Politics of Canada

Government

Canada is a constitutional monarchy with a federal system, a parliamentary government, and strong democratic traditions. Many of the country's legal practices are based on unwritten custom, but the British parliamentary structure that concentrates power in the hands of the office of the Prime Minister of Canada is completely different from those of the United States or France, republican systems where a series of checks and balances limits power from being concentrated in the hands of the President.

The 1982 Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees basic rights in many areas.

Queen Elizabeth II, as Queen of Canada, has no power but serves as a symbol of traditon. She appoints a governor-general, but only one requested by the Prime Minister of Canada, usually for a 4-year term. The prime minister is the leader of the political party in power and is the head of the cabinet. Members of the cabinet remain in office solely at the will of the Prime Minister.

Canada's parliament consists of an elected House of Commons and a Senate whose members are appointed by the Prime Minister alone without review or concurrence of anyone. Legislative power rests with the party having won the majority of seats in the House of Commons which is elected from 301 constituencies for a period not to exceed 5 years. The prime minister alone may ask the governor general to dissolve parliament and call new elections at any time during that period.

Federal elections were last held in November 2000. Recent constitutional initiatives have sought unsuccessfully to strengthen the Senate by making it elective and assigning it a greater regional representational role.

Criminal law, based largely on British law, is uniform throughout the nation and is under federal jurisdiction. Civil law is also based on the common law of England, except in Quebec, which was granted the right by Britain in 1774 to retain the French civil code. Justice is administered by federal, provincial, and municipal courts.

Each province is governed by a premier and a single, elected legislative chamber. A lieutenant-governor, appointed by the governor general but only the person requested by the province's Premier, represents the Crown in each province. A lieutenant-governor is too a symbol but in law carriers no real power.

Principal Government Officials
Head of State -- Queen Elizabeth II
Governor General -- Adrienne Clarkson
Prime Minister -- Jean Chretien
Minister of Foreign Affairs -- John Manley
Ambassador to the United States -- Michael Kergin
Ambassador to the United Nations -- Paul Heinbecker

Canada maintains an embassy in the United States at 501 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20001 (tel. 202-682-1740).

Political conditons

Prime Minister Jean Chretien's Liberal Party won a majority victory in the November 2000 general elections. Mr. Chretien, a member of parliament from his native Quebec, became the first Prime Minister to lead three consecutive majority governments since 1945, as the Liberals increased their majority in Parliament to 57% (172 of the 301 Parliamentary seats), with only 40.9% of the popular votes. The Canadian Alliance, which did well in western Canada but was unable to make significant inroads in the East, won the second-highest number of seats (66).

Federal-provincial relations is a regular issue in Canadian politics: Quebec wishes to preserve and strengthen its distinctive nature, western provinces desire more control over their abundant natural resources, especially energy reserves, industrialized central Canada is concerned with its manufacturing base, and the Atlantic provinces strive to escape from being less affluent than the rest of the country.

The government of Prime Minister Jean Chretien has responded to these different regional needs by seeking to rebalance the Canadian confederation, giving up its spending power in areas of provincial jurisdiction, while attempting to strengthen the federal role in other areas. The federal government has reached agreement with a number of provinces returning to them authority over job training programs and is embarked on similar initiatives in other fields. Meanwhile, it has attempted to strengthen the federal role on interprovincial trade, while also seeking central regulation of securities.

National Unity
Key to the national unity debate is the ongoing issue of Quebec separatism. Following the failure of two constitutional initiatives in the past 14 years, Canada is still seeking a constitutional settlement that will satisfy the aspirations of the French-speaking province of Quebec. The issue has been a fixture in Canadian history, dating back to the 18th century rivalry between France and Britain. For more than a century, Canada was a French colony. In 1763, in the treaty ending the Seven Years' War, France chose to hand over control of its colony in Canada to the British in order to keep its sugar-rich colony of Guadaloupe. This was a time when France, England, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, and other European colonial powers imposed their language, religion, and their laws on all colonies. Many of these colonial dictates were enforced until the middle of the 20th century. In 1774 the British Parliament's decision to allow the French population of Canada to retain all its religious rights, language and French legal system was unprecedented for its time.

The early 1960s brought the Quiet Revolution to Quebec, leading to a new assertiveness and sense of identity among the French-speaking Quebecois, who make up about one-quarter of Canada's population. This was very different from the earlier Catholic bvased nationalism of such as Father Lionel Groulx. In 1976, the separatist Parti Québécois, under the leadership of the charismatic Rene Levesque, won the provincial election, and began to explore ways for Quebec to break away from Canada and become an independent nation.

In a 1980 referendum, the Parti Québécois sought a mandate from the people of Quebec to support "sovereignty association". Any possible economic association with the rest of Canada would be negotiated after independence was achieved.

Sixty percent of Quebec voters rejected the proposal. Subsequently, an agreement between the federal government and all provincial governments except that of Quebec, led in 1982 to Canada assuming from the United Kingdom full responsibility for its own constitution. The patriation of the Constitution and the creation of a new Charter of Rights and Freedoms, came from an initiative by Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau to create a multicultural and bilingual society in all of Canada. This action was seen by some outside Québec as initiatives coming from a French-Canadian Prime Minister intent upon "shoving French down their throats", while his vision of creating a "unified" Canada was seen as a sell-out by many Québécois. Many in Canada recognize that the province of Quebec is distinct, unique, and an integral part of the Canadian mosaic, but they do not conclude from this that Quebec merits a position of autonomy with a grant of special powers that are unavailable to the others.

The metaphor of the mosaic is one of the key features that distinguishes Canada from the United States with its metaphor of the melting pot.

Among the powers that Quebec sought were greater control over policy matters such as culture, language, immigration, etc. The government of Quebec objected to certain aspects of the new constitutional arrangement of 1982, particularly a constitutional amending formula that failed to give Quebec the power of a veto over all constitutional changes. The adoption of the new Constitution without the Quebec government's concurrence is similar to that of all democracies like the United States where unanimous support for constitutional amendments is not required from all States, but is amended by a percentage of States or population, usually a two-thirds majority.

Some believe the elected leaders of the province of Quebec have used the Separatist government's refusal to sign the 1982 Constitution as a negotiating tool for power while others see it as an amendment to the constitution of Canada that was a betrayal, and has been dubbed by some "The Night of the Long Knives". Nonetheless, even though Quebec did not sign the new Canadian Constitution, all its benefits and rights apply equally to all Provinces, including Quebec.

Two later initiatives reflect the good will of Canadians to address the Quebec desire of securing greater autonomy for Quebec within the Canadian federation. In 1987, under the leadership of Quebec born Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, the Meech Lake Accord was a major attempt by the Federal government to address the concerns of the political leaders of Quebec and bring the Province into an amended constitution. Quebec's provincial government, then controlled by a party who advocated remaining in Canada on certain conditions, endorsed the accord when its Premier, Robert Bourassa, called it the first step towards gaining many more powers from the Federal government. However, lack of support in Newfoundland and Manitoba for what was seen as a constitutional change that would grant powers exclusively to the province of Quebec but to no other province, and would severely and permanently weaken the country, prevented it from taking effect. Intense negotiations among Quebec, the federal government, and other provinces led to a second proposed constitutional accord in 1992 -- the Charlottetown Accord. Despite near-unanimous support from the country's political leaders, this second effort at constitutional reform was rejected by Quebec and the rest of Canada in an October 1992 nationwide referendum.

Tired of the country's constitutional deadlock, many Canadians preferred to focus on economic issues. Nonetheless, Canadians accepted the election of the Bloc Quebecois as Canada's official opposition in 1993 even though the sole purpose of this sovereigntist party is to break up the country. The subsequent election of the separatist Parti Québécois as Quebec's provincial government in September 1994, kept national unity in the forefront of political debate and resulted in a second referendum on the issue.

This referendum, held in Quebec on October 30, 1995 resulted in a narrow 50.56% to 49.44% victory for federalists over sovereigntists. Quebec's status thus remains a serious political issue.

In December 1999 the administration of the French-Canadian Prime Minister of Canada Jean Chretien referred the matter of another sovereignty referendum in Quebec to the Supreme Court of Canada. The Court ruled that Quebec, with less than 23 percent of Canada's population, cannot alone vote to break up the entire country unless the referendum has a clear and absolute majority in favor of a clearly worded question. Following the Supreme Court's decision, the Federal Government introduced the so-called "Clarity Bill", setting out the fundamental principles under which any future referendum can be held by Quebec alone that is intended to determine Canada's status as a nation. With a Liberal Party majority, both houses of the Federal Parliament of Canada subsequently approved the legislation.

Bernard Landry, who succeeded Lucien Bouchard as Premier of Quebec in March 2001, pledged to promote independence for Quebec.

Currently, such issues as medicare, unemployment, housing, education, taxes, trade and the environment preoccupy many more people more urgently than the national unity question.

Country name:

conventional long form: Canada
conventional short form: Canada
formerly called: Dominion of Canada

Data code: CA

Government type: [Constitutional Monarchy] Capital: Ottawa, Ontario

Administrative divisions: 10 provinces and 3 territories*; Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Northwest Territories*, Nova Scotia, Nunavut*, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon Territory*

Independence: 1 July 1867 (from UK)

National holiday: Canada Day, 1 July (1867)

Constitution: 17 April 1982 (Constitution Act); originally, the machinery of the government was set up in the British North America Act of 1867; charter of rights and unwritten customs

Legal system: based on English common law, except in Quebec, where a civil law system based on early French civil law and the Napoleonic Code prevails; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations;

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson (since 7 October 1999)
head of government: Prime Minister Jean Chretien (since 4 November 1993)
cabinet: Federal Ministry chosen by the prime minister from among the members of his own party sitting in Parliament
elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister for a five-year term; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party in the House of Commons is automatically designated by the governor general to become prime minister

Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament or Parlement consists of the Senate or Senat (a body whose members are appointed to serve until reaching 75 years of age by the governor general and selected on the advice of the prime minister; its normal limit is 104 senators) and the House of Commons or Chambre des Communes (301 seats; members elected by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms)

elections: House of Commons - last held November 27 2000
election results: percent of vote by party - Liberal Party 40.9%, Canadian Alliance 25.2%, Progressive Conservative Party 12.3%, Bloc Quebecois 10.8%, New Democratic Party 8.5%, other 2.2%; seats by party - Liberal Party 173, Canadian Alliance Party 66, Bloc Quebecois 37, New Democratic Party 13, Progressive Conservative Party 12
note: seats by party as of January 2001 - Liberal Party 172, Canadian Alliance 66, Bloc Quebecois 38, New Democratic Party 13, Progressive Conservative Party 12

Judicial branch: Supreme Court, judges are appointed by the prime minister through the governor general

Political parties and leaders:by number of elected representatives

International organization participation: ABEDA, ACCT, AfDB, APEC, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, C, CCC, CDB (non-regional), CE (observer), The Commonwealth, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECLAC, ESA (cooperating state), FAO, La Francophonie, G-7, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURCA, MINURSO, MIPONUH, MONUC, NAM (guest), NAFTA, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS, OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNTAET, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO, Zangger Committee

Flag description: three vertical bands of red (hoist side), white (double width, square), and red with a red maple leaf centered in the white band File:Canada flag medium.png

See also : Canada