The Role Of Parliamentary Federalism In Canada

Canada utilizes a unique method of governing that is a fusion between federalism and parliamentary government to create a phenomenon known as Parliamentary Federalism. Federalism in Canada (and in most federal states) is “the distribution of powers between national governments and several constituent governments” (Verney, 1995). Interestingly, the Canadian model of governance was not built with federalism in mind, rather, Canada adopted the British Westminster Model of governance – which is a parliamentary system (Verney, 1995). Despite the adoption of the Westminster Model which was designed for a unitary state (a state governed by a single entity) – Canada went on to merge the traditional parliamentary system of the British and the concept

In Canada, the Queen serves as the Head of State within the parameters of the constitution (Jones, 1993). In most constitutional monarchies a parliamentary governing system is employed and the duties of the monarch are strictly ceremonial or they may have reserve powers (Jones, 1993). In Canada specifically, the monarch has no direct effect on the governing of the country – but is represented by an appointed Governor General who has specific duties. In regards to Canada, the Queen reigns whereas the Prime Minister rules (Jones, 1993). For Canada, parliamentary federalism is a system that keeps the Canadian government accountable for its actions. As mentioned beforehand – the concept of responsible government is a notable feature of many parliamentary democracies around the world – including Canada (Aucoin, 2004)). The system of responsible government ensures that the government is responsible to the house of commons for any exercised power and in addition, the government can only continue governing if they maintain the confidence of members of parliament elected by Canadians [confidence convention] (Aucoin,

In a Canadian context, the system of government was not created with federalism in mind, instead, Canada used to be a unitary state (Anderson, 2008). The emergence of Ontario and Quebec and then the later addition of more provinces and territories naturally led to the creation of a federal state (Anderson, 2008). Canada is a highly diverse nation built on multiculturalism and the needs and expectations of each province vary based on their demographic, geographic and psychographic data. Federalism in the Canadian context allows for provinces to address the needs of the population within their provincial jurisdiction (Speer, 2016). For an example, the needs of people in Nunavut are completely different than the needs of those living in Ontario (for an example, needs regarding climate [ex. snow removal], public transportation etcetera). This allows for provinces to meet the specific needs of their populations and to serve them as effectively as