The Six Basic Principles Of The Canadian Constitution

This great country known as Canada, is governed smoothly because of the agreements and rules that have been in place since the beginning of confederation. The Canadian Constitution is one example of these rules. The Canadian Constitution is not just one single documentation, it is a collaboration of documents that make up one enormous document (Dyck 261). The six basic principles of the constitution are: responsible government, federalism, judicial review, the rule of law, constitutional monarchy and democracy; which all helped to shape the Constitution and therefore Canada (Dyck 266). Dyck defines responsible government as a “form of government in which the political executive must retain the confidence of the elected legislature and resign or call an election if and when it is defeated on a vote of non-confidence”(432). Essentially this means that the executive branch of government, which is the Prime Minister and his office/staff, along with the

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 next important principle of the Canadian Constitution is the judicial review. The judicial review is the power of the executive branch of government (Dyck 12). Essentially, the judicial review states that any law that the government makes, can be struck down by the Supreme Court if it violates the Canadian Constitution (Dyck 401). This is a prime example how the judicial review protects the rights of