The Canadian Parliament

Podcast Transcript

Every country has its own system of government. Even when systems are quite similar, there are usually idiosyncrasies about each system, which makes them different.

Canada is no exception.

However, many people outside of Canada, especially those to the immediate south, have no clue how the Canadian system works or how it came about.

Learn more about the Canadian Parliament, how it works, and its history on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

For all my Canadian listeners, I’ll admit right up front that this episode is not for you. I hope you are aware of the basics of how your country is run, so you probably won’t get much out of it.

Perhaps you have a morbid curiosity about how an American would describe the Canadian system of governance, and that’s fair.

That being said, on many of my trips to Canada, I’ve had discussions with some Canadians who seemed very ignorant about how their own country worked.

This episode is really for the rest of the world, and particularly Americans, who seem uniquely ignorant about our neighbors north of the border.

So, as always, let’s start at the very beginning.

While it has no direct connection, I should give a mention to the Iroquois Confederacy.

The Iroquois Confederacy, or the Six Nations, is one of the world’s oldest participatory democracies, founded long before European contact in North America.

The Confederacy, originally comprising five nations—the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca—expanded to include the Tuscarora in the 18th century. The Confederacy operates under the Great Law of Peace, a sophisticated constitution that emphasizes unity, consensus decision-making, and shared governance. Leaders, known as sachems, were chosen by clan mothers and represented their nations in a Grand Council.

I mention the Iroquois Confederacy simply because it was a very early form of democracy in Canada, and I have yet to do an episode on it. A fact that will be corrected in the future.

When the French arrived and established the colony of New France, it was managed by an appointed governor and appointed Sovereign Council. There was no representational democracy to speak of.

Following the Treaty of Paris in 1763, Canada became a British colony. British institutions and laws began to shape its governance.

The Royal Proclamation of 1763 introduced British governance structures and laid the groundwork for representative institutions. However, there still wasn’t any significant representational democracy at this point.

It wasn’t until the Constitutional Act of 1791 and the aftermath of the American Revolution that the British finally took action to allow some democracy.

Quebec was divided into Upper Canada, which is today Ontario, and Lower Canada, which is today Quebec, each with its own elected Legislative Assembly and appointed Legislative Council.

These assemblies allowed limited representation but were subordinate to governors and councils appointed by Britain, which often led to tensions.

Dissatisfaction with limited local control led to the Rebellions of 1837–1838 in Upper and Lower Canada.

This led to the Durham Report in 1839, which recommended unifying the colonies and introducing responsible government, where executive power was accountable to elected representatives.

This led to the Act of Union in 1841, which merged Upper and Lower Canada into the Province of Canada, with a single Legislative Assembly and appointed council.

This, however, was still not the Canadian parliament that we have today.

That came about with the British North America Act of 1867, now called the Constitution Act of 1867.

On July 1, 1867, the colonies of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia united to form the Dominion of Canada. The Act established Canada’s federal parliamentary system, modeled on the British Westminster system.

In a previous episode, I addressed the question of when exactly Canada became independent of Britain, and there is no easy answer to that question. Canada celebrates their independence starting in 1867, but the British still had a great deal of control over Canada at that time and did for decades.

So with that, to understand the Canadian Parliament, you have to start with the institution that it, in theory, is acting on behalf of, The Crown.

Canada is not a republic. It is a constitutional monarchy.

The Crown represents the state’s authority, embodied by the monarch, the King of Canada. The current King of Canada is Charles III.

However, as you might have noticed, the King of Canada does not live in Canada. As such, the monarch is represented in Canada by the Governor General at the federal level and by Lieutenant Governors in the provinces.

While the Crown’s powers are largely symbolic and ceremonial, it plays an essential constitutional role in the functioning of Parliament and the government.

Appointed by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister, the Governor General serves a typically five-year term. The Governor General used to be someone British, but nowadays, it is usually some notable Canadian citizen.

The Governor General is not a member of parliament, as they are the de facto head of state. However, they play an important role in the function of parliament.

The role is largely ceremonial, but it holds significant constitutional responsibilities, such as summoning, proroguing, and dissolving Parliament; granting Royal Assent to legislation; and ensuring there is always a functioning government.

Proroguing is a term you don’t hear often, especially if you don’t live in a country with a parliament. A prorogue is simply a delay or a postponement of Parliament.

The Governor General also exercises the Crown’s reserve powers in rare constitutional crises, such as appointing a Prime Minister or refusing a dissolution request if required to uphold democratic principles.

I should also note that while the Governor General serves as the de facto head of state in the name of the Monarch, they are not the equivalent of a president.

They do go through the form of assenting to laws, but they do not run the government. In the United States, the head of state also happens to be the head of government, but in Canada, those roles are divided.

Parliament is both the legislative and, in some ways, the executive branch. More on that in a bit.

The Canadian Parliament consists of two houses—the House of Commons and the Senate.

The upper chamber is the Senate. Unlike the US Senate, the Canadian Senate is appointed, not elected.

The Governor General appoints Canadian senators on the advice of the Prime Minister. However, the process has evolved to incorporate greater independence and transparency in recent years.

Since 2016, the federal government introduced an Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments to provide recommendations for new senators. This board identifies and shortlists candidates based on merit, regional representation, and diversity, emphasizing individuals who demonstrate integrity, expertise, and a commitment to public service.

While the Prime Minister is not legally bound to follow the board’s recommendations, the new process has significantly reduced partisanship in Senate appointments.

Once selected, senators hold their positions until the mandatory retirement age of 75 unless they resign or are removed under specific conditions set by the Constitution. It was designed to be the equivalent of the British House of Lords.

The Canadian Senate possesses substantial powers, primarily focused on reviewing, amending, and, in rare cases, rejecting legislation passed by the House of Commons. It can also introduce bills, except those related to taxation or public spending, which are the exclusive domain of the House of Commons.

As a chamber of “sober second thought,” the Senate scrutinizes laws to ensure they are fair and effective. Senators can delay legislation, propose amendments, and conduct in-depth studies on national issues through specialized committees.

Although the Senate’s powers are constitutionally significant, it often exercises restraint, recognizing the primacy of the elected House of Commons in Canada’s democratic system.

Canada currently has 105 Senators.

The lower house and the most important house in the Canadian Parliament is the House of Commons.

Members of Parliament, known as MPs, are elected in 338 geographic constituencies across Canada. These districts are known as ridings.

Parliamentary elections in Canada are first past the post elections, meaning whoever gets the most votes wins, regardless if they have a majority.

This is more relevant in Canada than in the US simply because there are more political parties in Canada competing against each other.

The leader of Parliament is the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is the head of government and is selected by the House of Commons. The Prime Minister is almost always the leader of one of the parties.

If a single party has a majority of the seats, then that party’s leader will become the prime minister.

If no party has a majority of seats, then a coalition government has to be

formed. Two or more parties will join together to create a majority, and usually, the leader of the larger party will become the prime minister.

The Prime Minister will then appoint other members of parliament to his cabinet. These are almost always MPs, but they can come from the Senate. Each cabinet officer oversees a ministry, which includes everything from defense and agriculture to sports and tourism.

Canada has a lot of ministries, and the number of ministries can be increased or reduced by different governments.

In the event of a coalition government, some number of cabinet positions would be given to the minority partners in the coalition.

This is why I said that the parliament is both the legislative and executive branches, as the prime minister and the cabinet serve an executive function but are also members of the legislature.

It is entirely possible for a party to change leaders and thus change Prime Ministers without having an election. The party with the majority can just vote for a new person to be Prime Minister.

This will happen if an individual Prime Minister is unpopular, dies, or resigns, but the party still has a majority.

The timing of Canadian elections can be regularly scheduled or can happen at any time.

The Constitution Act of 1867 says the longest any parliament can stand in Canada is five years.

This five-year limit is reinforced by the Canada Elections Act, which sets fixed election dates every four years on the third Monday of October. While the fixed-date system helps establish predictability, the five-year constitutional limit ensures that a federal election must occur within that timeframe, regardless of other factors.

However, elections can happen sooner. This can happen in a couple of ways.

If a Prime Minister is confident that they will win, they can call for an early election. They request the Governor General to dissolve parliament.

Once Parliament is dissolved, the Governor General issues a writ of election, formally initiating the election process. Elections Canada then organizes the vote, which must occur within 36 days to 50 days after the writ is issued.

Canada has a very short election season. There is no need for primaries because each party already knows who its leader is already.

No one in Canada votes for the Prime Minister directly. However, they know who they are voting for to become Prime Minister by who the leader of the party they are voting for is.

Voting for a candidate from a party is giving tacit support for that party’s leader becoming prime minister.

There is one other way for an election to be called. The House of Commons can call for a vote of no confidence in the government.

Successful votes of no confidence do not happen often.

It usually only occurs when there is a coalition government, and one of the parties leaves the coalition. If a party had a majority, they would just elect a new party leader who would become prime minister without an election.

If the government loses a no confidence vote, one of two things must happen. First, the prime minister must either resign, or the Governor-General may invite another party leader to form a government if it appears they can command the confidence of the House.

Or, the Governor-General, on the Prime Minister’s advice, dissolves Parliament, triggering a federal election.

So, the next time you hear something in the news about the goings on in the government of Canada, hopefully you’ll have a better understanding of how the system works.