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An explanation of the Queen’s role in Canada

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An explanation of the Queen’s role in Canada

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The Queen personifies the state and is the personal symbol of allegiance, unity and authority for all Canadians. Legislators, ministers, public services and members of the military and police all swear allegiance to The Queen.

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Kim Campbell, the first woman Prime Minister

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Kim Campbell, the first woman Prime Minister

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A video about the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

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A video about the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

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The closest Government of Canada office near Airdrie

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The closest Government of Canada office near Airdrie

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5401 Temple Dr NE #116, Calgary, AB T1Y 3R7

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A political cartoon that represents a form of government activity

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A political cartoon that represents a form of government activity

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The logos of at least 3 Canadian news media outlets.

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The logos of at least 3 Canadian news media outlets.

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A political cartoon that has to do with Canada’s economy

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A political cartoon that has to do with Canada’s economy

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The queen's powers as head of state are exercised on her behalf by the governor-general of Canada, except when the queen is in Canada.

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A photograph of the signing of Canada’s Constitution in 1982.

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A photograph of the signing of Canada’s Constitution in 1982.

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What does the Canadian Constitution do?

It outlines Canada's system of government, including the structure of Parliament, the way elections work, the role of the monarchy, the powers of the executive branch, and the division of powers between the federal government and the provinces.

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Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation asks Supreme Court of Canada to reject residency requirement challenge

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Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation asks Supreme Court of Canada to reject residency requirement challenge

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Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation is asking the Supreme Court of Canada to reject an appeal application from a citizen seeking to overturn a legal ruling about the First Nation's residency requirement for councillors.

The self-governing First Nation, which requires elected councillors to move to settlement land within 14 days, filed its response last month to an application brought forward by citizen Cindy Dickson in the fall.

Dickson, who lives in Whitehorse, unsuccessfully challenged the residency requirement in the Yukon Supreme Court and the Yukon Court of Appeal, arguing it violated her equality rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms by discriminating against Vuntut Gwitchin citizens living off settlement land.

Old Crow, a mostly fly-in community of about 260 people approximately 800 kilometres north of Whitehorse, is the only consistently-habited location on Vuntut Gwitchin settlement land and is also the seat of its government.

Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation (VGFN) has defended the residency requirement, saying it's key to preserving Vuntut Gwitchin culture and tradition, as well as an exercise of its right to self-government.

The case highlighted the interaction - and tension - between Canadian and Indigenous law, with the Court of Appeal ultimately finding that while the requirement violated Dickson's rights, it was shielded by section 25 of the Charter, which protects collective Indigenous rights.

Dickson, in a previous interview with the CBC, said that she was taking the case to the Supreme Court of Canada because she didn't agree with section 25 being used to shield the residency requirement.

Yukon appeal court narrowed issue enough, VGFN argues

Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, however, said in its memorandum of argument that it was opposing Dickson's application on several grounds.

"While the arguments raised in the proposed appeal are of great [importance] to VGFN and the preservation of its self-government practices and laws, it is not of such public importance that this court should grant leave to appeal in this case," the document reads.

"The order of the [Yukon Court of Appeal] was narrowly cast such that the decision is applicable to the specific factual situation before the court. The issues on which the applicant seeks leave to appeal do not in this case reveal a conflict or tension in the law, but an application of the law to the specific facts of the dispute in issue."

Should the Supreme Court of Canada choose to hear Dickson's appeal, though, the First Nation asked that it be granted a cross-appeal "as a matter of justice and fairness."

In that case, the First Nation wrote that its cross-appeal would focus on two key points of Yukon Court of Appeal's decision - whether the Charter applies to the residency requirement, and if so, whether the requirement actually violates Dickson's equality rights.

The First Nation, throughout all of the proceedings related to the case, has maintained that it never consented to the application of the Charter during the negotiations of its final and self-government agreements, and that it's an issue that should be settled at negotiation tables, not by the court.

"There is a risk that the Charter's application would subvert the entire purpose of VGFN's self-government by becoming another tool of assimilation requiring abandonment of their own fundamental values and distinct conceptions of freedom to conform to liberal enlightenment values," the First Nation's memorandum of argument reads.

"Instead of allowing space for VGFN's distinct sovereignty and legal order within Canada's constitutional fabric, this approach would create a monolith."

The Supreme Court of Canada has yet to decide whether it will hear Dickson's appeal.

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Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation opposing Supreme Court of Canada hearing challenge of residency requirement | CBC News

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The First Nation is opposing an appeal application from one of its citizens who has unsuccessfully challenged the residency requirement in Yukon courts, saying that the latest legal decision narrowed the issue enough so that it's no longer one of broad, national public interest.

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The MP for Banff - Airdrie, Blake Richards

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The MP for Banff - Airdrie, Blake Richards

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Members consider and vote on legislation in the chamber, attend committee and caucus meetings, and perform a wide range of duties in their constituencies. They also represent Canada when travelling abroad on official business or when hosting foreign dignitaries.

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The cabinets primary role is as an official advisory council to the head of government.

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The Honourable Mélanie Joly was first elected to represent Ahuntsic-Cartierville in the House of Commons in 2015.

In her ministerial roles, Minister Joly has worked to promote Canadian culture, and to grow and increase the visibility of Canada's tourism sector. She has also worked to safeguard Canada's two official languages while promoting the use of French in Canada and around the world, including in the digital sphere.

Prior to entering federal politics, Minister Joly founded the Vrai changement pour Montréal party and ran for mayor of Montréal in 2013 under its banner.

Minister Joly holds an Honours Bachelor of Law from the Université de Montréal and a Magister Juris in European and Comparative Law from the University of Oxford. She is the author of Changing the Rules of the Game, in which she shares her vision for public policy and civic engagement. She was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

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The Honourable Mélanie Joly was first elected to represent Ahuntsic-Cartierville in the House of Commons in 2015. In her ministerial roles, Minister Joly has worked to promote Canadian culture, and to grow and increase the visibility of Canada's tourism sector.

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Parliament's 105 senators shape Canada's future. Senators scrutinize legislation, suggest improvements and fix mistakes.

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Federal government introduces legislation to ban conversion therapy in Canada

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Federal government introduces legislation to ban conversion therapy in Canada

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The federal government today announced new legislation that would effectively ban the practice of conversion therapy in Canada.

Marci Ien, the minister for women and gender equality and youth, told an afternoon news conference that the proposed legislation - titled Bill C-4 - will be "among the most comprehensive in the world."

Conversion therapy is the discredited practice of trying to change an individual's sexual orientation to heterosexual, to change an individual's gender identity to cisgender, or to change their gender expression to match the sex they were assigned at birth.

The Liberal government had tabled similar legislation to outlaw the practice earlier this year, but the late summer election wiped out the proposal before it could become law.

The new legislation appears to be stricter and more comprehensive than the version that was lost with the dissolution of Parliament before the election.

The new version would make "causing another person to undergo conversion therapy" a criminal offence. The previous version, known as Bill C-6, called for a criminal penalty only if conversion therapy was performed on an adult without consent.

The change suggests that no person will be allowed to participate in conversion therapy if the bill becomes law - regardless of consent.
WATCH | Minister of Justice David Lametti speaks to CBC's Power & Politics about conversion therapy legislation

"No matter your age, torture is something you can't consent to," Justice Minister David Lametti said.

Bill C-4 would also make it a crime to send a child for conversion therapy outside Canada, to advertise conversion therapy or to profit financially from the practice.

Practice can amount to torture: UN

A 2020 report to the United Nations called for a global ban on the practice. The report said the practice can amount to torture.

Conversion therapy is often sold as a form of counselling or behaviour modification, Ien noted.

"These seemingly innocent titles are meant to distract people from what is actually happening during these so-called therapies," she said.

No Conversion Canada, a group pushing to end conversion therapy, welcomed the new legislation in a media statement.

"We are pleased to see this strong legislation introduced, that has adopted many of the requests from survivors and community for a more comprehensive ban on these barbaric practices" said Nicholas Schiavo, the organization's executive director.

"It is critical that Parliament pass a complete ban on conversion practices that are proven to be fraudulent and dangerous, so that all LGBTQ2+ Canadians are protected from abuse."

Government expects bill will 'get through quickly'

Minutes after the legislation was tabled, the NDP issued a media statement indicating that the new proposal will have enough support to proceed in the House of Commons.

"Today, New Democrats stand ready to help make sure this bill proceeds through the House as quickly as possible," said New Democrat MPs Randall Garrison and Blake Desjarlais in a joint statement.

"We hope to get this bill to the Senate before Christmas so we can avoid a repeat of the Liberals' failure to get this done."

The previous conversion therapy bill was met with resistance both in the House of Commons and in the Senate. Of the 63 MPs who voted against the bill in the House of Commons, 62 were Conservatives.

Some Conservative senators also opposed the bill, arguing that it did not adequately define conversion therapy and could have criminalized voluntary conversations about sexuality.

"I think it will get through quickly, without promising an actual date," Lametti said of the new version.

"I believe we have the political will to move this forward."

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Federal government introduces legislation to ban conversion therapy in Canada | CBC News

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The federal government today announced new legislation that would effectively ban the practice of conversion therapy in Canada. Marci Ien, the minister for women and gender equality and youth, told an afternoon news conference that the proposed legislation - titled Bill C-4 - will be "among the most comprehensive in the world."

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A political cartoon depicting a federal government politician.

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A political cartoon depicting a federal government politician.

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A 1928 law that, over a period of four decades, resulted in close to 3,000 young people being classified as "mentally unfit" and without their knowledge or consent were sterilized to prevent them from breeding their "bad blood."

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Historians, academics and victims gathered at the University of Alberta on Saturday to re-examine the province's former eugenics policy.

In 1928, the Alberta government passed legislation that allowed the province to medically sterilize people deemed to have mental disabilities.

Before the Sexual Sterilization Act of Alberta was repealed in 1972, more than 2,800 sterilizations were performed throughout the province.

Leilani Muir, who successfully sued the province in 1995 after being sterilized because she failed an IQ test, was one of the speakers at the Living Archives on Eugenics in Western Canada conference.

"I'm a person who brought something that was so tragic in our black history ... that brought it forward and hope it has helped thousands and thousands of people, and I'm going to keep on trying to help people," said Muir, 66.

History will repeat itself

Since Muir launched her lawsuit, more than 700 victims have sued the province. Most of the cases were settled out of court.

Muir stressed the importance of raising awareness about the history of forced sterilization, saying it would be a dangerous thing to forget.

"We've gotta make sure this never happens again because my attitude is if I don't talk about this and keep it out forefront, history will repeat itself in some way because history always does repeat," she said.

Muir didn't find out she had been sterilized until she was in her 20s. She said officials told her at the time that she was having her appendix removed.

"It was a shameful thing, you know? I felt that shame all my life ... and not being able to have children because of what they did - I will never be called Mom or Grandma - that hurts. So we can't let history repeat," she reiterated.

'Prevention by isolation'

Another speaker, Nicola Fairbrother, is the director of Neighbourhood Bridges, a human rights organization committed to ending oppression for people with intellectual disabilities.

While people with disabilities are no longer subject to sterilization, she said they still face oppression.

"We've significantly restricted people's access to sexual and reproductive health information and as it pertains to people with intellectual disabilities, our focus has been largely on prevention by isolation and that seems to be our most effective sterilization strategy in the modern age."

In fact, Fairbrother argues it's a more effective approach than forced sterilization.

"It prohibits even the notion of parenthood as an identity, so if you don't believe you can be a parent because you're not allowed - and we can do that without being explicit - then we don't have to worry about people getting sterilized because they don't believe they have that right in the first place," she said.

'You feel like you're unlovable'

Marjorie Thompson, 38, is one of the many who have been raised with the belief that she will not be allowed to have children.

Thompson is with the Self-Advocacy Federation of Edmonton and has what she describes as a borderline developmental disability.

"My mom has said that if I ever was to have a child, she would take it away from me, that it would be in [the child's] best interest ... that it would be taken from me no matter what," Thompson said.

"I don't even bother going and searching out a relationship because of it. Because what's the point of falling in love, getting married [when] you can't have kids?

"So what's the point of having that? So you feel like you're unlovable."

Rob Wilson, a philosophy professor and conference organizer, said it was important to include those directly affected in the conference.

"[We wanted] to include, in a very direct and meaningful way, sterilization survivors and people who have lived this experience," he said.

"And not just to have them at arm's length to the project but to really make them integral to what we're doing - providing oral histories and telling their stories and having a voice."

Wilson said he was surprised to find the vast majority of his students and colleagues did not know about this part of Alberta's history.

"How representative they are, I don't know, but that seems to me to be quite telling in terms of how widespread basic knowledge is of this having happened."

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Alberta's sex sterilizations re-examined | CBC News

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Historians, academics and victims gathered at the University of Alberta on Saturday to re-examine the province's former eugenics policy. In 1928, the Alberta government passed legislation that allowed the province to medically sterilize people deemed to have mental disabilities. Before the Sexual Sterilization Act of Alberta was repealed in 1972, more than 2,800 sterilizations were performed throughout the province.

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Leader of the Opposition, Candice Bergen

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Leader of the Opposition, Candice Bergen

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The tasks of the Leader of the Opposition include: chairing meetings in which the opposition discusses policies and examines bills. presenting alternative policies to those of the government. selecting members of the opposition to be shadow ministers.

He has recently been ousted, yet they have not found a replacement as of.

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A letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

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A letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

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January 13, 2022

Dear Prime Minister Trudeau:

The last thing I feel like doing this evening is sitting in front of my computer, writing this email, but as much as I'd like to simply relax and enjoy my evening, I can't. I keep thinking about how many of our fellow Canadians are struggling-really struggling-right now, as a result of the ongoing stress and strain posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. And I keep thinking of all the people in low-income countries who are dying because they lack access to life-saving vaccines.

It's pretty clear to me that we as Canadians need to be doing everything in our power to reduce the likelihood of future variants upending our lives once again-not just for our own sakes, but for the sake of everyone.

Scientists have made it crystal clear that the only path out of this pandemic is to vaccinate the entire world. I cannot understand why Canada, a country that prides itself on being a good global citizen, has not yet ratified the World Trade Organization's TRIPS waiver, which would allow member states to temporarily waive intellectual property rights related to urgently needed COVID-19 vaccines. As Doctors Without Borders has noted, "This measure has been continually blocked, opposed or simply delayed by many of the same wealthy countries who have already secured the vaccine doses they need - including Canada."

Canada needs to do better. So much better. It needs to demonstrate the moral leadership needed in this moment by supporting the TRIPS waiver. I urge you and your government to demonstrate that leadership.

Sincerely,

Ann Douglas

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An Open Letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau - Ann Douglas: Parenting Author & Speaker

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January 13, 2022 Dear Prime Minister Trudeau: The last thing I feel like doing this evening is sitting in front of my computer, writing this email, but as much as I'd like to simply relax and enjoy my evening, I can't.

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Canadian dollar tops 82 cents for the first time since 2017 | CBC news

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Canadian dollar tops 82 cents for the first time since 2017 | CBC news

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The Canadian dollar hit its highest level in almost four years on Thursday, buoyed by high commodity prices.

The loonie was changing hands at 82.26 cents US when stock markets closed on Thursday, its highest close since September 2017.

Two broad trends are combining to push the loonie higher.

First, the improving outlook for the global economy coming out of COVID-19 has pushed up prices for commodities that Canada has a lot of.

Lumber prices have hit record highs due to a construction boom, and the price of a barrel of the North American oil benchmark, known as West Texas Intermediate, topped $65 US this week, its highest level since the pandemic started.

The price of wheat has hit its highest price since 2013, and copper prices are at a nine-year high, too.

An index of commodity prices has risen by 37 per cent in the past six months alone Bank of Montreal economist Doug Porter noted recently.

"This six-month run rivals anything we have seen in the past 50 years," he said.

Booming commodity prices are a boon for Canada's economy, which is pushing up the value of the country's currency.

Potential of higher rates

That commodity boom is happening as Canada's central bank shows signs of hiking its benchmark interest rate far sooner than most other countries.

At its policy meeting last week, the Bank of Canada said it would slow its pace of bond buying, a sign it thinks the economy may soon need less stimulus. Trading in financial instruments known as swaps, that bet on rate decisions, implies the market thinks the Bank of Canada may hike rates as many as two times by the end of next year.

"Meanwhile, you have the U.S. Federal Reserve showing no inclination to go down that route," said David Doyle, economist and market strategist with Macquarie Group, in an interview with CBC News.

If Canada raises its rate while other countries do not, that makes Canada look more attractive for investors as a place to put their money to work. So money would pour into the country, and by extension, push up the value of the currency.

"The Canadian dollar tends to respond positively to those circumstances," Doyle said.

Audrey Childe-Freeman, a foreign exchange strategist with Bloomberg Intelligence, thinks Canada's currency could be poised for further gains.

"In a ... currency market that's gone back to being mainly driven by yields and growth prospects, and providing ... commodity prices consolidate or push up more, we believe the loonie may continue to outperform," she said in a recent note to clients.

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Canadian dollar tops 82 cents for 1st time since 2017 | CBC News

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The Canadian dollar hit its highest level in almost four years on Thursday, buoyed by high commodity prices. The loonie was changing hands at 82.26 cents US when stock markets closed on Thursday, its highest close since September 2017. Two broad trends are combining to push the loonie higher.

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Trudeau promises to hike taxes on Canada's big banks, insurance companies | CBC News

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Trudeau promises to hike taxes on Canada's big banks, insurance companies | CBC News

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Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said today a re-elected government led by him would raise the corporate taxes paid by Canada's "largest and most profitable" financial services firms to help pay for his promised multi-billion dollar housing program.

Speaking to reporters at a campaign stop in Surrey, B.C., Trudeau said Canada's major banks and insurance companies have recovered from the COVID-19 crisis better than companies in just about any other industry and should pay more to help offset the cost of ambitious post-pandemic programs.

The commitment comes during a week when Canada's banks are reporting eye-popping quarterly profits fuelled by drawing down the capital reserves they set aside last year to guard against possible COVID-related loan losses.

The banks are also sitting on piles of cash because regulators have blocked them temporarily from distributing more money to investors through dividends and share repurchases.

Trudeau said that, if re-elected, his government would raise the corporate income tax rate by three percentage points - from 15 per cent to 18 per cent - on all bank and insurance earnings over $1 billion to "support middle-class Canadians in their goal of home ownership."

Trudeau announced on Tuesday a three-point housing plan - a program to give Canadians more financial support to buy a home, boost the housing supply and establish a Home Buyers' Bill of Rights that would ban real estate practices like blind bidding.

Tax measures worth $2.5 billion per year, say Liberals

Trudeau said today that a re-elected Liberal government would also establish something called the "Canada recovery dividend," which would force these same financial institutions to "contribute more over the next four years of Canada's recovery."

While details about this "dividend" remain thin, the party said the sums banks and insurance companies would have to pay would be decided "in consultation over the coming months with the Superintendent of Financial Institutions" and would be levied over a four-year period.

The party said these two initiatives would generate "a minimum" of $2.5 billion a year over the next four years, starting in the 2022-23 fiscal year.

Trudeau said banks "got a windfall" because generous government relief programs kept Canadians whole during pandemic-related economic disruptions, which led to more savings, a reduction in household debt and fewer delinquent loans.

"During this pandemic, Canadians all tightened their belts, Canadians made tremendous sacrifices. That wasn't the case for everyone. Given our banks have reported extraordinarily large profits and have been incredibly successful, we're going to ask them to do a little bit more," he said.

"As we rebuild, we're going to ask big financial institutions to pay a little back so we can do more for you and, in particular, so we can help you own your home and own your future."

Liberals promise to target tax avoidance

Trudeau said the government wouldn't tolerate "sophisticated tax planning or profit-sharing" by companies looking to dodge the new measures. He promised new "targeted anti-avoidance rules" to ensure the companies pay what the Liberals want them to pay.

The party is also promising to enhance the powers of the federal Financial Consumer Agency of Canada to better police "excessive" fees charged to customers and to ensure the cost of the new corporate tax measures is "not passed on to consumers."

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has been pushing Trudeau to rein in what the banks can charge their customers during this health crisis. The party has asked the government to try to temporarily block the banks from charging interest on mortgages and cut credit card fees paid by small businesses for payment processing.

The NDP has long proposed a system of postal banking to bring financial services to rural and remote communities where the big banks have closed branches. The party wants Canada Post to offer everyday banking services like chequing and savings accounts - a model that is used in countries like Italy and New Zealand - to challenge big financial institutions like BMO, CIBC, RBC, Scotiabank and TD.

The party's platform also includes a promise to force financial advisers to offer advice that's in their clients' best financial interest rather than that of "the bank's bottom line."

Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole has also promised to take on the big banks. In the platform released last week, the party promised a Conservative government would bring in legislation to allow for more banking competition by "fintech companies," order the Competition Bureau to investigate bank fees and require more transparency for investment management fees so "seniors and savers don't get ripped off."

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Trudeau promises to hike taxes on Canada's big banks, insurance companies | CBC News

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Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said today a re-elected government led by him would raise the corporate taxes paid by Canada's "largest and most profitable" financial services firms to help pay for his promised multi-billion dollar housing program.

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A quote from a federal politician (Stephen Harper)

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A quote from a federal politician (Stephen Harper)

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A French-language leaders’ debate quickly became heated when the party leaders sparred over the issue of wearing niqabs during citizenship ceremonies.

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The governor general has important parliamentary responsibilities including summoning, proroguing and dissolving Parliament. The governor general also sets out the government’s program by reading the Speech from the Throne and giving Royal Assent, which brings parliamentary bills into law.

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The prime minister is the head of government in Canada. The Canadian prime minister is usually the leader of the party that wins the most seats in the House of Commons in an election.