CANADA 1114 CANADA 



The Dominion Government 



Character of the Government. The British 

 North America Act of 1867, together with the 

 amendments of 1871 and 1886, constitutes the 

 supreme law of the Dominion. This Act was 

 passed by the British Parliament to establish 

 a union between the "Provinces of Canada, 

 Nova Scotia and New Brunswick," with a con- 

 stitution "similar in principle to that of the 

 United Kingdom." It specifies the organization 

 and method of government. It assigns to the 

 provinces and to the Federal government their 

 respective powers. It is noteworthy that any 

 powers not specifically granted to the provinces 

 are reserved to the Dominion. This is the 

 opposite plan from that adopted by the United 

 States, whose constitution specifies the powers 

 to be exercised by the national government and 

 leaves all others to the states. 



The constitution of Canada was the first 

 attempt to adapt British principles of govern- 

 ment to a Federal union. The government 

 bears striking resemblances both to that of 

 Great Britain and to that of the United States. 

 It furnishes perhaps the most remarkable ex- 

 ample in all history of various types of govern- 

 ment in combination. The Dominion of Can- 

 ada is a dependency, and has a monarchical 

 form of government, for the hereditary sover- 

 eign is the supreme head of the state. Yet it is 

 practically a self-governing democracy, for the 

 entire body of citizens has a voice in govern- 

 ment. The sovereign exercises his powers 

 through a Parliament elected by the people and 

 through a Ministry responsible to it. The coun- 

 try has both representative and responsible, or 

 Parliamentary, government. The United States 

 has representative, but not responsible, govern- 

 ment, for the elected representatives have no 

 direct control over the executive. The Do- 

 minion is a Federal government; that is, it 

 includes a number of provinces which possess 

 distinct powers for provincial purposes. Yet 

 each of. these provinces is a part of a greater 

 whole and its individual interests are subordi- 

 nated to the general good. To sum up, there- 

 fore, these paradoxical facts, the Dominion is 

 dependent, yet self-governing; monarchical yet 

 democratic; a group of states, yet a single 

 union. 



Division of Functions. The three functions 

 of government are to enforce law, to make law 

 and to interpret law. These functions are exer- 

 cised by the three branches of the Dominion 

 government, the executive, the legislative and 



the judicial. The Governor-General, as repre- 

 sentative of the Crown, is the chief executive 

 and his assent is necessary to every law. The 

 details of departmental affairs are supervised 

 by a Ministry, or Cabinet, whose members are 

 appointed by the Governor-General, but are 

 members of and responsible to Parliament. 

 Parliament is the law-making body, and by 

 the authority of the British North America Act 

 it has also established the courts which inter- 

 pret the law. 



The Governor-General. The king or queen 

 of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and 

 Ireland appoints the Governor-General as the 

 personal representative of the Crown. The 

 Governor-General, therefore, has a double re- 

 sponsibility, for he is not only the governor of 

 a great nation but the guardian of imperial 

 interests. As the Crown's representative he 

 reports to the Secretary of State for the Col- 

 onies in London on all matters of interest or 

 importance to the Empire, and official com- 

 munications between the Dominion and the 

 imperial government pass through him. He 

 opens and closes the sessions of Parliament 

 and assents to or reserves all bills passed by 

 Parliament. He reserves a bill by refusing hi* 

 assent to it and forwarding it to England for 

 the consideration of the Privy Council (which 

 see). All his official acts are in the name of 

 the "Governor-General in Council," with the 

 advice and consent of the Ministry. If he 

 should feel it impossible to agree with his 

 constitutional advisers, he has the right to 

 dismiss them and appoint others to their 

 places. This course has never been taken since 

 Confederation, for it is contrary to the spirit 

 of responsible government. The Governor- 

 General receives a salary of $50,000 a year, and 

 usually holds his office for five years. 



The Ministry. By the terms of the British 

 North America Act the executive council which 

 advises the Governor-General is called the 

 "King's Privy Council for Canada." Some of 

 the members of the council act as the heads of 

 executive departments; they comprise the 

 "Ministry," "Cabinet," or "Government." 

 When the Governor-General appoints a min- 

 ister he first designates him as a member of 

 the Privy Council and then as the head of a 

 department. Privy councillors retain their 

 rank after they resign from office, but this is 

 an honor which carries no responsibilities with 

 it. A minister who has been defeated for 





