Government of Canada Final Preparation
Core Ideas of Canadian Politics:
- All human beings want liberty and equality (freedom) → make choices and have
preferences
Liberty: individuals should be as free as possible
- Minimum wage, abortion, 2nd Amendment, taxes
Equality: equal consideration of each citizens’ interests, rights, and privileges
- Legal equality, representative equality, social equality, economic equality
A state that has norms, rules, and institutions of:
- Democracy
- Minority Rights
- Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law
Democracy: form of government where people rule
- Representative, not direct → delegation of authority to make political decisions to
representatives chosen by the people
Minority Rights:
- Tyranny of the majority problem
- Federalism
- Entrenched protection of rights (minority and/or individual)
Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law:
- Constitutionalism: power of government defined and limited by supreme set of agreed
upon rules (vs. parliamentary supremacy)
- Rule of Law: all governments constrained by legal rules
Themes in Canadian Politics
Regionalism: a shared sense of purpose and identity within subnational groups
- Geography of Canada primary factor of regionalism
- Strengthen shared bonds from West to East → government goal
- Majority of Canada lives near US-Canada border
- Ontario still powerhouse province, Quebec declining, BC increasing
,The Canadian Constitution: set of supreme, fundamental, and agreed upon rules according to
which a state is governed
- Purposes: defining state and values, structuring authority, limiting power
- Structures political authority and who has political power
- Limits powers of each branch of government → Executive, Legislative, Judicial
- Written: enforceable by law and legal system
- Constitution (British North America Act) of 1867, Constitution Act of 1982
- Unwritten: enforceable only by public opinion and politics
- Constitutional Conventions (responsible government)
The Constitution Act of 1867:
- Original constitution/founding document of Canadian state
- Creation of “Dominion of Canada” → provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick
- Preamble similar in principle to that of UK → extension of UK
Part III: Executive Power
- King or Queen represented by a Governor General and advised by a Privy Council
- Prime Minister and Cabinet → hold power via unwritten rules → on behalf of Crown
Part IV: Legislative Power
- King/Queen
- Senate: appointed, equal regional representation
- House: elected representation by population
Part VI: Division of Powers
- Responsibilities of federal and provincial governments
The Incomplete Constitution:
- Does not include: executive process (how government is chosen), Supreme Court and
power of judicial review, specific limits of government power, amending power
1947 → Canadian citizenship created → before all Canadians were citizens of UK
1960s → maple leaf flag created → Union Jack variant before
Constitution Act of 1982:
- “Patriated” the Constitution → fully Canadian with no ties to British Parliament
- Completed the Constitution in terms of basic functions
- Enshrined and recognized “new” political values and aspirations
, The Charter: 1-34
- Specific limits on power of Canadian governments
- Fundamental freedoms, democratic/mobility/legal/equality/language &
educational rights
- First recognition of aboriginal rights
- Equality enshrined as constitutional principle
- Procedure for changing Constitution
- General procedure: “7/50 rule” → ⅔ (7) of provinces (50% of Canada’s
population) approval
- Unanimous consent → Crown offices, Senate abolition
- Constitution supreme law of Canada
Post 1982 Constitutional Politics:
- Bring Quebec into Canada
- Meech Lake Accord and Charlottetown Accord → tensions between Quebec and
rest of Canada
- Quebec Referendum, 1995
- End of Constitutional politics?
Responsible Government:
- Unwritten element of the Constitution resides in Constitutional Conventions
- Non-legal rules of conduct → wide and general agreement presumed
- Government must maintain confidence of House of Commons
- Loss of confidence = resign or call an election via the Crown (permission)
- Achieves meaningful democratic control of executive authority
Pre-1848 Separation of Powers:
- Governor appointed friends to powerful positions
- Assembly had little power, at odds with government
- No accountability
Lord Durham → recommended system of “responsible government” be installed to prevent
rebellions
Core Ideas of Canadian Politics:
- All human beings want liberty and equality (freedom) → make choices and have
preferences
Liberty: individuals should be as free as possible
- Minimum wage, abortion, 2nd Amendment, taxes
Equality: equal consideration of each citizens’ interests, rights, and privileges
- Legal equality, representative equality, social equality, economic equality
A state that has norms, rules, and institutions of:
- Democracy
- Minority Rights
- Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law
Democracy: form of government where people rule
- Representative, not direct → delegation of authority to make political decisions to
representatives chosen by the people
Minority Rights:
- Tyranny of the majority problem
- Federalism
- Entrenched protection of rights (minority and/or individual)
Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law:
- Constitutionalism: power of government defined and limited by supreme set of agreed
upon rules (vs. parliamentary supremacy)
- Rule of Law: all governments constrained by legal rules
Themes in Canadian Politics
Regionalism: a shared sense of purpose and identity within subnational groups
- Geography of Canada primary factor of regionalism
- Strengthen shared bonds from West to East → government goal
- Majority of Canada lives near US-Canada border
- Ontario still powerhouse province, Quebec declining, BC increasing
,The Canadian Constitution: set of supreme, fundamental, and agreed upon rules according to
which a state is governed
- Purposes: defining state and values, structuring authority, limiting power
- Structures political authority and who has political power
- Limits powers of each branch of government → Executive, Legislative, Judicial
- Written: enforceable by law and legal system
- Constitution (British North America Act) of 1867, Constitution Act of 1982
- Unwritten: enforceable only by public opinion and politics
- Constitutional Conventions (responsible government)
The Constitution Act of 1867:
- Original constitution/founding document of Canadian state
- Creation of “Dominion of Canada” → provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick
- Preamble similar in principle to that of UK → extension of UK
Part III: Executive Power
- King or Queen represented by a Governor General and advised by a Privy Council
- Prime Minister and Cabinet → hold power via unwritten rules → on behalf of Crown
Part IV: Legislative Power
- King/Queen
- Senate: appointed, equal regional representation
- House: elected representation by population
Part VI: Division of Powers
- Responsibilities of federal and provincial governments
The Incomplete Constitution:
- Does not include: executive process (how government is chosen), Supreme Court and
power of judicial review, specific limits of government power, amending power
1947 → Canadian citizenship created → before all Canadians were citizens of UK
1960s → maple leaf flag created → Union Jack variant before
Constitution Act of 1982:
- “Patriated” the Constitution → fully Canadian with no ties to British Parliament
- Completed the Constitution in terms of basic functions
- Enshrined and recognized “new” political values and aspirations
, The Charter: 1-34
- Specific limits on power of Canadian governments
- Fundamental freedoms, democratic/mobility/legal/equality/language &
educational rights
- First recognition of aboriginal rights
- Equality enshrined as constitutional principle
- Procedure for changing Constitution
- General procedure: “7/50 rule” → ⅔ (7) of provinces (50% of Canada’s
population) approval
- Unanimous consent → Crown offices, Senate abolition
- Constitution supreme law of Canada
Post 1982 Constitutional Politics:
- Bring Quebec into Canada
- Meech Lake Accord and Charlottetown Accord → tensions between Quebec and
rest of Canada
- Quebec Referendum, 1995
- End of Constitutional politics?
Responsible Government:
- Unwritten element of the Constitution resides in Constitutional Conventions
- Non-legal rules of conduct → wide and general agreement presumed
- Government must maintain confidence of House of Commons
- Loss of confidence = resign or call an election via the Crown (permission)
- Achieves meaningful democratic control of executive authority
Pre-1848 Separation of Powers:
- Governor appointed friends to powerful positions
- Assembly had little power, at odds with government
- No accountability
Lord Durham → recommended system of “responsible government” be installed to prevent
rebellions
