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Federal Government popularly refers to the national or dominion level of GOVERNMENT, and in its most general sense includes the executive, legislative and judicial branches, along with the numerous departments and agencies comprising the administrative branch. The 3 principles regulating the powers of the various components of government and the relationships between them are inherited from Britain: parliamentary supremacy, meaning that the SENATE and HOUSE OF COMMONS acting in conjunction with the CROWN possess constitutional plenary powers to legislate; the fusion of executive and legislative instruments, eg, as opposed to the US principle of separation of powers; and the RULE OF LAW, applied and maintained by an independent JUDICIARY. The relationship between the legislature and the CABINET is held in equilibrium by the doctrine of individual and collective ministerial responsibility to the legislature. If the executive can maintain the confidence of the legislature, it can continue to govern. If not, a Cabinet must resign or seek dissolution of the legislature and call an ELECTION.
A more precise definition of federal government focuses on the term "federal." A federal government is distinct from a unitary government, eg, that of Britain. In the latter, there is only one seat of ultimate authority. In a federal government, there are 2 independent seats of authority. Parliament and the provinces are each assigned certain powers and jurisdictional terrain. In practice, this subdivision modifies the principle of parliamentary supremacy; each separate level of government is supreme as long as it does not trespass on the preserve of the other. The umpire for resolving jurisdictional disputes is the SUPREME COURT OF CANADA. See also FEDERALISM; DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS.
Author
J.E. HODGETTS
Links to Other Sites
Privacy Commissioner of Canada
The Commissioner works independently from any other part of the government to investigate complaints from individuals with respect to the federal public sector and the private sector. A Government of Canada website.
Parliament of Canada
The official source for current news and information about the Parliament of Canada. Also features online webcasts, Hansard, history notes and much more. Check out the useful "How Canadians Govern Themselves" paper from the Information and Documentation Branch.
First Women in Provincial and Territorial Legislatures
This Library and Archives Canada website is dedicated to pioneering women politicians in Canada. Produced in recognition of Women's History Month.
The Centre for the Study of Democracy at Queen's University
CSD is a non-profit, non-partisan organization affiliated with the School of Policy Studies, Queen’s University. CSD works jointly with individuals or institutions abroad on research projects of mutual interest that contribute to democratic governance.
Overview of the Legislative Process
An excellent guide to Canada’s legislative process at the federal level. Includes a comparison with US and UK systems. From the Bora Laskin Law Library, University of Toronto.
About Canada
Visitors to this site will find information on Canada’s history and geography, famous Canadians, the evolution of the Canadian government, how to immigrate to Canada, what to do when visiting or touring Canada and much more.
Canada's Constitution
A comprehensive guide to resources about the evolution of Canada's Constitution. From the nelson.com website.
How Canadians Govern Themselves
An in-depth discussion about Canada's parliamentary system past and present. Learn about daily operations in the Senate and House of Commons, Canada's constitution and the judicial system. Also includes notes about provincial and municipal powers.
CPAC
CPAC, the Cable Public Affairs Channel, provides a window on Parliament, politics, and public affairs in Canada. Click on "Telling Times" to view a series of short historical documentaries that showcase pivotal Canadian events.
The Canadian State: Documents & Dialogue
The Canadian State Web exhibition enables students to explore the various aspects of Canadian governance and to use a set of unique "real life" activities to create their own political party. The activities cover a wide variety of Social Science disciplines: History, Civics, Law, Language Arts, World Issues, Communications, and Canada in a North American Perspective. From Library and Archives Canada.
Federal Publications Inc.
This site provides an online catalogue for many different titles from the Canadian government, Statistics Canada, and various commercial publishers.
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| Land claims are dealt with by a process established by the federal government to enable INDIANS, INUIT and ... |
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Browse the rich visual resources of The Canadian Encyclopedia through thematic galleries of Canadian Art, History, Nature, People, and Science and Technology.
Illustrations, lively text, animations, sounds and games help make learning about Canadian history, art, geography, architecture and other topics entertaining as well as informative.
The ultimate test of your knowledge of Canada, trivial and otherwise. You can choose from more than 60 dynamic quizzes with visual or text clues. Your scores depend on the speed with which you answer and the number of clues you need. Results are sent to you by email and high scores are posted on the site.
This unique resource includes more than 6000 events from Canadian and world history. It can be searched by era, subject, keyword or date. To find out what happened on your birthday, select the month and day of your birth.
This selection of the 100 "greatest" events in Canadian history was made by editor in chief James H. Marsh to draw attention to events that have left an indelible memory in the minds of later generations.
| THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MUSIC IN CANADA |
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| (Marie Nicole) Edith Butler. Singer-songwriter, b Paquetville, near Caraquet, NB, 27 Jul 1942; BA (Moncton) 1964, L LITT (Laval) 1969, honorary D MUS (Moncton) 1985, honorary D LITT (New Brunswick) 1986. She began singing in ... |
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