POLSCI 1G06 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Royal Assent, Hereditary Monarchy, William Lyon Mackenzie King
19 Dec 2016
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Thursday, January 7, 2016
Political Science 1G06 Lecture 1
The Canadian Executive
-The apex of the Canadian system on paper is the Queen
-Where does executive power lie in the Canadian political system? The Queen
Power on Paper
-Canada is a constitutional monarchy
-In a Constitutional sense, it is the Queen that is at the Apex of Canadian Power
-The Governor General exercises crown power within Canada in the name of the
Queen
-The Governor General (at least on paper)
-> Appoints Senators and Judges
-> Gives royal assent to law
-> Summons and dissolves Parliament
-> On paper the Governor General has absolute power
Power in Practice:
-Crown power is exercised on the “advice” of the government of the day
-It is the Prime Minister and cabinet who provide that “advice”
-The Governor General’s assent is usually a “rubber stamp”
-The Crown has very little real power in practice
-That said, in the past there have been rare cases where the Governor General has
had some discretion in the use of power and authority
-Discretion in when to dissolve Parliament and call and election?
-Usually the Governor General will dissolve Parliament on the basis of a request from
the Prime Minister
!1
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Document Summary
The apex of the canadian system on paper is the queen. In a constitutional sense, it is the queen that is at the apex of canadian power. The governor general exercises crown power within canada in the name of the. The governor general (at least on paper) > on paper the governor general has absolute power. Crown power is exercised on the advice of the government of the day. It is the prime minister and cabinet who provide that advice . The governor general"s assent is usually a rubber stamp . The crown has very little real power in practice. That said, in the past there have been rare cases where the governor general has had some discretion in the use of power and authority. Usually the governor general will dissolve parliament on the basis of a request from the prime minister. > refuses to dissolve parliament because there was an election months earlier.
