Constitution of Canada

The Canadian Constitution encompasses a wide set of principles and

values that govern key political relations in the Canadian society.

Salient Features
Constitutional Monarchy
 It is the central component of Canada’s constitutional framework.
 The Constitution Act, 1867 states that executive government and
authority in Canada is vested in the Canadian Monarchy (which
Canada shares with Great Britain and some other former British
colonies).
 The British Queen is the formal head of the state.
 The Act further provides for the offices of the Governor
General of Canada (at the federal level) and Lieutenant
Governors (at the provincial level), recognized as the
Monarch’s representatives in Canada.
 It is important to note, however, that while the written constitution
explicitly places executive authority in the hands of the Monarch and
his/her representatives, the unwritten constitutional convention
holds that this authority is actually exercised by the Prime Minister
and his/her Cabinet.
Parliamentary Government
 The Canadian Constitution also provides for a Parliamentary
system of government.

Features of Parliamentary Government as given in Constitution Act,

1867:
 The Act established a federal Parliament, consisting of the
Monarchy and two legislative chambers, the House of Commons (or
Lower House) and the Senate (or Upper House).
 The Act further states that the powers and authority of these
legislative chambers are to be modeled upon those found in the
British Parliament.
 Further, the Act also established legislative chambers at the
provincial level.
 In addition to the written provisions of the Act, there also exist
several unwritten constitution conventions that are fundamental to
the operation of Canada’s parliamentary system.
 These include executive dominance by the Prime Minister and
the Cabinet (at the federal level) and by the Premier and the
Cabinet (at the provincial level), as well as the practice of
responsible government.

The House of Commons

• In the Canadian political system, the lower chamber is the House of

Commons, which takes its name from the lower house in the British
political system.
• The Commons consists of 308 members known as - like their
British counterparts - Members of Parliament (MPs).
Manner of Election
• Members are elected by the first-past-the-post system (as in
Britain) in each of the country's electoral districts, which are
colloquially known as ridings (known as ‘constituencies’ in Britain).
• Seats in the House of Commons are distributed roughly in
proportion to the population of each province and territory, but
some ridings are more populous than others

Term and Tenure

The maximum term of MPs is four years, but it is common for a
general election to be called earlier.
Powers
 As in the British political model, the House of Commons is much
the more powerful of the two chambers.
 Although all legislation has to be approved by both chambers, in
practice the will of the elected House usually prevails over that of
the appointed Senate.
 Non-financial bills may be introduced in the Senate as well as in the
House, but under the Constitution Act, both taxation bills and
appropriation bills must have passed the House before going to the
Senate.
 The processes and conventions of the Commons reflect very much
those of its British namesake.
 In recent years, the controversy over ministerial responsibility and
the growth of executive power (sometimes referred to as "Cabinet
dictatorship" or "concentration of power in the hands of the Prime
Minister's Office") has generated considerable debate over the role,
function and relevance of the House.
Speaker

 They are now selected by secret ballot. The speaker remains a

sitting MP, but only votes on matters in the case of a tie.
 All MPs except for Cabinet ministers and party leaders are eligible to
run for speaker.
 Any MP who does not wish to put their name forward must issue a
letter withdrawing from the ballot by the day before the vote.
 All MPs who do not remove their name from the ballot as of 6pm the
day before the election are listed as candidates on the ballot and are
allowed a five-minute speech to persuade their colleagues as to why
they should be elected.
  The election is presided over by the dean of the House,
currently Louis Plamondon, who is the longest continuously serving
MP who is not in Cabinet.
 All candidates who receive less than 5% of the vote are removed
from the ballot. If no candidate received less than 5% of the vote then
the MP with the fewest vote drops off.
 This continues, with a one-hour break between ballots, until one
candidate receives more than 50% of the vote. In the event of a tie
on the final ballot, the ballot is taken again.
 The winner is escorted to the speaker's chair by the prime minister
and leader of the Official Opposition. The newly elected speaker, by
tradition, feigns reluctance as they are "dragged" to the chair

The Senate
 In the Canadian political system, the upper chamber is the Senate,
which takes its name from the upper house in the American political
system.
 The Senate consists of 105 members, appointed by the Governor-
General on the advice of the Prime Minister.
 They serve until they reach age 75.
 Seats are assigned on a regional basis, with each of the four major
regions receiving 24 seats, and the remaining nine seats being
assigned to smaller regions.
 The Canadian Senate must approve all legislation before it becomes
law, though in practice it almost always just "rubber stamps"
decisions of the House of Commons.
 Senators can’t be fired by the PM, but the Senate can vote to
remove members from office if they are found guilty of committing
what the Constitution describes as an “infamous crime” (this has
never been done to date).
 It should go without saying that prime ministers always appoint
senators from their own political party.
 Most men and women who get appointed to the Senate tend to be
career politicians from the prime minister’s party who have
recently retired, such as cabinet ministers, mayors, premiers
and, in some cases, even fundraisers or staffers. By law, senators
are required to be property owners in the province they represent.
 As the Senate becomes more and more politically controversial, a
growing number of senators are now often appointed from outside
the world of politics, with an increased focus on
appointing “accomplished Canadians” who have achieved some
level of success in science, education, journalism, sports or art.
Federalism
 The Constitution also provides for a federal system in Canada,
meaning there are two key levels of government: the federal (or
national) government and the provincial (or regional)
governments.
 Canada is a federation with a strong Centre, wherein residuary
powers lie with the Centre.
 The Constitution Act, 1867 outlines specific powers and
jurisdictions for each of these levels of government, such as what
public policy fields each may legislate in, as well as how each level of
the government may raise revenue.
 Canada’s first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, was not keen on
federalism.
 He preferred a unitary state. In this model, provinces would get their
authority from — and would be subordinate to — the central
government.
 Another key factor was the American Civil War. It saw the Southern
States secede from the federal union.
 This led to the fear that giving the provinces too much power would
make the country unstable.
 For these reasons, the Canadian Constitution includes features that
do not fit with a strict approach to federalism.
 The lieutenant-governor of each province is appointed by the
federal government.
 The lieutenant-governor can stop provincial laws from taking effect
until the central government has approved it.
 The central government can also disallow any provincial law
within a year of its passage.
  Parliament can pass laws related to education within a province to
protect the rights of religious minorities.
 However, the quasi-federal powers are now rarely used.
 Over the years, these constitutional provisions have been further
clarified and evolved by judicial decisions (first by the British Judicial
Committee of the Privy Council, and later by the Supreme Court of
Canada).

Changes in the nature of Canadian Federalism

 There have also been several constitutional amendments that have
had significant consequences for Canada’s federal system. Over the
years there has been a shift towards giving greater powers to the
states.
 For example, the Constitution Act, 1930, transferred ownership of
natural resources in Western Canada from the federal government to
the Western provinces.
 Another significant amendment was the Constitution Act, 1982,
which committed the federal government and provinces to
ensuring some level of economic and social equality between
Canadian regions.
 This, in turn, has led to the development of the Equalization
Program and the sharing of public funds between governments.

Judiciary
 The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final
authority on civil, criminal and constitutional matters.
 The court's nine members are appointed by the Governor-General
on the advice of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice.
  They serve until the age of 75.
 Each province operates its own individual court system. The
country's legal system is based mainly on English common law, but
in the province of Québec, it is modeled on French civil law.

Judicial appointments in Canada

For appointments to the Supreme Court of Canada, the Executive identifies
a list of qualified candidates and this list is reviewed by a selection panel
comprised of five Members of Parliament.
 The panel provides an unranked list of six candidates to the
Executive for its consideration.
 A different process applies for appointments to other federal courts
and to provincial superior courts.
 The Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs administers part of
this process on behalf of the Minister, and a key feature of the
process is the role of Judicial Advisory Committees.
 These Committees are made up of eight representatives from the
judiciary, the profession, the public, the government and the law
enforcement community, and they provide the Minister with an
assessment of candidates

Rights
 The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a bill of rights
entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, which forms the first part
of the Constitution Act, 1982.
 The Charter guarantees certain political rights to Canadian citizens
and civil rights of everyone in Canada.
 The Charter applies to government laws and actions (including the
laws and actions of federal, provincial, and municipal governments
and public school boards), and sometimes to the common law, but
not to private activity.
 The courts, when confronted with violations of Charter rights, have
struck down as unconstitutional, federal and provincial statutes and
regulations in whole or in part.