Monarchy of Canada

"Queen of Canada" redirects here. For the most recent female monarch of Canada, see Elizabeth II.

King of Canada
Roi du Canada
Federal
Arms of the King of Canada
Incumbent
Charles III
since 8 September 2022
Details
StyleHis Majesty
Heir apparentWilliam, Prince of Wales[1]
Websitecanada.ca/monarchy-crown
Politics of Canada
Government (structure)
The Crown
Executive
Legislative
Judicial
Elections
Local government
Foreign relations
Crown and Indigenous peoples
Related topics

The monarchy of Canada is Canada's form of government embodied by the Canadian sovereign and head of state. It is one of the key components of Canadian sovereignty and sits at the core of Canada's constitutional federal structure and Westminster-style parliamentary democracy.[6] The monarchy is the foundation of the executive (King-in-Council), legislative (King-in-Parliament), and judicial (King-on-the-Bench) branches of both federal and provincial jurisdictions.[10] The current monarch is King Charles III, who has reigned since 8 September 2022.[17]

Although the sovereign is shared with 14 other independent countries within the Commonwealth of Nations, each country's monarchy is separate and legally distinct.[22] As a result, the current monarch is officially titled King of Canada and, in this capacity, he and other members of the royal family undertake public and private functions domestically and abroad as representatives of Canada. However, the monarch is the only member of the royal family with any constitutional role. The monarch lives in the United Kingdom and, while several powers are the sovereign's alone,[23] most of the royal governmental and ceremonial duties in Canada are carried out by the monarch's representative, the governor general of Canada.[27] In each of Canada's provinces, the monarchy is represented by a lieutenant governor. As territories fall under the federal jurisdiction, they each have a commissioner, rather than a lieutenant governor, who represents the federal Crown-in-Council directly.

All executive authority is vested in the sovereign, so the monarch's consent is necessary for letters patent and orders-in-council to have legal effect. As well, the monarch is part of the Parliament of Canada, so royal assent is required to allow for bills to become law. While the power for these acts stems from the Canadian people through the constitutional conventions of democracy,[28] executive authority remains vested in the Crown and is only entrusted by the sovereign to the government on behalf of the people. This underlines the Crown's role in safeguarding the rights, freedoms, and democratic system of government of Canadians, reinforcing the fact that "governments are the servants of the people and not the reverse".[29][30] Thus, within Canada's constitutional monarchy the sovereign's direct participation in any of these areas of governance is normally limited, with the sovereign typically exercising executive authority only with the advice and consent of the Cabinet of Canada, and the sovereign's legislative and judicial responsibilities largely carried out through the Parliament of Canada as well as judges and justices of the peace.[29] There are, though, cases where the sovereign or their representative would have a duty to act directly and independently under the doctrine of necessity to prevent genuinely unconstitutional acts.[31][32] In these respects, the sovereign and his viceroys are custodians of the Crown's reserve powers and represent the "power of the people above government and political parties".[33][34] Put another way, the Crown functions as the guarantor of Canada's continuous and stable governance and as a nonpartisan safeguard against the abuse of power.[37]

Canada has been described as "one of the oldest continuing monarchies in the world" of today.[19][38] Parts of what is now Canada have been under a monarchy since as early as the 15th century as a result of colonial settlement and often competing claims made on territory in the name of the English (and later British) and French crowns.[51] Monarchical government has developed as the result of colonization by French and British empires competing for territory in North America and a corresponding succession of French and British sovereigns reigning over New France and British America, respectively. As a result of the conquest of New France, claims by French monarchs were extinguished and what became British North America came under the hegemony of the British monarchy which ultimately evolved into the Canadian monarchy of today.[54] With the exception of Newfoundland from 1649 to 1660, no part of what is now Canada has been a republic or part of a republic;[55] though, there have been isolated calls for the country to become one. The Crown, however, is considered to be "entrenched" into the governmental framework.[59] The institution that is Canada's system of constitutional monarchy is sometimes colloquially referred to as the Maple Crown[n 1] or Crown of Maples,[63] Canada having developed a "recognizably Canadian brand of monarchy".[64]

Though not part of the Canadian monarchy, either past or present, Canada has an even older tradition of hereditary chieftainship in some First Nations, which has been likened to non-sovereign monarchy and today exists in parallel with the Canadian Crown and individual band governments. All three entities are components of the nation-to-nation relationship between the Crown and First Nations in upholding treaty rights and obligations developed over the centuries.[citation needed]

  1. ^ Department of Canadian Heritage. "Crown in Canada > Royal Family > His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales". Queen's Printer for Canada. Archived from the original on 20 December 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  2. ^ Smith, David E. (June 2010). "The Crown and the Constitution: Sustaining Democracy?" (PDF). Conference on the Crown. Ottawa: Queen's University. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 October 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  3. ^ Smith 1995, pp. 87–90
  4. ^ MacLeod 2015, pp. 16–18
  5. ^ Department of Canadian Heritage (February 2009), Canadian Heritage Portfolio (2 ed.), Ottawa: Queen's Printer for Canada, p. 3, ISBN 978-1-100-11529-0, archived from the original (PDF) on 31 May 2020, retrieved 5 July 2009
  6. ^ [2][3][4][5]
  7. ^ Victoria (1867), Constitution Act, 1867, III.15, Westminster: Queen's Printer (published 29 March 1867), retrieved 15 January 2009
  8. ^ MacLeod 2015, p. 17
  9. ^ Department of Canadian Heritage 2009, p. 4
  10. ^ [7][8][9]
  11. ^ J.A. Weiler (13 August 2014). "McAteer v. Canada (Attorney General), 2014 ONCA 578". Court of Appeal for Ontario. Archived from the original on 10 February 2015. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  12. ^ Government of Canada (September 2009). "Discover Canada - Understanding the Oath". Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  13. ^ "Parliamentary Framework - Role of the Crown". Parliament of Canada. October 2015. Archived from the original on 7 May 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  14. ^ Lagassé, Philippe (2 March 2015). "Citizenship and the hollowed Canadian Crown". Institute for Research on Public Policy. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  15. ^ Allen, John (1849). Inquiry into the rise and growth of the royal prerogative in England. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. pp. 4–7. Retrieved 17 February 2016. allen royal prerogative.
  16. ^ Isaac, Thomas (1994). "The Concept of Crown and Aboriginal Self-Government" (PDF). The Canadian Journal of Native Studies. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  17. ^ [11][12][13][14][15][16]
  18. ^ Bouchard, Claude (16 February 2016). "Jugement No. 200-17-018455-139" (PDF) (in French). Cour supérieure du Québec. p. 16. Retrieved 17 February 2016 – via Le Devoir.
  19. ^ a b Romaniuk, Scott Nicholas; Wasylciw, Joshua K. (February 2015). "Canada's Evolving Crown: From a British Crown to a "Crown of Maples"". American, British and Canadian Studies Journal. 23 (1): 108–125. doi:10.1515/abcsj-2014-0030.
  20. ^ "Queen and Canada". The Royal Household. Archived from the original on 20 February 2009. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  21. ^ "The Queen of Canada". Government of Canada. Archived from the original on 24 February 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  22. ^ [18][19][20][21]
  23. ^ Parliament of Canada, Monarch and Governor General, King's Printer for Canada, retrieved 13 March 2024
  24. ^ Hicks, Bruce (2012). "The Westminster Approach to Prorogation, Dissolution and Fixed Date Elections" (PDF). Canadian Parliamentary Review. 35 (2): 20.
  25. ^ MacLeod 2015, p. 36
  26. ^ Government of Canada (4 December 2015). "Why does the Governor General give the Speech?". Queen's Printer for Canada. Archived from the original on 26 April 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  27. ^ [24][25][26]
  28. ^ Marleau & Montpetit 2000, Parliamentary Institutions
  29. ^ a b c MacLeod 2015, p. 16
  30. ^ Forsey 2005, p. 1
  31. ^ Twomey, Anne (2018). The veiled sceptre : reserve powers of heads of state in Westminster systems. Port Melbourne, Victoria: Cambridge University Press. pp. 13–15. ISBN 978-1-108-57332-0. OCLC 1030593191.
  32. ^ Lagassé, Philippe (4 September 2019). "The Crown and Government Formation: Conventions, Practices, Customs, and Norms". Constitutional Forum. 28 (3): 14. doi:10.21991/cf29384. ISSN 1927-4165.
  33. ^ Cabinet Secretary and Clerk of the Executive Council (April 2004), Executive Government Processes and Procedures in Saskatchewan: A Procedures Manual (PDF), Regina: Queen's Printer for Saskatchewan, p. 10, archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2011, retrieved 30 July 2009
  34. ^ Cabinet Secretary and Clerk of the Executive Council 2004, p. 9
  35. ^ Roberts 2009, p. 15
  36. ^ MacLeod 2015, p. 20
  37. ^ [29][35][36]
  38. ^ Jackson 2013, p. 26
  39. ^ Parsons, John (1 July 2008). "John Cabot". Historica Canada. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  40. ^ a b Stephen Harper quoted in MacLeod, Kevin S. (2012), A Crown of Maples (PDF) (2 ed.), Ottawa: Queen's Printer for Canada, p. vii, ISBN 978-0-662-46012-1, archived from the original (PDF) on 22 June 2013, retrieved 28 November 2012
  41. ^ Bousfield, Arthur; Toffoli, Garry. "The Sovereigns of Canada". Canadian Royal Heritage Trust. Archived from the original on 16 August 2007. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
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  43. ^ "Why Canada Needs the Monarchy", The Canadian Encyclopedia, Historica Canada, retrieved 18 February 2015
  44. ^ Department of Canadian Heritage. "Ceremonial and Canadian Symbols Promotion > The Canadian Monarchy". Queen's Printer for Canada. Archived from the original on 25 August 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2009.
  45. ^ a b c Kenney, Jason (23 April 2007). "Speech to the Lieutenant Governors Meeting". Written at Regina. In Department of Canadian Heritage (ed.). Speeches > The Honourable Jason Kenney. Ottawa: Queen's Printer for Canada. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
  46. ^ a b Valpy, Michael (13 November 2009). "The monarchy: Offshore, but built-in". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
  47. ^ MacLeod 2015, p. 6
  48. ^ a b Parliament of Canada. "Canada: A Constitutional Monarchy". Queen's Printer for Canada. Archived from the original on 9 May 2011. Retrieved 25 September 2009.
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  50. ^ Harris, Carolyn (13 January 2023), "French Canadians and the Monarchy", The Canadian Encyclopedia, Historica Canada, retrieved 14 March 2023
  51. ^ The date of the first establishment of monarchy in Canada varies: some sources give the year as 1497, when John Cabot landed somewhere along the North American coast (most likely Nova Scotia or Newfoundland) claiming an undefined extent of land for King Henry VII,[42] while others put it at 1534, when the colony of Canada was founded in the name of King Francis I.[49] Historian Carolyn Harris places the beginning of Canada's monarchical government at the appointment of Samuel de Champlain as Governor of New France, representing King Louis XIII, in 1627.[50]
  52. ^ MacLeod 2015, pp. 2–3, 39
  53. ^ Monet, Jacques (2007). "Crown and Country" (PDF). Canadian Monarchist News. Summer 2007 (26). Toronto: Monarchist League of Canada: 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 June 2008. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
  54. ^ [40][45][46][48][52][53]
  55. ^ Tidridge 2011, p. 23
  56. ^ The Monarchy in Canada: God Save the Queen?, Centre for Constitutional Studies, 1 January 2017, retrieved 14 April 2023
  57. ^ Jackson, D. Michael (14 December 2021), Historical Perspective on Monarchy in Canada, Institute for the Study of the Crown in Canada, retrieved 14 April 2023
  58. ^ Harris, Carolyn (30 March 2023), "Crown", The Canadian Encyclopedia, Historica Canada, retrieved 14 April 2023
  59. ^ [56][57][58]
  60. ^ Grey, Albert (1 September 1905) [4 March 1905]. "Grey to Edward VII". In Doig, Ronald P. (ed.). Earl Grey's Papers: An Introductory Survey (1 ed.). London: Private Libraries Association.
  61. ^ "The way forward with Canada's maple Crown". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. 14 November 2009. Archived from the original on 15 November 2009. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
  62. ^ [45][60][61]
  63. ^ Newman 2017, p. 56
  64. ^ Jackson 2018a, p. 14


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