Canadian Government

The Constitution Act of 1867 describes the power and structure of Canada's government.  It is a federal government.

Executive Power

The Head of State is the Queen of Canada, and is currently Elizabeth II.  The constitution explains that the Executive Government has Authority of and over Canada, meaning that the Canadian government acts in the name of the Queen.  When the term "the crown" is used within Canada, it is typically used to describe the monarchy- in which the government ministers are actually ministers of the crown and criminal prosecutions are made by the Crown prosecutors on behalf of the monarch.

It is interesting to note that the Queen does not actually live in Canada.  Instead, she has a governor general that she has appointed to act on her behalf and exercise her powers.  The governor general is selected by the Queen but with advice from the prime minister.  (Advice actually means the prime minister chooses the governor general!)  This is a protectionary measure for the Queen, in that the Queen is not held responsible by the decisions made by government because she is only following the advice of the prime minister.

Head of Government

The Prime Minister is the Canadian Head of Government and is appointed by the governor general.  In order to be sure the government remains stable, the prime minister always has the confidence of the House of Commons for leading the government.  This important position is almost always given to the leader of the political party that happens to have the majority in the lower house.  If there is no majority in the House of Commons; such as the current 2007 government of Canada, one party (most often it is the largest) will form a minority government.

Prime ministers of Canada hold their office until they are removed by the governor general or until they resign.

Legislative Power

The Canadian Parliament includes the monarch, bicameral legislature, elected House of Commons, and appointed Senate.  The Senate includes individuals who are recommended by the Prime Minister and appointed by the Governor General; using a formula used to distribute seats among provinces.  The Legislative power is given to the party with the majority of seats in the House.  Members in the House of Commons serve a period of five years or less, and come from 308 electoral districts.

Judiciary

Federal Jurisdiction handles criminal law in Canada.  Every where in Canada except Quebec, the civil law is based on England's common law.  In Quebec, the French civil code is followed, ever since Britain granted the right in 1774.  The court system consists of  federal, provincial and municipal courts.

The court of last resort is the Supreme Court of Canada.  It has nine justices that are led by the Governor General- appointed Chief Justice of Canada.  The Supreme Court will hear appeals from the decisions granted by various courts.

Federalism

All power not specified within the constitution resides within the Federal Government.  This provision was originally created in order to avoid the trouble that resulted in the American Civil War- but in 1895 the Judicial Committee decided that the federal government could only use their residuary power during wartimes.  The result of that ruling created the need for responsibilities for certain aspects of government to be moved under the British North America Act, and the decentralization of federation.