How Canadians Govern Themselves - Parlement du Canada

How Canadians Govern ThemselvesCanadian and American Government30purposes) elected representatives of theYukon Territory and the NorthwestTerritories, and another conferencewith the Premiers within 15 years.Our written constitution still containsnot one syllable on prime ministerialqualifications, the method of election orremoval, or (except for the calling of theconstitutional conferences) the PrimeMinister’s powers. Nor is there anythingon any of these matters in any Act ofParliament, except for provision of asalary, pension and residence for theperson holding the recognized positionof first minister. Everything else isa matter of established usage, of“convention.” There is nothing in anylaw requiring the Prime Minister or anyother Minister to have a seat inParliament; there is just a custom thathe or she must have a seat, or get onewithin a reasonable time. There isnothing in any law to say that agovernment that loses its majority inthe House of Commons on a matter ofconfidence must either resign (makingway for a different government inthe same House) or ask for a freshgeneral election.A fourth basic difference between theAmerican and Canadian systems is inthe type of federalism they embody.The American system was originallyhighly decentralized. The federalCongress was given a short list ofspecific powers; everything notmentioned in that list belonged to thestates “or to the people” (that is, wasnot within the power of either Congressor any state legislature). “States’ rights”were fundamental. The Fathers ofConfederation, gazing with horror atthe American Civil War, decided that“states’ rights” were precisely whathad caused it, and acted accordingly.“Here,” said Sir John A. Macdonald,“we have adopted a different system.We have expressly declared that allsubjects of general interest not distinctlyand exclusively conferred upon thelocal governments and legislaturesshall be conferred upon the generalgovernment and legislature. We havethus avoided that great source ofweakness that has been the disruptionof the United States. We herebystrengthen the central Parliament, andmake the Confederation one peopleand one government, instead of fivepeoples and five governments, withmerely a point of authority connectingus to a limited and insufficient extent.”The Fathers also, as we have seen, gavea long list of specific examples ofexclusive national powers. They furtherprovided that the members of theSenate, and all judges from countycourts up (except judges of probate inNova Scotia and New Brunswick)should be appointed by the nationalgovernment, and that all Lieutenant-Governors of the provinces should beappointed, instructed and removableby the national government. They gavethe national government and Parliamentcertain specific powers to protect theeducational rights of the Protestant andRoman Catholic minorities of theQueen’s subjects. They gave the nationalgovernment power to disallow (wipeoff the statute book) any Acts ofprovincial legislatures, within one yearof their passage.