| Government of Canada | |
|---|---|
| French:Gouvernement du Canada | |
 | |
| Overview | |
| Established | July 1, 1867 (1867-7-1) |
| Country |  Canada |
| Leader | Prime Minister (Mark Carney) |
| Appointed by | Governor General (Mary Simon), based on party standings in the House of Commons |
| Main organ | Privy Council (de jure) Cabinet (de facto) |
| Responsible to | House of Commons |
| Headquarters | Ottawa,Ontario |
| Website | www |
TheGovernment of Canada (French:gouvernement du Canada), formallyHis Majesty's Government (French:Gouvernement de Sa Majesté),[1] is the body responsible for thefederal administration ofCanada. The termGovernment of Canada refers specifically to the executive, which includesministers of the Crown (together inthe Cabinet) and thefederal civil service (whom the Cabinet direct); it iscorporately branded as theGovernment of Canada.[2] There are over 100 departments and agencies, as well as over 300,000 persons employed in the Government of Canada. These institutions carry out the programs and enforce the laws established by theParliament of Canada.
Thefederal government's organization and structure was established atConfederation, through theConstitution Act, 1867, wherein theCanadian Crown acts as the core, or "the most basic building block",[3] of itsWestminster-styleparliamentary democracy.[4] The monarch, King Charles III ishead of state and is personally represented by agovernor general (currentlyMary Simon). Theprime minister (currentlyMark Carney) is thehead of government, who is invited by the Crown to form a government after securing theconfidence of theHouse of Commons, which is typically determined through the election of enough members of a single political party in a federal election to provide a majority of seats in Parliament, forming agoverning party. Further elements of governance are outlined in the rest of theCanadian constitution, which includes written statutes in addition to court rulings and unwrittenconventions developed over centuries.[5]
Constitutionally, theKing's Privy Council for Canada is the body that advises the sovereign or their representative on the exercise of executive power. This task is carried out nearly exclusively by the Cabinet, which functions as the executive committee of the Privy Council that sets the government's policies and priorities for the country[6] and is chaired by the prime minister. The sovereign appoints the members of Cabinet on the advice of the prime minister who, by convention, are generally selected primarily from the House of Commons (although often include a limited number of members from theSenate). During its term, the government must retain the confidence of the House of Commons and certain importantmotions, such asmoney bills and thespeech from the throne, are considered asconfidence motions. Laws are formed by the passage of bills through Parliament, which are either sponsored by the government or individual members of Parliament. Once a bill has been approved by both the House of Commons and the Senate,royal assent is required to make the bill become law. The laws are then the responsibility of the government to oversee and enforce.
Under Canada'sWestminster-style parliamentary democracy, the termsgovernment andGovernment of Canada refer specifically to the prime minister, Cabinet, and other members of the governing party inside theHouse of Commons, but typically includes thefederal public service and federal departments and agencies when used elsewhere.[7] This differs from theUnited States, where theexecutive branch is referred to as anadministration and thefederal government encompasses executive, legislative, and judicial powers, similar to theCanadian Crown.
Inpress releases issued by federal departments, the government has sometimes been referred to as the current prime minister's government (e.g. theTrudeau Government). This terminology has been commonly employed in the media.[8] In late 2010, an informal instruction from theOffice of the Prime Minister urged government departments to consistently use, in all department communications, such phrasing (i.e.,Harper Government, at the time), in place ofGovernment of Canada.[9] The same Cabinet earlier directed its press department to use the phraseCanada's New Government.[8]
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Canada is a constitutional monarchy, wherein the role of the reigningsovereign is both legal and practical, but not political.[10] Themonarch is vested with all powers of state[11] and sits at the centre of a construct in which the power of the whole is shared by multiple institutions of government acting under the sovereign's authority.[12][13][14][15] The executive is thus formally referred to as theKing-in-Council.[16]
On the advice of the Canadian prime minister, the sovereign appoints a federalviceregal representative—thegovernor general (currentlyMary Simon)—who, since 1947, is permitted to exercise almost all of the monarch'sroyal prerogative; though, there are some duties which must be specifically performed by the monarch themselves (such as assent of certain bills). In case of the governor general's absence or incapacitation, theadministrator of Canada performs the Crown's most basic functions.
As part of the royal prerogative, theroyal sign-manual gives authority toletters patent andorders-in-Council. Much of the royal prerogative is only exercised in-council, meaning on the advice of theKing's Privy Council for Canada (ministers of the Crown formed inCabinet in conventional practice);[17][18] within the conventional stipulations of a constitutional monarchy, the sovereign's direct participation in any of these areas of governance is limited.[19][20]
The termGovernment of Canada, or more formally,His Majesty's Government, refers to the activities of theKing-in-Council. The day-to-day operation and activities of the Government of Canada are performed by thefederal departments and agencies, staffed by thePublic Service of Canada, and theCanadian Armed Forces.
One of the main duties of the Crown is to ensure that ademocratic government is always in place,[21] which includes the appointment of aprime minister, who heads the Cabinet and directs the activities of the government.[22] Not outlined in any constitutional document, the office exists in long-establishedconvention, which stipulates the Crown must select as prime minister the person most likely to command theconfidence of the electedHouse of Commons, who, in practice, is typically the leader of thepolitical party that holds more seats than any other party in that chamber (currently theLiberal Party, led byMark Carney). Should no particular party hold amajority in the House of Commons, the leader of one party—either the party with the most seats or one supported by other parties—will be called by the governor general to form aminority government. Once sworn in, the prime minister holds office until their resignation or removal by the governor general, after either amotion of no confidence or defeat in ageneral election.[23]
The executive is defined in theConstitution Act, 1867 as the Crown acting on theadvice of theKing's Privy Council for Canada, referred to as theKing-in-Council.[1][24][25][26] However, the Privy Council—consisting mostly of former ministers,chief justices, and other elder statesmen—rarely meets in full. In the construct of constitutional monarchy andresponsible government, the advice tendered is typically binding,[27] meaning the monarchreigns but does notrule, with the Cabinet ruling "in trust" for the monarch.[28] However, the royal prerogative belongs to the Crown and not to any of the ministers,[29][30][31] and there are rare exceptions where the monarch may be obliged to act unilaterally to prevent manifestly unconstitutional acts.[32][33]
The stipulations ofresponsible government require that those who directly advise the Crown on the exercise theroyal prerogative be accountable to the electedHouse of Commons and the day-to-day operation of government is guided only by a sub-group of the Privy Council made up of individuals who hold seats in Parliament, known as theCabinet.[26]
The monarch and governor general typically follow the near-bindingadvice of their ministers. The royal prerogative, however, belongs to the Crown and not to any of the ministers,[15][31] who only rule "in trust" for the monarch and who must relinquish the Crown's power back to it upon losing the confidence of the commons,[28][34] whereupon a new government, whichcan hold thelower chamber's confidence, is installed by the governor general. The royal and vice-royal figures may unilaterally use these powers in exceptionalconstitutional crisis situations (an exercise of thereserve powers),[n 1] thereby allowing the monarch to make sure "that the government conducts itself in compliance with the constitution."[35] Politicians can sometimes try to use to their favour to obscure the complexity of the relationship between the monarch, viceroy, ministers, and Parliament, as well as the public's general unfamiliarity with such.[n 2]
Democratic Government in Canada.
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