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Unlike the United States, Canada was not created by a unilateral declaration of independence from the colonial occupation of England. There was no "Canadian Revolution" or other similar act that dramatically gave birth to an autonomous Canada. Rather, Canada gained independence from England through a process of gradual evolution.
There is no singular document known as the Canadian Constitution. However, there are several statutes of both the United Kingdom and Canadian Parliaments that collectively form the Canadian Constitution.
Canada is a constitutional monarchy. The head of state is the Governor General, appointed by the Queen on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.
Two: federal and provincial/territorial. The federal government is based in the capital, Ottawa, Ontario, and the ten provincial governments and three territorial governments are based in the various provincial and territorial capitals.
The powers of both levels of government are outlined in the Constitution Act, 1867.
The federal government is empowered to deal with issues concerning the "peace, order and good government of Canada," which, for the most part, means issues of importance that transcend provincial borders. These matters include national defence, foreign affairs, criminal law, immigration, banking and the national currency, international trade, and intellectual property. Accordingly, the Criminal Code of Canada, the Bankruptcy & Insolvency Act, the Competition Act, the Bank Act, the Patent Act and the Trade Marks Act are federal statutes having force throughout the country.
The provinces are empowered to deal with issues that are more regionalized, such as direct taxation within the province, natural resources, education, social programs such as welfare and health care, and rights of private property and commerce. Many of the laws that affect Canadians on a day-to-day basis are within provincial and territorial jurisdiction. For instance, matters relating to personal property security are within provincial jurisdiction so each of the provinces has its own regime for personal property security. Interestingly, virtually all of the provinces (other than Québec) now have a personal property security regime which is similar, though not identical, to the corresponding provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code.
Further, in the area of securities regulation there are securities commissions in each of the provinces rather than a single national system as in the United States.
While the territorial governments are subject to the control and direction of federal jurisdiction, the territorial governments are granted authority to address a range of local government programs and initiatives.
As in almost all liberal democracies, government power is separated into three branches: legislative, executive and judicial.
At the federal level, the legislative branch is the Parliament of Canada. Parliament consists of two Houses: the House of Commons and the Senate. At the provincial or territorial level, each province and each territory also has a Legislature to which members are elected.
Senators are appointed rather than democratically elected.
Members of the House of Commons (known as Members of Parliament, or MPs) are elected for a maximum of five years.
No. Since Senators are appointed and the Members of Parliament are elected, the House of Commons is effectively the sole source of legislative authority in Canada.
The political party with a majority of seats in the House of Commons forms the Government of Canada, and the leader of this party is, in effect, automatically appointed Prime Minister of Canada.
Members of the Legislature are also elected. Again, the political party with a majority of seats in the Legislature forms the Government of the province or territory. The leader of a province is known as a provincial Premier. The heads of territorial legislatures are known as Leaders.
The Prime Minister (or the provincial Premier or the territorial Leader, as the case may be) appoints a Cabinet, which consists of selected members of the respective legislature. Each member of Cabinet is known as a Minister and is given a portfolio of governmental responsibility, which primarily involves directing the relevant bureaucracy. The Cabinet and associated bureaucracies form the Canadian executive branch of government.
The judicial power consists of the Canadian judiciary or, in other words, the Canadian court system.
The Canadian judiciary is headed by the Supreme Court of Canada. The Supreme Court is the final court of appeal for all lower courts in Canada. Appeal is available only by leave. There are two separate court systems that exist beneath the Supreme Court. There is the Federal Court system, which hears cases on issues that come solely under federal jurisdiction. There are also the significantly larger Provincial Court systems, which deal with civil and criminal matters within the Province. The Provincial Court systems usually include trial and appellate divisions.
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is the Canadian equivalent to the U.S. Bill of Rights.
The Charter was introduced into the Canadian Constitution in 1981.
The introduction of the Charter had a significant impact on the balance of power within Canada. Parliament was no longer the supreme power; its actions were now subject to judicial scrutiny. Any Act of Parliament could be reviewed by any court in Canada if there were grounds to believe the Act violated the Charter. If there is a violation, the court is empowered to declare the Act or any of its constituent parts beyond the power of the government and therefore, of no legal force.
The Québec Charter of Human Rights and Freedom is similar to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom, however it only applies in Québec. Furthermore, it not only applies to the Parliament but also to persons, corporations, partnerships and trusts. No provision of any Act, even subsequent to the Quebec Charter may derogate from the guarantees it affords.
The Canadian legal system is based on the common law tradition of the United Kingdom. In this respect, common law principles in Canada, such as those found in the law of tort, contract or property, are quite similar to those of the United States and the United Kingdom.
The Québec legal system is an evolution of the French civil law system. In Québec as a general rule, the civil law system applies to private law matters while the common law system applies to public law situations. Thus, to the extent Québec is empowered to make laws by the Constitution, Québec uses a civil code, which has recently been broadly revised.
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