Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Governor General duties
The responsibility of being commander-in-chief
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Governor General duties
In today’s Canada our most important political issue is do we really need the Governor General? The role of the Governor General was introduced in 1867 which was when the Governor General got mandated by The BNA act and then again 80 years later in the letters patent by King George VI. Some of the roles of the Governor General of Canada are to perform the monarch's federal constitutional duties on their behalf and another role of the Governor General is to be the last one to sign off the bills to make it into a law. Now in recent years many canadians are questioning the Canada’s Governor General’s role in our democratic Country.
Canada’s Governor General is currently “important”. With them right now our country has been “fine”, things
…show more content…
Also we pay $270,000 salary to our Governor General, for what? The only man that should be running Canada is the man we elected February 6, 2006, which is our Prime minister Stephen Harper. We elected this man to run our country, why shouldn't he be the last to sign the bills. Canada is wasting $270,000+ expenses on something that is useless. We don't even need the queen; we aren’t even in alliance with England why are we paying that much money to something that is not needed. The legislative branch can just have PM Stephen Harper to become our Executive Branch leader and Legislative branch leader the majority of us did elect him to run our country you know. Also David Johnston can release PM Stephen Harper with the queen’s approval, that is Ludacris. If that is possible why vote for a prime minister vote for a Governor …show more content…
If I were to become the Prime Minister of Canada for a day my first order of business would be to get rid of the Governor General. I would place an 2 month advance for his departure. I think this change is needed most because we are not even in alliance with England which means if Canada and England get into a little bit of an argument the Governor General can basically get rid of our prime minister. Another reason I believe that the Governor General should be removed from a job in Canadian democracy because we are not giving our prime minister enough power. For example, who is the last to sign the bills, not the prime minister and who is the one who gets to be the Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Armed Forces, not the prime minister. I think this change is necessary for the sake of our Canadian
Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson was a prominent figure in Canada in the 1960s. Pearson was Canada's most significant post WWII prime minister because of his government's many innovations that still benefit Canadians today. He fostered Canadian nationalism, which continues to the present day, promoted equality throughout Canada – equality that now thrives as part of Canada's identity – and he introduced many social services that are still implemented today.
The history of Canada was flooded with many influential and incredible events, particularly during World War 1 and World War 2. During the 20th century, Canada got more involved in worldwide events. It was a very important period for Canada; it was where they gained their independence and progressed as a country. After this century, Canada was considered an important and powerful country. The three main 20th century events in Canadian history are the battle of Vimy Ridge, the change of woman’s rights and the battle of Juno Beach.
John Diefenbaker was the last “old Tory” to be the Prime Minister of Canada. He was a member of the Conservative Party with deep values as well as being a British loyalist who supported the Queen. Diefenbaker was also a man that was well known for not supporting anything he thought was anti- British. This sentiment was most evident when Diefenbaker criticized the Liberal’s refusal to support Britain in the Suez Canal crisis and sided with the Americans. This loyalty the Diefenbaker had to the British Commonwealth would not serve him well as Prime Minister of Canada. In 1958, Diefenbaker would win the largest majority government in Canadian history upsetting the new leader of the Liberal Party, Lester B. Pearson, who had taken over for St. Laurent. In the election Diefenbaker would win 208 seats out of a possible 265 seats. The Liberal Party, led by Pearson would only be able to obtain 48 seats making them the Official Opposition. Five years after this historic win, John Diefenbaker would once again rewrite history by losing the largest number of seats in Canadian history. Historians who have written about Diefenbaker are confounded when they try to unravel the puzzling actions of Diefenbaker in his dealings with others concerning foreign and domestic policies. Many historians look at a few major mistakes that Diefenbaker committed during his term as Prime Minister from 1957 until 1963 which led to his collapse of power. The major events that led to the downfall of his government in 1963 included; the amount of spending and tax cut bills his government passed immediately after the election, the Avro Canada planes which Canada was building to become the leader in aeroplane technology, the Bomarc Missile Crisis in the 1960s in whi...
...t money and then taking your house if you don’t pay it back? Will there be two lines in the emergency room; One for the wealthy who can swipe their credit cards and one for the “others” who will use their health cards? Since these services have felt the pressure, you can be sure that it won’t be long before other important and crucial services in this province feel the pinch. In essence, if private corporations are going to be running all the services that the province of Ontario used to run, why bother having a provincial government? Maybe some day soon we’ll all be electing a CEO and not a premier.
The government has truly been molding Canada into the wonderful country that it is today. Whether the changes have been good or bad, the government has always been trying their best to solve problems such as takes high income, racism, and making sure that Canada is seen as the cleanest and economically friendly place that it is today. However, Pierre Elliot Trudeau was unique and impacted Canadians in a positive way. He was an intelligent, and strategic man, when dealing with many different types of crisis’s, such as the economic crisis. Always put his citizens before himself, and felt that everyone should be treated equally with their own individual rights. Obviously, without Pierre Trudeau,
The Senate is an unnecessary part of our government and should be abolished. A senator's job is to provide a final check on legislations passed in the House of Commons; they can also introduce bills, but is very uncommon. However, the Senate is corrupted and cost taxpayers money for work that they rarely do. Did you know that the average senator only went to work 72 times last year? Some people argue that we should reform the Senate instead of abolishing it, but it would increase taxes and why should we reform something that has little purpose in the first place? To add onto that, due to the fact that the Senate is appointed, there's little representation for the western provinces in Canada.
The Prime Minister of Canada is given much power and much responsibility. This could potentially create a dangerous situation if the government held a majority and was able to pass any legislation, luckily this is not the case. This paper will argue that there are many limitations, which the power of the prime minister is subject too. Three of the main limitations, which the Prime Minister is affected by, are; first, federalism, second the governor general and third, the charter of rights and freedoms. I will support this argument by analyzing two different types of federalism and how they impact the power of the Prime Minister. Next I will look at three of the Governor Generals Powers and further analyze one of them. Last I will look at the impact of the charter from the larger participation the public can have in government, and how it increased the power of the courts.
People outside of Canada are baffled at how Canada ended up in such a state of affairs. Canada as a country has a lot going for it. A high GNP, and high per capita income in international terms. It is ranked at the top of the...
Before arguing whether Canada should go back to the role of monarchy, we should understand what is monarchy. Monarchy is a form of government system that can occupied a country and count it as their property. There are only twenty-two countries that Britain did not invade, so if Canada is not
However, in the case of Harper’s government, the formal vote of non-confidence had not occurred and the government still maintained the House’s confidence when Harper asked the Governor General to prorogue Parliament. Thus if the Prime Minister has the confidence of the House, the Governor General, by convention, should accept and follow the advice of the Prime Minister. This maintains responsible government because the Prime Minister is an elected official whilst the Governor General is appointed and thus does not represent the people (Hogg
As a former British colony, Canada’s government is still impacted by Britain in the present day. Our head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, but since she has duties in the UK, she needs a representative, the Governor General. David Johnston is the current governor general of Canada and he was not elected, he was appointed by the Queen. (Give examples of their power/duties). As someone who has the power to make these important decisions in our government, the Governor General should be elected by the citizens that are impacted by their choices. In a well functioning democracy, all people in high levels of power in the government would be elected in order to represent the interests of the
The confederation of Canada, a process which took over a century long, with many notable events and people who were involved in forming what we know as Canada today. The confederation all started in 1763, with The Royal Proclamation. Britain decided that pacifying First nation was the best alternative to a costlier war. This proclamation created a boundary between the First Nations and the British Colonies. In the next 50 years or so, the Quebec Act, which revoked the Royal Proclamation, and Treaty of Paris, which recognized British North America to independently exist, and the Constitutional Act, happened. Although these were major events in Canada’s history, The War of 1812, was one of the most notable events that lead to Canada’s Confederation.
Throughout history, the actions of governments have always been debated; however, occasionally there are certain events which spark much controversy, both at the time of the event and by historians today. One of these controversial acts was the invocation of the War Measures Act in 1970, an act which suspended the civil liberties of Canadian citizens. In October 1970, in what became known as the October Crisis, the Front de libération du Québec, (commonly known as the FLQ) which was a French Canadian organization advocating independence from Canada, kidnapped two politicians. This initiated a series of events, one of which was the invocation of the War Measures Act by Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau. Many historians argue that Trudeau was justified in invoking the War Measures Act because the October Crisis ended shortly after the Act was invoked. However, this argument is invalid as justification; primarily because the War Measures Act was an extreme overreaction by Trudeau, as the threat of the FLQ was largely small-scale, and the demise of the FLQ was impending with the rise of the Bloc Quebecois. Furthermore, the Act may have inspired Quebecers who favoured separatism, as they saw the government desperately employ the most extreme measure to stop the FLQ. Finally, the War Measures Act suspended the civil rights of citizens within a democracy, violating the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
A century ago, Canada was under control by the British Empire. The battles we fought the treaties we signed and the disputes we solved all helped us gain independence from our mother country “Britain”. Canadians fought a long battle protecting others, and from these battles we gained our peaceful reputation and our independence from Britain. Canada became a nation on July, 1st 1867. Although we were an independent country, our affairs and treaties were all still signed by Britain. In the next years Canada would establish its own government, and lead its own affairs. Many important events led to Canada’s independence, one of the earliest signals that Canada wanted to establish autonomy was the Chanak affair of 1921. In addition the battle of Normandy, which occurred on June 6 1944, contributed to the autonomy of Canada. The Suez Canal Crisis, which took place in the year 1956, earned Canada a place in the media spotlight, displaying Canada as a peaceful country that deserves the right to be independent. One of the final steps that aided with Canada’s independence from Britain was the Canada Act of 1982. Independence from Britain steadily increased throughout the 20th century because of political decisions made in Canada.
Canada’s parliamentary system is designed to preclude the formation of absolute power. Critics and followers of Canadian politics argue that the Prime Minister of Canada stands alone from the rest of the government. The powers vested in the prime minister, along with the persistent media attention given to the position, reinforce the Prime Minister of Canada’s superior role both in the House of Commons and in the public. The result has led to concerns regarding the power of the prime minister. Hugh Mellon argues that the prime minister of Canada is indeed too powerful. Mellon refers to the prime minister’s control over Canada a prime-ministerial government, where the prime minister encounters few constraints on the usage of his powers. Contrary to Mellon’s view, Paul Barker disagrees with the idea of a prime-ministerial government in Canada. Both perspectives bring up solid points, but the idea of a prime-ministerial government leading to too much power in the hands of the prime minister is an exaggeration. Canada is a country that is too large and complex to be dominated by a single individual. The reality is, the Prime Minister of Canada has limitations from several venues. The Canadian Prime Minister is restricted internally by his other ministers, externally by the other levels of government, the media and globalization.