- For the political ideology that favours Quebec remaining within the Canadian federation rather than pursuing independence, see Quebec federalist ideology. Quebec federalist ideology revolves around the concept of Quebec remaining within Canada, in opposition to the desires of Quebec sovereigntists and proponents
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Canadian federalism[1] is one of the three pillars of the constitutional order, along with responsible government and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page The politics of Canada function within a framework of Constitutional monarchy and a federal system of parliamentary government with strong democratic In Political science and Constitutional law, the executive is the branch of government responsible for the day-to-day management of the State. Throughout the Commonwealth realms The Crown is an abstract metonymic concept which represents the legal authority for the existence of any government TalkCommonewalth realm.-->The monarchy of For the ship see RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Context States headed by Elizabeth II The Governor General of Canada ( French: Gouverneure générale du Canada, or: Gouverneur général du Canada) is the vice-regal representative Michaëlle Jean, CC CMM COM CD ʒɑ̃ (born September 6, 1957, in Port-au-Prince, The Queen's Privy Council for Canada (QPC (Conseil privé de la Reine pour le Canada (CPR sometimes called Her Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or the Privy Council The Prime Minister of Canada ( French: Premier ministre du Canada) is the primary Minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus WikipediaManual of Style (biographies#Honorific prefixes --> Stephen Joseph Harper PC The Cabinet of Canada (Cabinet du Canada plays an important role in the Government of Canada, in accordance with the Westminster System. The Twenty-Eighth Canadian Ministry is the combined Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Secretaries of State that have governed The following list outlines the Structure of the Canadian federal government. In the Canadian cabinet the President of The Queen's Privy Council for Canada (President du Conseil privé de la Reine pour le Canada is nominally in charge of the Privy In Canada the Privy Council Office (Bureau du Conseil privé is the Secretariat of the federal cabinet and the department of the Prime Minister The Clerk of the Privy Council (Greffier du Conseil privé is the senior Civil servant in the government and the Secretary to the Canadian Cabinet. The Canadian Government, formally Her Majesty's Government in Canada, is the Federal government of Canada. A legislature is a type of representative Deliberative assembly with the power to create amend and change Laws The law created by a legislature is called Legislation The Parliament of Canada (Parlement du Canada is Canada 's legislative branch, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario. The 39th Canadian Parliament was in session from April 3 2006 until September 7 2008 The Senate of Canada (Le Sénat du Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the sovereign (represented by the governor general The Speaker of the Senate of Canada ( French: Président du Sénat du Canada) is the presiding officer of the Senate of Canada. The Leader of the Government in the Senate (Leader du gouvernement au Sénat is a Canadian cabinet minister who leads the government side in the Canadian Senate In Canada, the Leader of the Official Opposition in the Senate ( French: Leader de l'opposition au Sénat) is the leader of the largest party in the Representation in the Canadian Senate is divided into seats on a provincial basis The House of Commons (Chambre des communes is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign (represented by the Governor General) and In Canada the Speaker of the House of Commons ( French: Président de la Chambre des communes) is the presiding officer of the The Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (Leader du gouvernement à la Chambre des communes more commonly known as the Government House Leader, is the In Canada Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition ( French: L'Opposition Loyale de Sa Majesté) commonly known as the Official Opposition, is usually In Canada, each political party with representation in the House of Commons has a House Leader who is a Front bench Member of Parliament (MP and an expert The Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet of the 39th Canadian parliament is listed below See also Canadian electoral system, Timeline of Canadian elections The Parliament of Canada (Parlement du Canada has two chambers. The Canadian electoral system is based on a Parliamentary system of Government, modelled on that of the United Kingdom. The 2006 Canadian federal election (more formally the 39th General Election) was held on January 23 2006 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the In Law, the judiciary or judicial system is the system of Courts which administer Justice in the name of the sovereign or State The Supreme Court of Canada ( French: Cour suprême du Canada) is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeal in the Canadian The Supreme Court of Canada consists of the Chief Justice of Canada ( Juge en chef du Canada) and eight Puisne Justices all appointed by Beverley McLachlin PC (born September 7, 1943) is the Chief Justice of Canada, the first woman to hold that position List of final courts of appeal in Canada. For details on the court system see Canadian court system. The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law in Canada; the country's Constitution is an amalgamation of codified acts and uncodified traditions The British North America Acts 1867&ndash1975 are the original names of a series of Acts at the core of the Constitution of Canada. In many Commonwealth jurisdictions the phrase "peace order and good government" is an expression used in law to express the legitimate objects of Legislative The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (also known as The Charter of Rights and Freedoms or simply the Charter) is a Bill of rights entrenched in the The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second largest country in total area. Federal and provincial aspects Across the country the Canadian Crown is unitary the headship of state is not a part of either the federal or provincial jurisdictions In Canada, the Lieutenant-Governor (lɛfˈtɛnənt often without a Hyphen) ( French: lieutenant-gouverneur, or: lieutenant-gouverneure Executive Councils in the Provinces and territories of Canada are constitutional organs headed by the Lieutenant-Governor. National regions Provinces and territories are normally grouped into the following Regions (generally from west to east Northern Canada Canadian political culture is in some ways part of a greater North American and European political culture, which emphasizes Constitutional law The foreign relations of Canada are Canada 's relations with other governments and peoples This is a list of leaders and office-holders of Canada. See also Canadian incumbents by year. Information on politics by country is available for every Country, including both De jure and De facto independent Responsible government is a conception of a System of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability which is the foundation of the Westminster The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (also known as The Charter of Rights and Freedoms or simply the Charter) is a Bill of rights entrenched in the It means that Canada has two distinct jurisdictions of political authority: the central Canadian Parliament and ten provincial legislative assemblies. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page The Parliament of Canada (Parlement du Canada is Canada 's legislative branch, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario. The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second largest country in total area. Each level is sovereign with respect to certain areas of legislative authority, while a few subjects are shared (agriculture and immigration). The United Kingdom did not follow this model when Confederation was realized, making Canada different from its mother country in this respect. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Canadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed beginning 1 July 1867 from the
The federal nature of Canadian constitution was a reaction to the colonial diversities in the Maritimes and the Province of Canada, in particular the strong distinction between the French-speaking inhabitants of Lower Canada (Québec) and the English-speaking inhabitants of Upper Canada (Ontario). A federation ( Latin: foedus, covenant is a union comprising a number of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central ("federal" The Maritime provinces, called the Maritimes in local English (or the Canadian Maritimes by non-Canadians is a region of Eastern Canada The Province of Canada or the United Province of Canada was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867 French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people The Province of Lower Canada (French Province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The Province of Upper Canada (French Province du Haut-Canada) was a British colony located in what is now the southern portion of the Province of Ontario Federalism was considered essential to the co-existence of the French and English communities. John A. Macdonald, who became the first Prime Minister of Canada, had at first opposed a federalist system of government. Sir John Alexander Macdonald GCB, KCMG, PC ( January 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first Prime Minister The Prime Minister of Canada ( French: Premier ministre du Canada) is the primary Minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus Macdonald later supported the federalist system after seeing the carnage of the American Civil War. Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South He sought to avoid the same violent conflicts by maintaining a fusion of powers rather than a separation of powers south of the border.
The division of powers between the federal and provincial governments was initially outlined in the British North America Act, 1867 (now the Constitution Act, 1867), which, with amendments (in the British North America Acts and the Constitution Act, 1982), form the Constitution of Canada. The Constitution Act 1867 (formerly called the British North America Act 1867, and still known informally as the BNA Act) constitutes a major part of Amendments to the Constitution of Canada are changes to the Constitution of Canada initiated by the government The British North America Acts 1867&ndash1975 are the original names of a series of Acts at the core of the Constitution of Canada. The Constitution Act 1982 (Schedule B of the Canada Act 1982 (UK is a part of the Constitution of Canada. The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law in Canada; the country's Constitution is an amalgamation of codified acts and uncodified traditions
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Distribution of Legislative Powers in the Constitution Act, 1867
- Further information: Monarchy in the Canadian provinces
The federal-provincial distribution of legislative powers (also known as the division of powers) defines the scope of the power of the federal parliament of Canada and the powers of each individual provincial legislature or assembly. Federal and provincial aspects Across the country the Canadian Crown is unitary the headship of state is not a part of either the federal or provincial jurisdictions These are contained in sections 91, 92, 92A, 93, 94, 94A and 95 of the Constitution Act, 1867. Much of the distribution, however, has been ambiguous, leading to disputes that have been decided by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council and, after 1949, the Supreme Court of Canada. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is one of the highest courts in the United Kingdom, established by the Judicial Committee Act 1833 The Supreme Court of Canada ( French: Cour suprême du Canada) is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeal in the Canadian
Unlike the United States Constitution (which reserves unenumerated powers to the states), the Canadian constitution has created an overarching federal jurisdiction based upon the power known as peace, order and good government (in section 91). The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme Law of the United States. In many Commonwealth jurisdictions the phrase "peace order and good government" is an expression used in law to express the legitimate objects of Legislative On the other hand, the Canadian constitution also created a very broad provincial jurisdiction over property and civil rights. Many disputes between the two levels of government revolve around conflicting interpretations of the meaning of these two powers.
A quick perusal of these powers shows that while the federal government has exclusive jurisdiction over criminal law (defined in the Margarine Reference) and procedure (section 91(27)) the provinces have jurisdiction over the administration of justice, including criminal matters (section 92(14)) and penal matters (section 92(15)) regarding any laws made within provincial jurisdiction. The term criminal law, sometimes called penal law, refers to any of various bodies of rules in different Jurisdictions whose common characteristic is the potential Reference re Validity of Section 5(a of the Dairy Industry Act (1949 also known as the Margarine Reference or as Can Thus Canada has a single Criminal Code but many provincial laws that can result in incarceration or penalty. The courts have recognized that the provinces and the federal government have the right to create corporations; only the federal government has the right to incorporate banks, though provinces may incorporate credit unions which offer similar services as the federally chartered banks.
In relation to marriage and divorce, the federal government's exclusive authority over these subjects (section 91(26)) has given Canada uniform legislation on them, yet the provinces can pass laws regulating the solemnization of marriage (section 92(12)) and wide variety of subjects pertaining to civil and political rights (section 92(13)) and have created institutions such as common-law marriage and civil union. NOTICE TO WOULD-BE ROMEOS ************** Divorce or dissolution of marriage is the termination of a Marriage. Common-law marriage (or Common law marriage) sometimes called de facto marriage, informal marriage or marriage by habit and repute A civil union is a legally recognized union similar to Marriage.
Nowhere in the division of powers of the Constitution Act, 1867 is there a mention of a treaty power, reserved to the British Empire. The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power. Power for external relations was granted to Canada only after the passage of the Statute of Westminster in 1931. The Statute of Westminster 1931 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (22 & 23 Geo The domestic implementation of treaties, however, remains divided between the two levels of government.
Trade and commerce
Section 91(2) gives Parliament the power to make law related to the "regulation of trade and commerce. In Canadian constitutional law, section 91(2 of the Constitution Act 1867 provides the federal government with the authority to legislate on matters related to the " In comparison with the U.S. Constitution's approach to trade and commerce, the power given to Parliament is more broadly worded than that given to the U. The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme Law of the United States. Trade is the willing exchange of goods, services, or both Trade is also called Commerce. Commerce is a division of trade or production which deals with the exchange of goods and services from producer to final consumer S. government, but in Canada since Citizen's Insurance Co. v. Parsons in the 1880s it has nevertheless been typically read more narrowly, as some judges have felt that it overlaps with the provincial authority over property and civil rights. Citizen's Insurance Company of Canada v Parsons (1881 7 App Cas Parliament's authority over trade and commerce is said to include its "general" aspects, although this was an ambiguous definition until the 1980s when in General Motors of Canada Ltd. v. City National Leasing it was ruled Parliament could regulate trade and commerce if its object was to achieve something a provincial government alone could not achieve. General Motors of Canada Ltd v City National Leasing 1 SCR 641 is a leading Supreme Court of Canada decision on the scope of the Trade and Commerce powers
Property and civil rights
Section 92(13) gives the provinces the exclusive power to make law related to "property and civil rights in the province". In Canadian constitutional law, section 92(13 of the Constitution Act 1867 provides the provincial government with the exclusive authority to legislate on matters Property is any physical or virtual entity that is owned by an individual In practice, this power has been read broadly giving the provinces authority over numerous matters such as professional trades, labour relations, family law and consumer protection. The field of industrial relations (also called labor relations) looks at the relationship between Management and workers particularly groups of workers represented Property and civil rights is a term that predates the Constitution Act, 1867, and does not mean what it means today. It primarily refers to interactions between private persons. This would include the great majority of what any government would regulate, which means Parliament would be powerless if it were not for its enumerated powers in section 91 and for peace, order and good government.
Transportation and communication
Like many other powers, transportation and communication have overlapping powers between the two jurisdictions. In Canada, the Local Works and Undertakings clause under section 92(10 of the Constitution Act 1867 divides communication and transportation-related matters Transport or transportation is the movement of people and goods from one place to another Communication is the process of conveying information from a sender to a receiver with the use of a medium in which the communicated information is understood the same way Section 92(10) gives the provinces power over "local work and undertakings". However, the section also excludes the provinces from undertakings related to "ships, railways, canals, telegraphs, and other works and undertakings connecting the province with any other or others of the provinces", as well as ship lines, and such works "declared by the Parliament of Canada to be for the general advantage of Canada or for the advantage of two or more provinces. A ship /ʃɪp/ is a large vessel that floats on water Ships are generally distinguished from Boats based on size "Railroad" and "Railway" both redirect here For other uses see Railroad (disambiguation. Canals are artificial channels for water There are two types of canals water conveyance canals which are used for the conveyance and delivery of water and Waterways "
Federalism and the Charter
In 1982 the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was brought into effect. This was not meant to affect the workings of federalism, though some content was moved from section 91 to section 4 of the Charter. Section Four of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is one of three democratic rights sections in the Charter. Mainly, the Charter is meant to decrease powers of both levels of government by ensuring both federal and provincial laws respect Charter rights, under section 32. Section Thirty-two of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms concerns the application and scope of the Charter. The relationship between federalism and the Charter is directly dealt with in section 31, in which it is made clear neither the federal nor provincial governments gain powers under the Charter. Section Thirty-one of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a part of the Constitution of Canada, which clarifies that the Charter does not increase the powers
In R. v. Big M Drug Mart Ltd. (1985) it was found that if laws violate Charter rights, they cannot be justified under section 1 of the Charter if their purpose was inconsistent with the proper division of powers. R v Big M Drug Mart Ltd, 1 SCR 295 is a landmark decision by Supreme Court of Canada where the Court struck down the Lord's Day Act Section One of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is the section of the Charter that confirms that the rights listed in that document are
History
The relationship between Canada and the provinces has changed throughout time, with an increasing amount of decentralization taking place as years passed. Throughout the Macdonald era (1867-1873, 1878-1891), the Confederation was such that it has been described by political scientist K. C. Wheare as "Quasi-Federalism". This meant that the political and judicial elites of the 19th century read the Constitution of Canada in a way that gave the federal Parliament extensive powers that essentially made the provinces "subordinate to Ottawa. Ottawa (ˈɒtəwə or sometimes /ˈɒtəwɑː/ is the Capital of Canada and the country's fourth largest municipality. " The Macdonald government's use of disallowance and reservation also reinforced the supremacy of the federal government at that time. In Canadian constitutional law, disallowance and reservation are constitutional powers to reject any bill passed by Parliament or any legislature in Canada on the
With the election of Sir Wilfrid Laurier came a new phase of Confederation that Dyck refers to as "Classical Federalism". This was marked by a more equal relationship between the federal government and the provinces, as the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council settled several disputes in favour of the latter. The federal government also allowed its disallowance and reservation powers to fall into disuse. This style of governance continued throughout the early years of the leadership of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King (although legislation from Alberta was disallowed in the 1930s). William Lyon Mackenzie King PC OM CMG ( December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian Alberta (ælˈbɝtə is one of Canada's prairie provinces. It became a province on September 1 1905 The 1930s were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression.
During the two world wars, Ottawa expanded its powers greatly. A world war is a War affecting the majority of the world's most powerful and populous nations This was done through the War Measures Act and constitutionally justified by the peace, order and good government clause. The War Measures Act (enacted in August 1914 replaced by the Emergencies Act in 1988 was a Canadian Statute that allowed the government to assume sweeping During the First World War, Parliament increased its taxation powers by establishing income taxes. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Finally, during the Second World War, the federal government convinced the provinces to transfer jurisdiction over unemployment insurance to Ottawa.
Canada emerged from the Second World War with more association or cooperation between federal and provincial levels of government. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including This owed to the rise of the welfare state and the health care system (as the Canadian government acted to ensure that Canadians as a people had some common quality of service), to the fact that many of the jurisdictions of the two levels of government were closely related, and to the fact that this allowed the federal government to retain a great deal of control that they had enjoyed during World War II. This article refers specifically to the Welfare state of the United Kingdom. Health care is the prevention treatment and management of illness and the preservation of mental health through the services offered by the medical, Nursing Keynesian economics were also introduced by the federal government through this system. In Economics Keynesian economics (ˈkeɪnziən also Keynesianism and Keynesian Theory) is based on the ideas of twentieth-century British economist The period was also marked by a number of First Ministers meetings (ie. , meetings between the prime minister and the provincial premiers).
After 1960 and Québec's Quiet Revolution, Canada moved toward a greater degree of administrative decentralization, with Quebec often opting out of important federal initiatives, such as the Canada Pension Plan (Québec created its own pension plan). The Quiet Revolution ( Révolution tranquille) was the 1960s period of intense change in Quebec, Canada, characterized by the rapid and effective Secularization Quebec (kwɨˈbɛk As the federal government became more centralist in ideology (under the leadership of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Canada entered a stage of "conflictual federalism" that could be said to have lasted from 1970 to 1984. The National Energy Program sparked a great deal of bitterness against the federal government in Alberta; indeed, the federal government was also involved in disputes over oil with Newfoundland and Saskatchewan at this time. The National Energy Program ( NEP) was an energy policy of the Government of Canada. Petroleum ( L petroleum, from Greek πετρέλαιον, lit Newfoundland and Labrador (ˈnuːfɨn(dlənd ən(d ˈlæbrəˌdɔr (Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador is a province of Canada, the tenth and latest to join the Confederation Saskatchewan (səˈskætʃəwən) is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of 588276 (These culminated in the addition of section 92A to the Constitution Act, 1867, by the Constitution Act, 1982; the new section gave the provinces more power with regard to these resources). The Constitution Act 1982 (Schedule B of the Canada Act 1982 (UK is a part of the Constitution of Canada. [2]
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada under Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney favoured devolution of powers to the provinces, culminating in the failed Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords. The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada ( PC) ( Parti progressiste-conservateur du Canada) ( 1867 – 2003) was a Canadian Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark PC CC AOE (born June 5 1939 is a Canadian Journalist, Politician, Statesman Martin Brian Mulroney PC CC GOQ (predominantly known as Brian Mulroney) (born March 20, 1939) was the eighteenth The Meech Lake Accord was a set of failed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and the provincial The Charlottetown Accord was a package of constitutional amendments proposed by the Canadian federal and provincial governments in 1992. After a merger with the heavily devolutionist Canadian Alliance, the new Conservative Party of Canada under Stephen Harper has continued the same stance. The Canadian Alliance (in French Alliance Canadienne) formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (or in French Alliance réformiste-conservateur The Conservative Party of Canada ( Parti conservateur du Canada) colloquially known as the " Tories " is a conservative WikipediaManual of Style (biographies#Honorific prefixes --> Stephen Joseph Harper PC
After the 1995 Quebec referendum on sovereignty, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien became interested in repairing Canadian federalism by establishing a "social union. The 1995 Quebec referendum was the second Referendum to ask voters in the Canadian province of Quebec whether Quebec should Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien, (generally known as Jean Chrétien) (born January 11, 1934) is a Canadian politician who was the twentieth Prime " In 1999, the federal government and all provincial governments except Quebec's agreed to the Social Union Framework Agreement, which promoted common standards for social programs across Canada. The Social Union Framework Agreement, or SUFA, was an agreement made in Canada in 1999 between Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and the premiers [3] Former Prime Minister Paul Martin has used the term asymmetrical federalism to describe this arrangement. Paul Edgar Philippe Martin. PC, MP (also known as Paul Martin Jr
References
Notes
- ^ The term is used in book titles such as Canadian Federalism: Performance, Effectiveness, and Legitimacy, eds. Herman Bakvis and Grace Skogstad, Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press, 2002.
- ^ Dyck, pp. 416-420.
- ^ Alain Noel, "The Three Social Unions," tr. Geoffrey Hale, Policy Options 19:9, November 1998, pp. 26-29.
Books
- Rand Dyck, Canadian Politics: Critical Approaches. Third ed. Scarborough, Ontario: Nelson Thomson Learning, 2000
- P. W. Hogg, Constitutional Law of Canada (2001)
External links
- Federalism in Canada: Basic Framework and Operation | Mapleleafweb.com
- Interuniversity journal Federalism-e
- Canadian Federalism
- Studies on the Canadian Constitution and Canadian Federalism
- Maple Leaf Web: Atlantic Canada and Canadian Federalism
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