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Home About Canada Canada – An Overview Political and Legal Organization

Political and Legal Organization

Canada is a constitutional monarchy, a federal state and a parliamentary democracy. It has ten provinces and three territories. It has two official languages: English and French. Queen Elizabeth II is the Queen of Canada and thus the country's head of state. She delegates her powers to her representative, the Governor General of Canada. Executive authority is exercised by the Prime Minister and his Cabinet.

The legislative authority resides in Parliament, which consists of two chambers or houses: the Upper House or Senate, consisting of 105 appointed senators, and the House of Commons, consisting of 308 members (one for each electoral district) elected by universal suffrage. The House of Commons, the main legislative body, is usually elected every four years, with five years being the maximum term allowed. Voters elect a representative for their electoral district or constituency. The party which obtains the most representatives in the House of Commons forms the government.

The Canadian Constitution establishes a federal form of government and defines the functions and powers of the federal government. The federal government looks after national affairs such as foreign policy and international trade, defence, fisheries, transportation and communications, taxation, the monetary system and banking, criminal law, immigration and human rights. The provinces have jurisdiction in such fields as the administration of justice, civil rights, natural resources, provincial taxation, education, culture and municipal government. The federal government and the provinces share responsibility for the environment. Each provincial government has its own legislative assembly elected by universal suffrage.

The Constitution also contains the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which sets forth the fundamental rights of everyone who lives in Canada. The Charter protects freedom of expression and religion, democratic rights, freedom of movement and language rights, and protects citizens from discrimination on the basis of sex, race, ethnic origin and physical or mental disability, for example.

Canada has two legal systems: British common law, which is the basis for federal law, for provincial law in nine of the ten provinces, and for territorial law, and the Civil Code, which applies in the province of Quebec.