1.
Canada
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Canada is a country in the northern half of North America. Canadas border with the United States is the worlds longest binational land border, the majority of the country has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its territory being dominated by forest and tundra. It is highly urbanized with 82 per cent of the 35.15 million people concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, One third of the population lives in the three largest cities, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Its capital is Ottawa, and other urban areas include Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg. Various aboriginal peoples had inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1,1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick and this began an accretion of provinces and territories to the mostly self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada. With the Constitution Act 1982, Canada took over authority, removing the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level and it is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources, Canadas long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. Canada is a country and has the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the ninth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, Canada is an influential nation in the world, primarily due to its inclusive values, years of prosperity and stability, stable economy, and efficient military. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the origins of Canada. In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona, from the 16th to the early 18th century Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along the St. Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named The Canadas, until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the name for the new country at the London Conference. The transition away from the use of Dominion was formally reflected in 1982 with the passage of the Canada Act, later that year, the name of national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day
2.
Government of Canada
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The Government of Canada or more formally Her Majestys Government, is the federal government of Canada, a country in North America, composed of 10 provinces, Ottawa, and 3 territories. The head of government is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose party the Liberal Party of Canada won the majority of seats in the Canadian Parliament in the 2015 Canadian federal election, in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council. Further elements of governance are outlined in the rest of the Canadian constitution, which includes written statutes, court rulings, in Canadian English, the word government is used to refer both to the whole set of institutions that govern the country, and to the current political leadership. In federal department press releases, the government has sometimes referred to by the phrase Government. The same cabinet earlier directed its press department to use the phrase Canadas New Government, as per the Constitution Acts of 1867 and 1982, Canada is a constitutional monarchy, wherein the role of the reigning sovereign is both legal and practical, but not political. The executive is formally called the Queen-in-Council, the legislature the Queen-in-Parliament. The government is defined by the constitution as the Queen acting on the advice of her privy council, however, the Privy Council—consisting mostly of former members of parliament, chief justices of the supreme court, and other elder statesmen—rarely meets in full. This body of ministers of the Crown is the Cabinet, one of the main duties of the Crown is to ensure that a democratic government is always in place, which means appointing a prime minister to thereafter head the Cabinet. The monarch and governor general typically follow the advice of their ministers. The royal and viceroyal figures may unilaterally use these powers in exceptional constitutional crisis situations, politicians can sometimes try to use to their favour the complexity of the relationship between the monarch, viceroy, ministers, and parliament, and the publics general unfamiliarity with it. Per democratic tradition, the House of Commons is the dominant branch of parliament, the Senate, thus, reviews legislation from a less partisan standpoint. The Constitution Act,1867, outlines that the general is responsible for summoning parliament in the Queens name. After a number of sessions, each parliament comes to an end via dissolution. As a general election typically follows, the timing of a dissolution is usually politically motivated, the sovereign is responsible for rendering justice for all her subjects, and is thus traditionally deemed the fount of justice. However, she does not personally rule in cases, instead the judicial functions of the Royal Prerogative are performed in trust. Below this is the Federal Court, which cases arising under certain areas of federal law. It works in conjunction with the Federal Court of Appeal and Tax Court of Canada, in some cases, however, the jurisdictions of the federal and provincial parliaments may be more vague. For instance, the federal parliament regulates marriage and divorce in general, other examples include the powers of both the federal and provincial parliaments to impose taxes, borrow money, punish crimes, and regulate agriculture
3.
Governor General of Canada
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The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II. The commission is for a period of time—known as serving at Her Majestys pleasure—though five years is the normal convention. Beginning in 1959, it has also been traditional to rotate between anglophone and francophone incumbents, once in office, the governor general maintains direct contact with the Queen, wherever she may be at the time. The office began in the 16th and 17th centuries with the Crown-appointed governors of the French colony of Canada followed by the British governors of Canada in the 18th and 19th centuries, subsequently, the office is, along with the Crown, the oldest continuous institution in Canada. Throughout this process of gradually increasing Canadian independence, the role of governor general took on additional responsibilities, finally, in 1947, King George VI issued letters patent allowing the viceroy to carry out almost all of the monarchs powers on his or her behalf. The current governor general is David Johnston, who has served since 1 October 2010, johnstons wife—who is thus the viceregal consort—is Sharon Johnston. The Government of Canada spells the title governor general without a hyphen, the Canadian media still often use the governor-general spelling. As governor is the noun in the title, it is pluralized, thus, governors general, moreover, both terms are capitalized when used in the formal title preceding an incumbents name. The position of general is mandated by both the Constitution Act,1867, and the letters patent issued in 1947 by King George VI. As such, on the recommendation of his or her Canadian prime minister and that individual is, from then until being sworn-in, referred to as the governor general-designate. Besides the administration of the oaths of office, there is no set formula for the swearing-in of a governor general-designate, the governor general will then give a speech, outlining whichever cause or causes he or she will champion during his or her time as viceroy. The incumbent will generally serve for at least five years, though this is only a convention. The prime minister may recommend to the Queen that the viceroy remain in her service for a longer period of time. A governor general may also resign, and two have died in office, the sovereign has unrestricted freedom of choice. We leave that to Her Majesty in all confidence, however, between 1867 and 1931, governors general were appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British Cabinet. Thereafter, in accordance with the Statute of Westminster 1931, the appointment was made by the sovereign with the direction of his or her Canadian ministers only. Until 1952, all governors general were also members of the Peerage or sons of peers. These viceroys spent a limited time in Canada, but their travel schedules were so extensive that they could learn more about Canada in five years than many Canadians in a lifetime
4.
Monarchy in the Canadian provinces
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The monarchy has been headed since 6 February 1952 by Queen Elizabeth II who as sovereign is shared equally with both the Commonwealth realms and the Canadian federal entity. She, her consort, and other members of the Canadian Royal Family undertake various public, however, the Queen is the only member of the Royal Family with any constitutional role. Royal Assent and the royal sign-manual are required to enact laws, letters patent, in all provinces, the monarchys roots lie in the British Crown, while in some, mostly in Eastern Canada, the French Crown also had influence. Over the centuries, the throughout the country has evolved to become a distinctly Canadian one. There is one monarch, but she acts in different rights, such is demonstrated when the sovereign takes on different legal personas in a case wherein a provincial government files a lawsuit against the federal and/or another provincial government. Also, as it was put in Attorney-General of Canada v. Higbie, When the Crown, in right of the Province, transfers land to the Crown, in right of the Dominion, what takes place is merely a change of administrative control. The Canadian Crown thus both remains above and links all of the jurisdictions in Confederation, it has been described as a divided crown. The arrangement provides that each of Canadas provinces are all sovereign of each other, the provincial Crown exists to safeguard the independence of each province. The system was set up as such by the Fathers of Confederation because they saw such a use of constitutional monarchy as a bulwark against any fracturing of the Canadian federation. In 1939, Sir Shuldham Redfern, then Secretary to the Governor General, said that, without a common allegiance to the Crown, the British North America Act,1867, was written so as to reflect the view of John A. That rule was never followed in Ontario and Quebec, though, in his ruling, which discovered a provincial guise of the Crown and thus further empowered the provinces, Watson stated, the Lieutenant Governor. Is as much a representative of Her Majesty, for all purposes of Provincial Government as the Governor General himself is, for all purposes of Dominion Government. The Lord Denning of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales ruled in 1982 that the Crown became separate and divisible and it was separate and divisible for each self-governing Dominion or province or territory. The Crown became the foundation of the principle in Canada. Funding of the Crowns operation in the provinces is split between the federal and provincial governments, the provincial coffers supply the relevant lieutenant governor for other expenses of office, travel costs, and the upkeep of official residences, amongst other necessities. The sovereign and other members of the Royal Family are only supported by tax dollars in the performance of their official duties, residents of the provinces do not pay any money to the royals, either as personal income or to support royal residences outside of the province. This is done in reciprocation to the sovereigns Coronation Oath, wherein he or she promises to govern the Peoples of, according to their respective laws and customs. There was in the 1970s some opposition to the oath by Parti Québécois members of the National Assembly of Quebec, the sovereign may still hold audience with the provincial premiers, however
5.
Prime Minister of Canada
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Canadian prime ministers are styled as The Right Honourable, a privilege maintained for life. The office and its functions are instead governed by constitutional conventions, the prime minister, along with the other ministers in cabinet, is appointed by the governor general on behalf of the monarch. There are no age or citizenship restrictions on the position of prime minister itself, while there is no legal requirement for the prime minister to be a member of parliament, for practical and political reasons the prime minister is expected to win a seat very promptly. However, in rare circumstances individuals who are not sitting members of the House of Commons have been appointed to the position of prime minister, two former prime ministers—Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott and Sir Mackenzie Bowell—served in the 1890s while members of the Senate. Both, in their roles as Government Leader in the Senate, succeeded prime ministers who had died in office—John A. Macdonald in 1891 and that convention has since evolved toward the appointment of an interim leader from the commons in such a scenario. Prime ministers who are not Members of Parliament upon their appointment have since been expected to seek election to the commons as soon as possible. For example, William Lyon Mackenzie King, after losing his seat in the 1925 federal election, Turner was the last serving prime minister to not hold a commons seat. The Canadian prime minister serves at Her Majestys pleasure, meaning the post does not have a fixed term, once appointed and sworn in by the governor general, the prime minister remains in office until he or she resigns, is dismissed, or dies. Following parliamentary dissolution, the prime minister must run in the general election if he or she wishes to maintain a seat in the House of Commons. Should the prime ministers party subsequently win a majority of seats in the House of Commons, if, however, an opposition party wins a majority of seats, the prime minister may resign or be dismissed by the governor general. This option was last entertained in 1925, however, the function of the prime minister has evolved with increasing power. Caucuses may choose to follow rules, though the decision would be made by recorded vote. Either the sovereign or his or her viceroy may therefore oppose the prime ministers will in extreme, for transportation, the prime minister is granted an armoured car and shared use of two official aircraft—a CC-150 Polaris for international flights and a Challenger 601 for domestic trips. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police also furnish constant personal security for the prime minister, all of the aforementioned is supplied by the Queen-in-Council through budgets approved by parliament, as is the prime ministers annual salary of CAD$170,400. Should a serving or former prime minister die, he or she is accorded a state funeral, John Thompson also died outside Canada, at Windsor Castle, where Queen Victoria permitted his lying-in-state before his body was returned to Canada for a state funeral in Halifax. In earlier years, it was traditional for the monarch to bestow a knighthood on newly appointed Canadian prime ministers. Accordingly, several carried the prefix Sir before their name, of the first eight premiers of Canada, the Canadian Heraldic Authority has granted former prime ministers an augmentation of honour on the personal coat of arms of those who pursued them. To date, former prime ministers Joe Clark, Pierre Trudeau, John Turner, Brian Mulroney, the written form of address for the prime minister should use his or her full parliamentary title, The Right Honourable, Prime Minister of Canada
6.
Parliament of Canada
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The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa, Ontario. The body consists of the Canadian monarch, represented by a viceroy, the general, an upper house, the Senate, and a lower house. Each element has its own officers and organization, by constitutional convention, the House of Commons is the dominant branch of parliament, the Senate and Crown rarely opposing its will. The Senate reviews legislation from a less partisan standpoint and the monarch or viceroy provides the necessary Royal Assent to make bills into law. The governor general also summons parliament, while either the viceroy or monarch can prorogue or dissolve parliament, either will read the Throne Speech. The most recent parliament, summoned by Governor General David Johnston in 2015, is the 42nd since Confederation in 1867, the Parliament of Canada is composed of three parts, the monarch, the Senate, and the House of Commons. Each has a role, but work in conjunction within the legislative process. Only those who sit in the House of Commons are called members of parliament, though legislatively less powerful, senators take higher positions in the national order of precedence. No individual may serve in more than one chamber of parliament at the same time, the sovereigns place in the legislature, formally called the Queen-in-Parliament, is defined by the Constitution Act,1867, and various conventions. All federal bills begin with the phrase Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada. And, as such, the Crown is immune from acts of parliament unless expressed otherwise in the act itself. As both the monarch and his or her representatives are traditionally barred from the House of Commons, any parliamentary ceremonies in which they are involved take place in the Senate chamber. The upper and lower houses do, however, each contain a mace, which indicate the authority of the Queen-in-Parliament, following the burning of the Centre Block on 3 February 1916, the City of London, England, donated a replacement, which is still used today. The temporary mace, made of wood, and used until the new one arrived from the United Kingdom in 1917, is carried into the Senate each 3 February. The Senates 1. 6-metre-long mace comprises brass and gold, senators served for life until 1965, when a constitutional amendment imposed a mandatory retirement age of 75. Senators may, however, resign their seats prior to that mark, the Senate is divided equally amongst four geographic regions,24 for Ontario,24 for Quebec,24 for the Maritimes, and 24 for the Western provinces. Newfoundland and Labrador, which became a Canadian province in 1949, is represented by six senators, further, Canadas three territories—the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Nunavut—are allocated one senator each. The elected component of the Canadian parliament is the House of Commons, with each member chosen by a plurality of voters in each of the countrys federal electoral districts
7.
Senate of Canada
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The Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons and the Monarch. The Senate is modelled after the British House of Lords and consists of 105 members appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister, Senators may serve until they reach the age of 75. The Senate is the house of Parliament and the House of Commons is the lower house. As a matter of practice and custom, the Commons is the dominant chamber, the approval of both chambers is necessary for legislation and, thus, the Senate can reject bills passed by the Commons. Between 1867 and 1987, the Senate rejected fewer than two bills per year, but this has increased in recent years. Moreover, members of the Cabinet are responsible solely to the House of Commons, while the prime minister and the rest of Cabinet remain in office only while they retain the confidence of the Commons, Senators are not beholden to such control. The Senate of Canada and the House of Commons of Canada sit in separate chambers in the Centre Block on Parliament Hill, located in Ottawa, Ontario. The chamber in which the Senate sits is called the red chamber, due to the red cloth that adorns the chamber. The red Senate chamber is decorated, in contrast with the more modest. There are chairs and desks on both sides of the chamber, divided by a centre aisle, the Speakers chair is at one end of the chamber, in front of it is the Clerks table. Various clerks sit at the table, ready to advise the Speaker, Members of the governing party sit on the benches to the Speakers right, while members of the Opposition occupy the benches on the Speakers left. The seat has the coat of arms of the Princess Louise The first two seats are vacant but present during the sitting of the Senate. The Speaker of the Senate uses the third seat with the Arms of Canada and this seat is removed during the throne speech. At either end of the chamber, on the floor, are the visitors galleries. The north gallerys lower seating area, or tribune, is reserved for journalists, the Governor General holds the power to make normal senatorial appointments, although, in modern practice, they make appointments only on the advice of the prime minister. A prime minister normally chooses members of his or her own party to be Senators, in practice, a large number of the members of the Senate are ex-Cabinet ministers, ex-provincial premiers, and other eminent people. The first Aboriginal senator was James Gladstone, who sat as an Independent Conservative, under the constitution, each province or territory is entitled to a specific number of Senate seats. The constitution divides Canada into four areas, each with an number of senators,24 for Ontario,24 for Quebec,24 for the Maritime provinces
8.
House of Commons of Canada
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The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons chamber is located in the Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, the House of Commons is a democratically elected body whose members are known as Members of Parliament. There were 308 members in the last Parliament, but that number has risen to 338 following the election on Monday October 19,2015, Members are elected by simple plurality in each of the countrys electoral districts, which are colloquially known as ridings. MPs may hold office until Parliament is dissolved and serve for constitutionally limited terms of up to five years after an election, historically however, terms have ended before their expiry and the sitting government has typically dissolved parliament within four years of an election according to a long-standing convention. In any case, an Act of Parliament now limits each term to four years, seats in the House of Commons are distributed roughly in proportion to the population of each province and territory. However, some ridings are more populous than others, and the Canadian constitution contains some provisions regarding provincial representation. As a result, there is some interprovincial and regional malapportionment relative to population, the lower of the two houses making up the parliament, the House of Commons in practice holds far more power than the upper house, the Senate. Although the approval of both Houses is necessary for legislation, the Senate very rarely rejects bills passed by the Commons, moreover, the Government of Canada is responsible solely to the House of Commons. The Prime Minister stays in office only as long as he or she retains the support, or confidence, the term derives from the Anglo-Norman word communes, referring to the geographic and collective communities of their parliamentary representatives and not the third estate, the commonality. This distinction is clear in the official French name of the body. Canada and the United Kingdom remain the only countries to use the name House of Commons for a house of parliament. The new Parliament of Canada consisted of the Queen, the Senate, the Parliament of Canada was based on the Westminster model. Unlike the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the powers of the Parliament of Canada were limited in that other powers were assigned exclusively to the provincial legislatures, the Parliament of Canada also remained subordinate to the British Parliament, the supreme legislative authority for the entire British Empire. Greater autonomy was granted by the Statute of Westminster 1931, after which new Acts of the British Parliament did not apply to Canada and these exceptions were removed by the Canada Act 1982. From 1867, the Commons met in the chamber until that was destroyed by fire in 1916. It relocated to the amphitheatre of the Victoria Memorial Museum—what is today the Canadian Museum of Nature, since then, the Commons has sat in its current chamber. The House of Commons comprises 338 members, each of whom represents a electoral district. The constitution specifies a minimum of 295 electoral districts
9.
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
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The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, in Canada often simply the Charter, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada. It forms the first part of the Constitution Act,1982, the Charter guarantees certain political rights to Canadian citizens and civil rights of everyone in Canada from the policies and actions of all areas and levels of the government. It is designed to unify Canadians around a set of principles that embody those rights, the Charter was signed into law by Queen Elizabeth II of Canada on April 17,1982 along with the rest of the Act. The Charter was preceded by the Canadian Bill of Rights, which was enacted in 1960, however, the Bill of Rights is only a federal statute, rather than a constitutional document. As a federal statute, it can be amended through the legislative process and has no application to provincial laws. The Supreme Court of Canada also narrowly interpreted the Bill of Rights, the relative ineffectiveness of the Canadian Bill of Rights motivated many to improve rights protections in Canada. The movement for human rights and freedoms that emerged after World War II also wanted to entrench the principles enunciated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Charter, however, granted new powers to the courts to enforce remedies that are more creative, as a result, the Charter has attracted both broad support from a majority of the Canadian electorate and criticisms by opponents of increased judicial power. The Charter only applies to government laws and actions, and sometimes to the common law, under the Charter, people physically present in Canada have numerous civil and political rights. Most of the rights can be exercised by any legal person, the rights are enforceable by the courts through section 24 of the Charter, which allows courts discretion to award remedies to those whose rights have been denied. This section also allows courts to exclude evidence in trials if the evidence was acquired in a way that conflicts with the Charter, Section 32 confirms that the Charter is binding on the federal government, the territories under its authority, and the provincial governments. Every case in which a court discovers a violation of the Charter would therefore require a section 1 analysis to determine if the law can still be upheld, Section 1 has thus been used to uphold laws against objectionable conduct such as hate speech and obscenity. Section 1 also confirms that the rights listed in the Charter are guaranteed, in addition, some of these rights are also subjected to the notwithstanding clause. The notwithstanding clause authorizes governments to temporarily override the rights and freedoms in sections 2 and 7–15 for up to five years, the Canadian federal government has never invoked it, and some have speculated that its use would be politically costly. In the past, the clause was invoked routinely by the province of Quebec. The provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta have also invoked the clause, to end a strike and to protect an exclusively heterosexual definition of marriage. The territory of Yukon also passed legislation once that invoked the notwithstanding clause, Section 4, the maximum duration of legislatures is set at five years. Section 5, a sitting of legislatures is required as a minimum
10.
Canadian federalism
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Canadian federalism involves the current nature and historical development of federal systems in Canada. Canada is a federation with 11 jurisdictions of governmental authority, the country-wide federal Crown and 10 provincial Crowns, most sectors are under federal jurisdiction or that of the provinces, such as education and healthcare. The division of powers is outlined in the Constitution Act,1867, much about Canadian federalism has undoubtedly changed in the last fifteen years, although it is also true that much remains the same. The foundations of Canadian federalism were laid at the Quebec Conference of 1864, the Quebec Resolutions were a compromise between those who wanted sovereignty vested in the federal government and those who wanted it vested in the provinces. A protracted political process ensued before the Quebec Resolutions became the British North America Act of 1867 and this process was dominated by John A. Macdonald, who joined British officials in attempting to make the federation more centralized than that envisaged by the Resolutions. The complex resulting constitution was couched in more centralist terms than intended, as prime minister, Macdonald tried to exploit this discrepancy to impose his centralist ideal against chief opponent Oliver Mowat. In a series of battles and court cases from 1872 to 1896, Mowat reversed Macdonalds early victories. In 1888, Edward Blake summarized that view, a federal as distinguished from a legislative union, not fractions of a unit but units of a multiple. The Dominion is the multiple and each province is a unit of that multiple, the accession of Wilfrid Laurier as prime minister inaugurated a new phase of constitutional consensus, marked by a more-egalitarian relationship between the jurisdictions. The federal governments powers of disallowance and reservation, which Macdonald abused in his efforts to impose a centralised government. During World War I the federal Crowns power was extended with the introduction of taxes and passage of the War Measures Act. In 1926, the King–Byng Affair resulted in a crisis which was the impetus for changes in the relationship between the governor general and the prime minister. Although its key aspects were political in nature, its constitutional aspects continue to be debated, one result was the Balfour Declaration issued later that year, whose principles were eventually codified in the Statute of Westminster 1931. It, and the repeal of the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865, gave the parliament the ability to make extraterritorial laws. Criminal appeals were abolished in 1933, but civil appeals continued until 1949, the last Privy Council ruling of constitutional significance occurred in 1954, in Winner v. S. M. T. After that, the Supreme Court of Canada became the court of appeal. In 1937, Lieutenant Governor of Alberta John C. Bowen refused to give Royal Assent to three Legislative Assembly of Alberta bills. All three bills were later declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada in Reference re Alberta Statutes, World War IIs broader scope required passage of the National Resources Mobilization Act to supplement the powers in the War Measures Act to pursue the national war effort
11.
Foreign relations of Canada
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The foreign relations of Canada are Canadas relations with other governments and peoples. Canadas most important relationship, being the largest trading relationship in the world, is with the United States, the British North American colonies which today constitute modern Canada had little control over their foreign affairs until the achievement of responsible government in the late 1840s. Up to that time, wars, negotiations and treaties were carried out by the British government to settle disputes concerning the colonies over fishing and boundaries and to promote trade. Notable examples from the period include the Nootka Convention, the War of 1812, the Rush–Bagot Treaty, the Treaty of 1818, the Webster–Ashburton Treaty. The Canadian–American Reciprocity Treaty of 1854 signaled an important change in relations between Britain and its North American colonies, soon after Confederation, the first prime minister Sir John A. Macdonald appointed Sir John Rose as his lobbyist in London. When Alexander Mackenzie became prime minister, he sent George Brown to represent Canada in Washington during British-American trade talks, after the Conservative Party came back to power in 1878, the government sent Alexander Galt to London, as well as to France and Spain. Although the British government was concerned about this nascent Canadian diplomacy, a trade commissioner was appointed to Australia in 1894. As High Commissioner, Charles Tupper helped negotiate an agreement with France in 1893, meanwhile, in 1882 the province of Quebec made its first of many forays into the international community by sending a representative, Hector Fabre to Paris in 1882. Canadas responses to events elsewhere were limited at this time. During 1878 tensions between Britain and Russia, for example, Canada constructed a few limited defences but did little else, by the time of the British campaign in Sudan of 1884–85, however, Canada was expected to contribute troops. Since Ottawa was reluctant to become involved, the Governor General of Canada privately raised 386 voyageurs at Britains expense to help British forces on the Nile river, by 1885, many Canadians offered to volunteer as part of a potential Canadian force, however the government declined to act. This stood in sharp contrast to Australia, which raised and paid for its own troops, the first Canadian commercial representative abroad was John Short Larke. Larke became Canadas first trade commissioner following a trade delegation to Australia led by Canadas first Minister of Trade and Commerce. The Canadian judges refused to sign the award as a protest, due to Canadas important contributions to the British war effort in 1914–18, Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden insisted that Canada be treated as a separate signatory to the Treaty of Versailles. In 1920 Canada became a member of the League of Nations. It was elected to the League Council in 1927 and it did not play a leading role, and generally opposed sanctions or military action by the League. The League was virtually defunct by 1939, in 1923, Canada independently signed the Halibut Treaty with the United States at Mackenzie Kings insistence – the first time Canada signed a treaty without the British also signing it. In 1925, the government appointed a permanent diplomat to Geneva to deal with the League of Nations, in the 1930s, the Mackenzie King government strongly supported the appeasement policy of the Chamberlain government in London toward Nazi Germany
12.
Legislature
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A legislature is a deliberative assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. Legislatures form important parts of most governments, in the separation of model, they are often contrasted with the executive. Laws enacted by legislatures are known as legislation, legislatures observe and steer governing actions and usually have exclusive authority to amend the budget or budgets involved in the process. The members of a legislature are called legislators, each chamber of legislature consists of a number of legislators who use some form of parliamentary procedure to debate political issues and vote on proposed legislation. There must be a number of legislators present to carry out these activities. Some of the responsibilities of a legislature, such as giving first consideration to newly proposed legislation, are delegated to committees made up of small selections of the legislators. The members of a legislature usually represent different political parties, the members from each party generally meet as a caucus to organize their internal affairs, the internal organization of a legislature is also shaped by the informal norms that are shared by its members. Legislatures vary widely in the amount of power they wield, compared to other political players such as judiciaries, militaries. In 2009, political scientists M. Steven Fish and Matthew Kroenig constructed a Parliamentary Powers Index in an attempt to quantify the different degrees of power among national legislatures, such a system renders the legislature more powerful. Legislatures will sometime delegate their legislative power to administrative or executive agencies, legislatures are made up of individual members, known as legislators, who vote on proposed laws. For example, a legislature that has 100 seats has 100 members, by extension, an electoral district that elects a single legislator can also be described as a seat, as, for, example, in the phrases safe seat and marginal seat. In parliamentary systems of government, the executive is responsible to the legislature which may remove it with a vote of no confidence, names for national legislatures include parliament, congress, diet and assembly. A legislature which operates as a unit is unicameral, one divided into two chambers is bicameral, and one divided into three chambers is tricameral. In bicameral legislatures, one chamber is considered the upper house. In federations, the upper house typically represents the component states. This is a case with the legislature of the European Union. Tricameral legislatures are rare, the Massachusetts Governors Council still exists, tetracameral legislatures no longer exist, but they were previously used in Scandinavia. Legislatures vary widely in their size, among national legislatures, Chinas National Peoples Congress is the largest with 2987 members, while Vatican Citys Pontifical Commission is the smallest with 7
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