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Powers and limitations of the canadian prime minister
Federalism in Canada
Federalism in Canada
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First, we must know some facts about Canada before talking about the nature of its political system. Canada is the second largest country in the world right after Russia, It has a total area of 9.9 million square kilometers (3.8 million square miles) .It is located in the northernmost part of North America. The U.S. / Canada Border is the longest international border in the world, which is 8,893 kilometers in length. Canada borders the United States along its southern border, as well as its western border, where it borders the US state of Alaska, and it lacks military defense. Canada also borders the Atlantic Ocean on the east, the Pacific Ocean on the west and the Arctic Ocean to the north.
Toronto is the largest city in Canada with a population
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These include defense, foreign policy, interprovincial trade and communications, currency, navigation, criminal law and citizenship. The provinces are responsible for municipal government, education, health, natural resources, property and civil rights, and highways. The federal government and the provinces share jurisdiction over agriculture and immigration. Federalism allows different provinces to adopt policies tailored to their own populations, and gives provinces the flexibility to experiment with new ideas and policies.
The head of state in Canada is Queen ELizabeth II (since 6 February 1952); as Canada is one of the British Commonwealth and its represented by Governor General David JOHNSTON (since 1 October 2010) .Elizabeth is supposed to consider her role as Canada’s queen distinct from her role as Britain’s queen, and so are the rest of us. She is like an actor playing two different roles.
Does she has any power on Canada? Actually she has only symbolic power on Canada she rarely visits Canada. The power is formally held by her but lent to other people mostly the prime minister of Canada (Justin Trudeau) who is called the head of government. (Liberal Party) (since 4 November 2015).
The nature of political system in Canada is a parliamentary. Canada’s parliament consists of three parts: The monarch, the senate and the House of
The governor general, who assigns judges of the federal courts and advises the prime minister as well as accomplishing those duties of the prime minister. The prime minister has power to assign and fire Cabinet ministers, and hundreds of other federal government office holders. The Crown Corporation that is established by the Government of Canada.
Canada runs on a democratic model of governing based on the British parliamentary system. Its parliament is thus divided into two chambers: the House of Commons and the Senate. Elected politicians are seated within The House of Commons while the Senate occupies qualified citizens which are appointed by the Prime Minister. Parliament’s purpose is to hold responsibility for passing legislations and the choosing of government, referring to the political party with the largest amount of seats. Depending on the results of the election, Canada has the potential of having either a majority, minority or in the rare case a coalition government. Customarily, an election in Canada usually ends up forming a majority government. The party with more than
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.
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.
The Prime Minister of Canada is the head of government and is appointed by the Governor General. Canada is the northern neighbor to the United States, and the Queen of England is its head of state. These powerful countries being so closely tied to Canada makes it a major player on the world stage, and gives considerable power to its Prime Ministers. There have been twenty-two Prime Ministers, with John Diefenbaker being the thirteenth, serving from 1957-1963, and Pierre Trudeau the fifteenth, who served 1968-1979 and again 1980-1984. Diefenbaker was a progressive conservative, a right-center group associated with British imperialism.
In Canada there are three branches of government: the executive branch which enforces Canadian laws and carries out government business; the legislative branch which debates and passes laws; and the judicial branch which interprets the laws and dictates how punishment should be carried out. In parliamentary government the executive branch is drawn from the legislative branch and is responsible to it. The responsibility lies in the fact that the government must have the confidence (or majority support) of the House of Commons in order to remain in power and this confidence is assured through party discipline; in other words, the party expects their Members of Parliament (MP’s) to vote the way the party votes.
Federalism is the principle that provincial and the federal government each have their own jurisdiction that they are responsible for (Dyck 289). Some examples would be, health care and education, which fall under the provincial government, whereas national defence and taxation, fall under the federal government (Dyck 291). Federalism ensures that all provinces and territories should be treated fairly and that the premiers of each province and territory work together with the federal government to communicate in all matters.
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.
Canada is a country with a rich history and a strong political system. Its history and systems mirror the United States’ in many ways, but Canada is most definitely a country of its own. It was influenced by many different European countries over the years, through colonization and immigration, and the people speaking out through their political parties have shaped the country to become the Canada we know today.
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.
Too most the British Monarchy in Canada’s government is merely regarded as ceremonial, symbolic and not something that actually holds power. Firstly, the British Monarchy’s power’s consists of just watching over traditions and seeing if there is an abuse in power. There powers do not affect the Canadian citizen’s life in any way. Secondly, in Canada the Monarchy’s biggest symbol is the royal family but most people consider more than 6 other Canadian symbols more important than the royal family. This sh...
North, South, East, West and Central- there are definite qualities that detach Prairie from Maritimes, Ontario from Quebec and the Territories from the British Columbia. Each of these regions are separated by how they live, and their different culture background. Which forms our own identites within the counrty. Canadian and American government also show difference in how they govern themselves. United States is a country of one basic language. It has one main language, for its federal government and for every state. Canada is a country of two basic languages, French and English. A second basic difference between our Constitution and the American is that we are a constitutional monarchy and they are republics. For we have a parliamentary-cabinet government, while the Americans have a presidential-congressional. This means that the president is the head of the state and head of the government. While in Canada the Governor General is head of the provinces and the Prime Minister is the head of the government. Parliamentary-cabinet government is based on a concentration of powers. The Prime Minister must by custom be a member of one House or the other, or get a seat in the House. In the United States, the President and every other member of both houses are e...
The Prime Minister of Canada has an integral role within the Canadian parliament. In the political Parliamentary system of Canada, the Prime Minister wields the executive responsibility. He is accountable for an assortment of administrative, managerial, and supervisory decisions in effect across the country. The executive role is the branch of government that is generally responsible for creating laws, and enforcing the regulations to ensure these laws are observed.
Canada has a central government designed to deal with the country as a whole. Things like national defense, banking, currency, and commerce are controlled by the central government. All other matters are left to the provinces to deal with. Such as education, hospitals, and civil rights are responsibilities of the states. The Canadian Parliament consists of two houses. Their Senate is made up of 104 members who serve until the age of seventy-five.
The Queen barely has any power, the Queen just chooses who the governor generals are and the lieutenant governor is for each province. This is useless as the Prime Minister can pick these people instead of having someone fly across the ocean to choose a couple political positions. Next the Queen gets to sign legal documents on decisions made by the Prime minister and other cabinet ministers, but the Queen really has no say as she has to sign. Lastly Canada is not a young country which doesn’t need foreign countries to support it. Canada is going to be 150 years old this year and is already a well developed country that has proven to be