and AUSCANNZUKUS, which are concerned with increased military and naval co-operation. Canada and the United Kingdom are allied through the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation while Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom are allied through the Five Power Defence Arrangements.
Public relations are extremely warm between the four countries, with consistent evidence that people in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom regard each other's countries as their country's closest friends and allies in the world.
Law of Canada
A major difference between U.S. and Canadian common law is that Canada does not follow the doctrine of "Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins" (1938), and this is so taken for granted that the Supreme Court of Canada has never needed to actually rule upon the question. In other words, there is no distinction in Canada between federal and provincial common law, and the Supreme Court can and does dictate common law directly to the provinces on all matters traditionally encompassed by common law (to the extent not superseded by legislation). From the American perspective, Canadian federalism is thus relatively incomplete, since Canada continues to operate as a unitary state with respect to common law (and is truly federal only as to statutory law).
Canada–Europe relations
Economically, Canada still dealt much more with the United Kingdom than the rest of the continent at end of the war, but this began to change quickly because of the post-war economic booms in France and West Germany combined with British relative decline. At the same time Canada's relations with the United States loomed ever larger, so that relations with UK were no longer so important as to be thought of as separate from European relations, as they had been before. This was confirmed by Canadian refusal to back Britain's position in the Suez Crisis of 1957, and Britain's entry into the European Economic Community in 1973 over Canadian (and Australasian) objections. Canada and Britain still continue to have close ties, however, based on shared history and culture, and share the same head of state and are both members of the Commonwealth.
Third party (politics)
In Canada politics are similar to United Kingdom politics but it does instead have either one or occasionally two and three national and provincial third parties since last few decades in Canadian politics like the national New Democratic Party and most its provincial chapters, the national Green Party of Canada and some its provincial chapters, Quebec's the Parti Québécois since 2018, New Brunswick's the People's Alliance of New Brunswick since 2018, Ontario's the Ontario Liberal Party since 2018, Alberta's the Alberta Party since 2015 and Manitoba's the Manitoba Liberal Party since 2016.
Parliament of Canada
The Canadian government consists of the monarch, predominantly represented by his or her governor general, in council, which is a collection of ministers of the Crown appointed by the governor general to direct the use of executive powers. Per the tenets of responsible government, these individuals are almost always drawn from parliament, and are predominantly from the House of Commons, the only body to which ministers are held accountable, typically during Question Period, wherein ministers are obliged to answer questions posed by members of the opposition. Hence, the person who can command the confidence of the lower chamber—usually the leader of the party with the most seats therein—is typically appointed as prime minister. Should that person not hold a seat in the House of Commons, he or she will, by convention, seek election to one at the earliest possible opportunity; frequently, in such situations, a junior Member of Parliament who holds a safe seat will resign to allow the prime minister to run for that riding in a by-election. If no party holds a majority, it is customary for the governor general to summon a minority government or coalition government, depending on which the commons will support.
Canadian identity
In "Fire and Ice: The United States, Canada and the Myth of Converging Values", the author, Michael Adams, head of the Environics polling company seeks distinctions between Canadians and Americans using polling research performed by his company as evidence. Critics of the idea of a fundamentally "liberal Canada" such as David Frum argue that the Canadian drive towards a more noticeably leftist political stance is largely due to the increasing role that Quebec plays in the Canadian government (three of the last five elected Prime Ministers have been Quebecers, four if one includes Ontarian born Paul Martin). Quebec historically was the most conservative, religious and traditional part of Canada. Since the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s, however, it has become the most secular and social democratic region of Canada. However, it is noteworthy that many Western provinces (particularly Saskatchewan and British Columbia) also have reputations as supporting leftist and social democratic policies. For example, Saskatchewan is one of the few provinces (all in the West) to reelect social democratic governments and is the cradle of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and its successor the New Democratic Party. Much of the energy of the early Canadian feminist movement occurred in Manitoba.
Monarchy of Canada
Commentators have in the late 20th and early 21st centuries stated that contemporary Canadians had and have a poor understanding of the Canadian monarchy, Michael D. Jackson saying in his book "The Crown and Canadian Federalism" that this is part of a wider ignorance about Canadian civics. While David Smith researched for his 1995 book "The Invisible Crown", he found it difficult to "find anyone who could talk knowledgeably about the subject". Former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson said there is "an abysmal lack of knowledge about the system" and Senator Lowell Murray wrote in 2003: "The Crown has become irrelevant to most Canadians' understanding of our system of Government", which he attributed to the "fault of successive generations of politicians, of an educational system that has never given the institution due study, and of past viceregal incumbents themselves". These comments were echoed by teacher and author Nathan Tidridge, who asserted that, beginning in the 1960s, the role of the Crown disappeared from provincial education curricula, as the general subject of civics came to receive less attention. He said Canadians are being "educated to be illiterate, ambivalent, or even hostile toward our constitutional monarchy". Michael Valpy also pointed to the fact that "The crown's role in the machinery of Canada's constitutional monarchy rarely sees daylight. Only a handful of times in our history has it been subjected to glaring sunshine, unfortunately resulting in a black hole of public understanding as to how it works." He later iterated: "the public's attention span on the constitutional intricacies of the monarchy is clinically short".
Canada
Canada's approach to governance emphasizing multiculturalism, which is based on selective immigration, social integration, and suppression of far-right politics, has wide public support. Government policies such as publicly funded health care, higher taxation to redistribute wealth, the outlawing of capital punishment, strong efforts to eliminate poverty, strict gun control, the legalization of same-sex marriage and cannabis are further social indicators of Canada's political and cultural values. Canadians also identify with the country's foreign aid policies, peacekeeping roles, the National park system and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Military aid to the civil power
Canada has provisions, similar to the UK's Military Aid to the Civil Authorities, for military aid to the civil power inscribed in its National Defence Act, an historical inheritance from its days as a British dominion. However, the application is significantly different due to the federal nature of Canada, where the maintenance of "law and order" is the exclusive right and responsibility of the provinces.
Annexation movements of Canada
Between 1848 and 1854, a significant and articulate minority of conservatives in Upper Canada advocated constitutional changes modelled on the American federal-state system and the US Constitution. They critiqued Canada's imitation of British parliamentary government as both too democratic and too tyrannical. It destroyed the independence of the appointed governor and Legislative Council and further concentrated power in the Cabinet. This critique led many conservatives to argue that the American model of checks and balances offered Canada a more balanced and conservative form of democracy than did British parliamentary government. These "republican conservatives" debated a series of constitutional changes, including annexation to the United States, an elected governor, an elected Legislative Council, a federal union of British North America, and imperial federation, within this framework. These conservatives had accepted "government by discussion" as the appropriate basis for political order.
Canada Health Act
Canada is a federal country in which power is distributed between the national government and the ten provinces. The division of power was spelled out in the "British North America Act 1867"  (renamed the "Constitution Act, 1867" in 1982). Section 92(7) lists as one of the "exclusive powers of provincial legislatures" "The Establishment, Maintenance, and Management of Hospitals, Asylums, Charities, and Eleemosynary Institutions in and for the Province, other than Marine Hospitals."
Balance of power (parliament)
Compared to other Westminster Systems, minority governments are far more common in Canada. Much of this is credited to the relatively uneven electoral demographics of the country, with most national parties relying on regional bases. Throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, minority Parliaments were quite common in Canada, and produced many subsequent political compromises through political cooperation, mostly between the Liberal Party of Canada and the New Democratic Party of Canada, which included the Canada Pension Plan and Universal Healthcare during the tenure of Lester B. Pearson. After the 1980 election, minority governments became less common in Canada for the next several decades, but the 2004 general election returned Canada to minority government, and the subsequent general elections of 2005-06 and 2008 would also result in minority governments, but the 2011 general election gave Stephen Harper's Conservatives a clear majority in the House of Commons for the first time since the merging of the Progressive Conservative Party and the Canadian Alliance.
History of Canada
British Government then sent Lord Durham to examine the situation; he stayed in Canada only five months before returning to Britain and brought with him his Durham Report, which strongly recommended responsible government. A less well-received recommendation was the amalgamation of Upper and Lower Canada for the deliberate assimilation of the French-speaking population. The Canadas were merged into a single colony, the United Province of Canada, by the 1840 Act of Union, and responsible government was achieved in 1848, a few months after it was accomplished in Nova Scotia. The parliament of United Canada in Montreal was set on fire by a mob of Tories in 1849 after the passing of an indemnity bill for the people who suffered losses during the rebellion in Lower Canada.
Local government in Canada
The most prominent form of local government in Canada is municipal government, which is a local council authority which provides local services, facilities, safety and infrastructure for communities. Municipal governments are local general-purpose authorities which provide services to all residents within a defined geographic area called a municipality.
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Some Canadian Members of Parliament saw the movement to entrench a charter as contrary to the British model of Parliamentary supremacy. Others would say that the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) has now limited British parliamentary power to a greater degree than the Canadian Charter limited the power of the Canadian Parliament and provincial legislatures. Hogg has speculated that the British adopted the "Human Rights Act 1998", which allows the ECHR to be enforced directly in domestic courts, partly because they were inspired by the similar Canadian Charter.
Monarchy in the Canadian provinces
The monarchy of Canada forms the core of each Canadian provincial jurisdiction's Westminster-style parliamentary democracy, being the foundation of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government in each province. The monarchy has been headed since February 6, 1952 by Queen Elizabeth II who as sovereign is shared equally with both the Commonwealth realms and the Canadian federal entity. She, her consort, and other members of the Canadian Royal Family undertake various public and private functions across the country. However, the Queen is the only member of the Royal Family with any constitutional role.
Province of Canada
Although Durham's report had called for the Union of the Canadas and for responsible government (a government accountable to an independent local legislature), only the first of the two recommendations was implemented in 1841. For the first seven years, the government was led by an appointed governor general accountable only to the British Crown and the Queen's Ministers. Responsible government was not to be achieved until the second LaFontaine–Baldwin ministry in 1849, when Governor General James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin agreed to request a cabinet be formed on the basis of party, effectively making the elected premier the head of the government and reducing the Governor General to a more symbolic role.
Monarchy in the Canadian provinces
The Canadian monarchy is a unitary institution over all eleven of Canada's governmental spheres (one federal and ten provincial); the monarch reigns impartially over the nation as a whole, with the headship of state neither federal nor provincial jurisdiction. At the same time, the one Crown operates separately within each area of governance; it is so central a part of the various governments that any constitutional amendment that affects the monarchy in any or all of them requires the unanimous consent of all the provincial legislatures, along with the federal parliament, rather than the two-thirds majority necessary for most other amendments. There is one monarch, "but she acts in different rights". Such is demonstrated when the sovereign takes on different legal personas in a case wherein a provincial government files a lawsuit against the federal and/or another provincial government. Also, as it was put in "Attorney-General of Canada v. Higbie": "When the Crown, in right of the Province, transfers land to the Crown, in right of the Dominion, it parts with no right. What takes place is merely a change of administrative control." The Canadian Crown thus both remains above and links together all of the jurisdictions in Confederation; it has been described as a "divided crown," or a "compound monarchy".
Conservatism in Canada
Many were Anglicans who supported keeping the Anglican Church of Canada as Canada's established church. In each colony, Tories contested elections as the personal party of the governor. Business elites who surrounded the governor also hoped to gain patronage. In Upper Canada this was the Family Compact, in Lower Canada the Chateau Clique. Opposition to the rule of these oligarchies resulted in the Rebellions of 1837. After the rebellions, Lord Durham (a Whig or liberal) issued his "Report on the Affairs of British North America", a report to the British government that recommended that most powers in colonial governments be given from the governor to the elected assemblies. This new arrangement, called responsible government, mirrored earlier changes that had occurred in Britain.
Liberalism in Canada
Historically, Canada has had two liberal phases. Prior to the 1960s, Canadian politics were classically liberal, i.e., there was a focus on individual liberty, representative government, and free markets. This brand of liberalism can be traced to the arrival in Canada of the United Empire Loyalists and the enactment of the Constitutional Act of 1791. The Constitutional Act established representative government through the elected assemblies of Upper and Lower Canada. While the Loyalists were faithful to British institutions and opposed to American republicanism, they were committed to North American ideals of individual liberty and representative government. This brand of liberalism was prominent though the Liberal government of Wilfrid Laurier, which advocated such policies as free trade with the United States, and beyond.
Green economy policies in Canada
Most of the American policy is comparable to what is seen in Canada. The Canadian budget has been allocated to investing public money into green technology initiatives while focusing on creating a sustainable economy for jobs. This could potentially be related to the similar types of economies that Canada and the United States share, as Peter Hall and David Soskice see them as Liberal Market Economies. Meanwhile, Germany which has pursued different types of successful policies can be considered a Coordinated Market Economy.
Comparison of the healthcare systems in Canada and the United States
In Canada, the right-wing and now defunct Reform Party and its successor, the Conservative Party of Canada considered increasing the role of the private sector in the Canadian system. Public backlash caused these plans to be abandoned, and the Conservative government that followed re-affirmed its commitment to universal public medicine.
Parliament of Canada
The Parliament of Canada is composed of three parts: the monarch, the Senate, and the House of Commons. Each has a distinct role, but work in conjunction within the legislative process. This format was inherited from the United Kingdom and is a near-identical copy of the parliament at Westminster, the greatest differences stemming from situations unique to Canada, such as the impermanent nature of the monarch's residency in the country and the lack of a peerage to form the upper chamber.
Economy of Canada
With the exception of a few island nations in the Caribbean, Canada is the only major Parliamentary system in the Western Hemisphere. As a result, Canada has developed its own social and political institutions, distinct from most other countries in the world. Though the Canadian economy is closely integrated with the American economy, it has developed unique economic institutions.
Canadian identity
In keeping with this, it is often asserted that Canadian government policies such as publicly funded health care, higher taxation to distribute wealth, outlawing capital punishment, strong efforts to eliminate poverty in Canada, an emphasis on multiculturalism, imposing strict gun control, leniency in regard to drug use and most recently legalizing same-sex marriage make their country politically and culturally different from the United States.
Monarchy in British Columbia
The role of the Crown is both legal and practical; it functions in British Columbia in the same way it does in all of Canada's other provinces, being the centre of a constitutional construct in which the institutions of government acting under the sovereign's authority share the power of the whole. It is thus the foundation of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the province's government. The Canadian monarch—since 6 February 1952, Queen Elizabeth II—is represented and her duties carried out by the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, whose direct participation in governance is limited by the conventional stipulations of constitutional monarchy, with most related powers entrusted for exercise by the elected parliamentarians, the ministers of the Crown generally drawn from amongst them, and the judges and justices of the peace. The Crown today primarily functions as a guarantor of continuous and stable governance and a nonpartisan safeguard against the abuse of power. This arrangement began with an 1871 Order in Council by Queen Victoria and continued an unbroken line of monarchical government extending back to the late 18th century. However, though British Columbia has a separate government headed by the Queen, as a province, British Columbia is not itself a kingdom.
Left-wing nationalism
In English Canada, support for government intervention in the economy to defend the country from foreign (i.e. American) influences is one of Canada's oldest political traditions, going back at least to the National Policy (tariff protection) of Sir John A. Macdonald, historically be seen on both the left and the right. However, calls for more extreme forms of government involvement to forestall a putative American takeover have been a staple of the Canadian left since the 1920s and possibly earlier. Right-wing nationalism has never supported such measures, which is one of the major differences between the two. Leftist nationalism has also been more eager to dispense with historical Canadian symbols associated with Canada's British colonial heritage, such as the Canadian Red Ensign or even the monarchy (see republicanism in Canada). English Canadian leftist nationalism has historically been represented by most of , factions with the social-democratic New Democratic Party (such as the Movement for an Independent Socialist Canada in the 1960s and 1970s) and in a more diluted form in some elements of the Liberal Party of Canada (such as Trudeauism to a certain extent), manifesting itself in pressure groups such as the Council of Canadians. This type of nationalism is associated with the slogan "It's either the state or the States", coined by the Canadian Radio League in the 1930s during their campaign for a national public broadcaster to compete with the private American radio stations broadcasting into Canada, representing a fear of annexation by the United States. Right-wing nationalism continues to exist in Canada, but it tends to be much less concerned with integration into North America, especially since the Conservative Party embraced free trade after 1988. Many far-right movements in Canada are nationalist, but not Candian nationalist, instead advocating for Western separation or union with the United States.