Difference between revisions 133009526 and 133009527 on dewiki

[[Image:Canada wordmark.svg|thumb|200px|The Canada [[Wordmark (graphic identity)|wordmark]], used by most agencies of the Canadian federal government.]]  

(contracted; show full)al]] to represent her and exercise most of her powers. The person who fills this role is selected on the advice of the prime minister. "Advice" in this sense is a choice generally without options since it would be highly unconventional for the prime minister's advice to be overlooked; a convention that protects the monarchy. As long as the monarch is following the advice of her ministers, she is not held personally responsible for the decisions of the government. The governor general has no 
[[term limit]] – said to serve "[[At Her Majesty's Pleasure|at Her Majesty's pleasure]]" – but the practice is for the governor general to be replaced after about five years in office.

===Head of Government===
The [[Prime Minister of Canada|prime minister]] is the [[head of government]]. The prime minister is appointed by the governor general, but to ensure the continuity of a stable government this person will always be the one who has the confidence of the [[Canadian House of Commons|House of Commons]] to lead the government. In practice, the position usually goes to the leader of the political party that has the most seats in the [[lower house]]. On several occasions in Canadian history no party has had a majority in the House of Commons and thus one party, usually the largest, forms a [[minority government]]. As of 2007, Canada's government is a minority government.

The prime minister holds office until he resigns or is removed by the governor general; therefore, the party that was in government before the election may attempt to continue to govern if they so desire, even if they hold fewer seats than another party. [[Coalition government]]s are rare at the federal level: since Sir [[John A. Macdonald]]'s [[Liberal-Conservative]] governments in the mid 1800s, Canada has had only one other coalition government, the [[Union Government]] of Sir [[Robert Borden]] during [[World War I]].

[[Political party|Political parties]] are private organizations that are not mentioned in the constitution. By the convention of [[responsible government]], the prime minister and most of his cabinet are [[Member of Parliament|members of Parliament]] so they can answer to Parliament for their actions. But, constitutionally, any Canadian adult is eligible for the jobs, and prime ministers have held office after being elected leader but before taking a seat in the Commons ([[John Turner]], for example), or after being defeated in their [[constituency|constituencies]]. The prime minister selects ministers to head the various government departments and form a cabinet. The [[Cabinet of Canada|members of the Cabinet]] remain in office at the pleasure of the prime minister. 

If the Commons passes a [[motion of no confidence]] in the government, the prime minister and his cabinet are expected either to resign their offices or to ask for [[Dissolution of parliament|Parliament to be dissolved]] so that a [[general election]] can be held. To avoid a non-confidence motion from passing, parties enforce strong [[party discipline]], in which members of a party - especially from the [[ruling party]] - are strongly urged to vote the "[[party line (politics)|party line]]" (see [[Chief Government Whip (Canada)]]) or face consequences. While a member of a governing party is free to vote their conscience, they are constrained by the fact that voting against the party line (especially in confidence votes) might lead to expulsion from their party. Such an expulsion would lead to loss of election funding and the former party backing an alternate candidate. While the government likes to keep control in these circumstances, in unwritten practice, the only time the government can fall is if a [[money bill]] (financial or budget) is defeated. However, if a government finds that it can not pass any legislation it is common (but not required) that a vote of confidence should be held. The exception is if the prime minister or the government declared that they consider a given bill to be a matter of confidence (hence how [[backbencher]]s are often held to strict party voting).

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The Senate is not without power. Its influence is usually the greatest after a party has been in power a long time (and hence nominated senators who would most likely support their policies), and a new party forms the government. [[Brian Mulroney]] used a special provision to recommend the appointment of an additional eight senators so that he could get bills he wanted passed through the Senate{{Fact|date=August 2007}}. Also, after the 
[[abortion law]] was found to be contrary to the [[Charter of Rights and Freedoms]] by the [[Supreme Court of Canada]]{{Fact|date=August 2007}}, a new bill was prepared by [[Kim Campbell]], who was then [[Minister of Justice (Canada)|Minister of Justice]]. While it passed in the House of Commons, there was a tied vote in the Senate. In the case of tied votes, a bill is not passed. For more on this particular example, see the page on [[abortion in Canada]].

{{canleg}}

==Judiciary==
[[Criminal law]], most of which is contained in the federal ''[[Criminal Code of Canada|Criminal Code]]'' (R.S.C. 1985, Chapter C-46), is uniform throughout the nation and is under [[federal jurisdiction. ]]. [[Civil law]] is based on the [[common law]] of [[England]], except in [[Quebec]], to which Britain granted the right in 1774 to retain the French [[civil code]].  While legislation regarding non-criminal matters is, generally speaking, different from province to province, there are some non-criminal legislation, such as the federal ''Divorce Act'' (R.S.C. 1985, Chapter 3 (2nd Supp.)), that is applicable throughout the nation. Justice is administered by federal, provincial, and municipal courts.

The [[Supreme Court of Canada]] is the [[court of last resort]]. The Supreme Court has nine justices, led by the [[Chief Justice of Canada]], and are appointed by the [[Governor General of Canada|governor general]].  This court hears appeals from decisions rendered by the various appellate courts from the provinces and territories.  A [[trial-level court]] from a common law province is required to follow previous decisions from both the Supreme Court of Canada and the appellate court of its respective province or territory.  In contrast, a Quebec trial-level court may treat judgements from higher courts to be persuasive but not binding.  See [[Courts of Canada]].

==Federalism==
{{see|Canadian federalism}}
Residual power — that is, all powers not specified in the Constitution — resides with the federal government; the [[original intent]] of this provision was to avoid the [[sectionalism]] which had resulted in the [[American Civil War]]. However, in 1895 the [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]] ruled that the federal government could exercise its residual power only in wartime. As a result, responsibilities for new functions of government such as labour law or social welfare had to be accommodated under powers specified in the [[British North America Act]]. Many ended up being assigned to [[provinces and territories of Canada|provincial]] areas of jurisdiction, so that Canada today is a highly [[decentralize]]d [[federation]]. Further decentralization of functions has been implemented to accommodate provincial aspirations, chiefly those of [[Quebec]].  However, all provinces have the right to assume the powers now exercised only by Quebec, and [[Alberta]] and [[Ontario]] have expressed interest in doing so.

Each province has a [[Lieutenant-Governor (Canada)|lieutenant-governor]], a [[Premier (Canada)|premier]], and a single ([[unicameral]]), elected legislative chamber. Provincial governments operate under a [[parliamentary system]] similar in nature to that of the federal government, with the premier chosen in the same manner as the Canadian prime minister. The lieutenant-governor, recommended by the prime minister and then appointed by the governor general, represents the Crown in each province. Lieutenant-governors, like the governor general, have broad powers that are only rarely used.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.canada.ca/ Official website of the Government of Canada] 
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* [http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/fip-pcim/index_e.asp  Federal Identity Program] from [[Treasury Board| Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat]] 
* [http://publiservice.gc.ca/directories/genenq/enquiries_e.html General Enquiries - Federal Government Organizations] 
* [http://publiservice.gc.ca/directories/pgtd/pgtd_e.html Provincial Government Telephone Directories]

[[Category:Government of Canada]]

[[pl:Rząd Federalny Kanady]]
[[zh:加拿大政府]]