Principles of Canadian Constitution:

-these are all embedded in the Canadian constitution, in what it attempts to do and in how
it operates

Responsible government-
-form of government in which pol. Executive must retain confidence of elected
legislature or assembly and must resign or call an election if and when it is defeated on
vote of nonconfidence
-doing right in things in lines with legislature and ultimately the population that elects
them

- Harper’s minority government had faced a non-confidence vote Monday over the Nov.
24 economic statement. Opposition parties opposed a plan to end public funding for
political parties and suspend the right to strike for federal civil servants. Opposition
leaders said the update contained no real plan to stimulate the economy.

-Threaten coalition between Bloc, NDP and liberals with igatieff (opposition) calling the
vote of non confidence

-Prime Minister Harper managed to slip the threat through relevant concessions

Federalism- a division of powers between central and regional governments such that
neither is subordinate to the other
-settlement of confederation not entirely so with provinces subordinate to central gov in
several respects
-MacDonald essentially gave provinces 16 enumerated powers with residual vested in the
centre
- give ottawa unlimited taxation powers, broad power over trade and commerce, defense
and criminal law
-change in this structure over years
-work together now (JCPC limiting powers on trade and commerce before this)

Constitutional monarchy
-In terms of its head of state; the monarch lives in another country and actual power of
her and gov general are limited
-represented as the Crown; constitution has put most of monarchs power in other hands
-whittled away by legislation or by constitutional convention
-rulings of JCPC remained as signifigant result of these past ties
According to the Constitution of Canada however, the Governor General holds
enormous, dictatorial powers. Technically every decision that the government of Canada
makes must be "approved" by the Governor General.

Rule of Law- all government action must be based on law and that gov and its officials
must obey law
-no one is above law even those who make it
-adopted from Britian
-The sponsorship scandal, "AdScam", "Sponsorship"or Sponsorgate, is a scandal
that came as a result of a Canadian federal government "sponsorship program" in the
province of Quebec and involving the Liberal Party of Canada, which was in power from
1993 to 2006. The program was originally established as an effort to raise awareness of
the Government of Canada's contributions to Quebec industries and other activities in
order to counter the actions of the Parti Québécois government of the province that
worked to promote Quebec independence.
-Paul Martin and Chretien under investigation for their roles
-Jean Lafluer CEO of Lefluer Communication Marketing guilty of 28 counts of fraud

Democracy-
-has 4 components
-popular soveriegnty and that people ultimately rule
-political equality (everyone has one vote on election date); further meaning
-political freedom in that people can organize b/w elections and advocate political
purposes
Majority rule: minority rights protected; but will of majority prevails
-commitment shown in history and through referendums, on prohibition in 1898 and
conscription in 1942

Judicial Review-
The first type of ‘judicial review’ involves the actions of the executive branch of
government. In the modern state it is impossible for the legislature to address every
administrative decision (such as the decision to issue or to refuse to issue a business
license), therefore, many statutes endow various governmental authorities with
administrative powers. If a person believes that a certain governmental authority has
exercised its power in an arbitrary, discriminatory, or otherwise unreasonable way, she
can file a suit in a court of law and ask for ‘judicial review’, that is, to ask that the court
review the administrative decision. If the court finds in favour of the plaintiff, it can
annul the administrative decision.

The other type of ‘judicial review’ does not involve the actions of the executive branch,
but rather the actions of the legislative branch. S. 52 of the Constitution Act, 1982
provides that “the Constitution of Canada is the supreme law of Canada”. S. 24 of the
same Act guarantees the right for individuals to challenge legislation which does not
conform with the Constitution thereby giving Canadian courts the power to engage in
‘judicial review’ on the constitutionality of legislation. The purpose of this type of
‘judicial review’, also referred to as “constitutional review”, is to ensure that legislation
conforms to the Constitution of Canada. The Constitution regulates two different areas –
the division of powers between the federal and provincial government, and the rights
guaranteed to every Canadian against both levels of government. Consequently, there are
two ways in which an act of a legislature or of Parliament might be unconstitutional.
First, when the act is enacted by a provincial government while the relevant subject
matter of the act is under Federal jurisdiction (or vice versa) (see division of powers).
Second, when this act violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
-Morgentaler 1993 case
-tried to reproduce defunct s. 251 under provincial juristiction in Nova scotia