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Governor General duties
The responsibility of being commander-in-chief
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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
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are working. For example, David Johnston our current Governor General has hosted an event for future development of the First Nation people such as in January 2012 at Ottawa he hosted a meeting with First Nation youth leaders. David is also involved in promoting education and charitable foundations such as in the year of 2012 he hosted the killam award, he also established the Rideau Hall Foundation, and he launched the “My Giving Moment campaign” to encourage Canadians to donate their time and money. The people who believe in our monarchy government are happy with the role of our Governor General. Canada’s Governor General is an speaker for the queen who is not essential to our country because we should be an independent country so why should the Queen of England have a say in our government.
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…
General. I think its time we separate from the queen.
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
Democracy. If I were to make this a bill I would have to go through a long process. First the House Of Commons would give my bill a first reading which is when my bill would be read in the starting form. Then I would get a second reading my bill would get the parliamentarians to debate the idea behind the bill. They ask themselves questions like, “is the idea of the bill good? or “Does it meet Canadian’s needs?”. After that stage the bill goes to something called an Committee Stage, at this stage the bill is looked at by the committee where they hold hearings and meetings in order for people in the government and outside the government to make their stand on my bill and they can make some changes and report my bill to the house. When that is finished, my bill goes to an reporting stage. This is when the committee reports my bill back to the house. This is when people can make changes and debate the bill. Now my bill gets its third reading, this is when the parliamentarians check my bill again. Then they can throw it away or keep it and advance it to the senate. If my bill advances to the senate and the senate approves, it will be given to the governor general for royal accent. However my bill involves taking out the governor general so I would think it requires referendum. Thank you Mr. Speaker for giving me the opportunity to be the prime minister for a day.
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.
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.
...n of their cabinet, while others may choose to create a new political path without consulting the views of their party. Mellon thinks that the Canadian government is under dictatorial scrutiny, whereas Barker contradicts this belief. The idea of a prime-ministerial government is certainly an over exaggeration of the current state of Canada. There are too many outside and inside forces that can control the powers the Prime Minister of Canada. Furthermore, there are several outside sources that indicate a good government in Canada. The United Nations annually places Canada at the top, or near the top of the list of the world’s best countries in which to live. These outcomes are not consistent with the idea of a one ruler power. Canada is not ruled by one person’s ideas, suggestions, and decisions, but by government approved and provincially manipulated decisions.
Canada is a society built on the promise of democracy; democracy being defined as “government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.” In order to operate at full potential, the people of Canada must voice their opinions and participate fully in the political system. This is why it’s shocking to see that people are becoming less engaged in politics and the voter turnout has steadily been declining over the last 20 years. This lack of participation by Canadians is creating a government that is influenced by fewer people, which is detrimental to the democratic system Canada is built on.
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,
...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 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 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.
There are Canadian citizens who thought that the Canadian government we have is perfect, citizens who believed that every aspect of the government was truly democratic, and citizens who believe that government could do no wrong. Truly this group of believers has been living a lie. In our Canadian system of government, large aspects within are far from democratic and need to be changed. Liberal-minded people will cry out for a change in order for government to serve the people better, and on the other hand the more conservative thinkers will argue that no change is needed because our government is efficient and considerate. However, our voting system, our Senate, and the power vested to the Prime Minister are far from democratic, do not meet the actual needs of the people and definitely need to be addressed.
This essay has argued that there are many limitations that the Prime Minister is subjected too. The three most important are federalism in Canadian society, the role of the Governor General, and the charter of rights and freedoms. I used two different views of federalism and illustrated how both of them put boundaries on the Prime Minister’s power. Next I explain the powers of the governor general, and explained the ability to dissolve parliament in greater detail. Last I analyzed how the charter of rights of freedoms has limited the Prime Minister’s power with respect to policy-making, interests groups and the courts. The Prime Minister does not have absolute power in Canadian society, there are many infringements on the power that they have to respect.
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...
In December of 2008, the Canadian government underwent what is now called the Prorogation Crisis. On the 27th of November, shortly after the election of the Harper government, the Minister of Finance released the Economic Statement. The statement was a controversial document that was not supported by many MPs. Faced with an imminent vote of no-confidence, the newly elected Harper government asked the Governor General to prorogue parliament. The Governor General acceded to Harper’s request and Parliament was prorogued until January 26th, 2009 (MacDonald & Bowden 10-11).
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