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Main article: History of Canada
The Parliament of Canada above the Ottawa River, Ottawa, Ontario
Canada, which has been inhabited by aboriginal peoples, known in Canada as the First Nations, for at least 10,000 years, was first visited by Europeans around 1000, when the Vikings briefly settled at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland. More permanent European visits came in the 16th and 17th century, as the French settled there.
In 1763, at the end of the Seven Years' War, France chose to keep its Caribbean Islands and to leave its North American colony, New France, to Britain.
After the American Revolution, many British Loyalists settled in Canada.
On July 1, 1867, with the passing of the British North America Act, the British government granted local self-government to a federation of four provinces formed from three of its North American colonies, Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. The former Province (colony) of Canada formed two provinces of the new Dominion of Canada, being partitioned into Quebec and Ontario along the old boundary between Lower and Upper Canada. The term Confederation refers to this act of union and is often used for the resulting federation.
Other British colonies and territories soon joined Confederation: by 1880 Canada included all of its present area except for Newfoundland and Labrador (which joined in 1949). Full control over the Dominion's affairs officially came in 1931 with the Statute of Westminster, and in 1982 with the patriation of Canada's constitution.
In the second half of the 20th century, some citizens of the mainly French-speaking province of Quebec sought independence in two referendums held in 1980 and 1995. In both referendums, the separatist cause, led by the Parti Quebecois, was defeated with 60% and 50.6% opposed to independence, respectively.
Main article: Politics of Canada
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Queen of Canada, wearing the Order of Canada
Canada is a federation under a system of parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy. Its Head of State and Sovereign is Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II with the title of Queen of Canada. The Queen's representative in Canada is the Governor General who is generally a retired politician or other prominent Canadian appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister of Canada. The Governor General is a non-partisan figure who fills the role of providing Royal Assent to bills passed by the House of Commons and the Senate, reading the Speech from the Throne, signing state documents, formally opening and ending sessions of Parliament, and dissolving Parliament for an election. Both the Queen and the Governor General are primarily figureheads, with little real power as they almost always act on the advice of Canada's Head of Government, the Prime Minister, who is also the government party leader who controls such tools of governance as party discipline and patronage appointments.
The text of Canada's constitution can be found at this page. However, much of Canada's constitution is unwritten and the text has to be interpreted in light of various traditions and conventions.
Adrienne Clarkson
Governor General of Canada
It should be noted that the Constitution Act, which contained procedures for amending the Constitution, was agreed to during one night (known to Quebec nationalists as "Nuit des longs couteaux": night of long knives — 1982), without the province of Quebec which refused last-minute amendments that the provincial government believed diminished the province's francophone characteristics into some multicultural environment. Notably, the Constitution Act, 1982 contained a Charter of Rights and Freedoms that countered Quebec's laws (Bill 101) regarding the protection of the French language, which Quebec had declared to be the official language of the province.
The legislative branch of government consists of the Parliament, including the elected House of Commons and the Senate which consists of Senators appointed until age 75 by the Prime Minister. The Senate is composed of 105 Senators — 24 from Ontario, 24 from Quebec, 24 from the Maritime provinces (10 from Nova Scotia, 10 from New Brunswick, 4 from Prince Edward Island), 24 from the Western provinces (6 each from Manitoba, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Alberta), 6 from Newfoundland and Labrador and one for each territory (Northwest Territories, Yukon Territory, and Nunavut). Canada has strict party discipline which gives the Prime Minister very high levels of control over almost all legislation passed by Parliament.
The Prime Minister calls elections for the House of Commons at his or her discretion, though they must occur no later than five years after the previous one.
Paul Martin
Prime Minister of Canada
The Governor General formally appoints the Prime Minister, who is usually the leader of the political party that holds the most seats in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister in turn appoints the Cabinet, drawn by convention from members of the Prime Minister's party in the House of Commons and the Senate.
Canada has three main national parties, the centrist Liberal Party of Canada, the right-of-centre Conservative Party of Canada, and the left-of-centre democratic socialist New Democratic Party (NDP). A regional party, the Bloc Québécois, holds many seats in Quebec; its agenda is separatist and primarily social-democratic. Other smaller parties exist, but rarely have been able to elect members to the House of Commons. Similarly, independent candidates are rarely elected (Chuck Cadman was an exception in 2004).
The Liberals are the party of current Prime Minister Paul Martin, and his predecessor Jean Chrétien who led for the last 10 years. The only other party to form a government is the now-defunct Progressive Conservative Party, which in December 2003 merged with the Canadian Alliance to form the Conservative Party of Canada. In recent years Canada has come to be thought as having a more left-wing political slant than the United States.
Canada's judicial branch of government is composed of a variety of federal and provincial level courts that deal with cases involving federal or provincial realms of jurisdiction. Both federal and provincial cases can ultimately be appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, which sits at the highest level in the country's basically four-tier judicial hierarchy. All judges in Canada are appointed with judges at the superior, appellate and Supreme Court of Canada levels being selected by the federal government, even though many of the superior and appellate courts are provincial bodies handling matters concerning provincial law. Meanwhile, judicial posts in the low level and localized "provincial" courts are filled by each provincial or territorial government. (see Courts of Canada) Various non-governmental legal bodies have historically played an advisory role in this process.
Canada is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, La Francophonie, NATO, the G8, and APEC.
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