Editing Monarchy of Canada (section)

==Federal and provincial aspects==
{{Further|Monarchy in the Canadian provinces}}
[[File:Canada's Governor General, Lieutenant Governors, Territorial Commissioners and their Private Secretaries, 2016.jpg|thumb|The one federal and 10 provincial viceroys, along with the three territorial commissioners, at their annual meeting in 2016, accompanied by their respective partners and secretaries]]

The origins of [[Canadian sovereignty]] lie in the early 17th century, during which time the monarch in England fought with parliament there over who had ultimate authority, culminating in the [[Glorious Revolution]] in 1688 and the subsequent ''Bill of Rights, 1689'', which, as mentioned elsewhere in this article, is today part of Canadian constitutional law. This brought to Canada the British notion of the [[Parliamentary supremacy|supremacy of parliament]]—of which the monarch is a part—and it was carried into each of the provinces upon the implementation of [[responsible government]]. That, however, was superseded when the ''[[Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms|Charter of Rights and Freedoms]]'' (within the ''Constitution Act, 1982'') introduced into Canada the American idea of the [[Supremacy Clause|supremacy of the law]].<ref>{{Citation |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sovereignty |last=McWhinney |first=Edward Watson |title=Sovereignty |date=8 October 2019 |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |publisher=Historica Canada |access-date=5 March 2023 |archive-date=29 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529215957/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sovereignty |url-status=live}}</ref> Still, the King remains the [[Sovereignty|sovereign]] of Canada.{{#tag:ref|Upon acceding to the throne on 8 September 2022, King [[Charles III]] stated, "I am deeply aware of this great inheritance and of the duties and heavy responsibilities of sovereignty, which have now passed to me. In taking up these responsibilities, I shall strive to follow the inspiring example I have been set in upholding constitutional government and to seek the peace, harmony, and prosperity of [...] the Commonwealth realms and territories throughout the world."<ref>{{Citation |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/crown-canada/monarch.html |author=Government of Canada |title=Culture, history, and sport > Canadian identity and society > Monarchy and the Crown > The Crown in Canada |date=11 August 2017 |publisher=King's Printer for Canada |access-date=5 March 2023 |archive-date=24 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324212245/https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/crown-canada/monarch.html |url-status=live}}</ref>|group=n|name=Sovereignty}}<ref>{{Harvnb|Newman|2017|p=62}}</ref>

Canada's monarchy was established at Confederation, when its executive government and authority were declared, in section 9 of the ''Constitution Act, 1867'', to continue and be vested in the monarch. Placing such power, along with legislative power, with the tangible, living Queen, rather than the abstract and inanimate Crown, was a deliberate choice by the framers of the constitution.<ref>{{Harvnb|Newman|2017|pp=58–59}}</ref> Still, the Crown is the foundation of the country<ref name=Tidridge16>{{Harvnb|Tidridge|2011|p=16}}</ref><ref name=Johnstonxi>{{Citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s5EHDAAAQBAJ&dq=history+of+the+%22queen%27s+personal+canadian+flag%22&pg=PR2| editor-last1=Jackson| editor-first1=D. Michael| editor-last2=Lagassé| editor-first2=Philippe |last=Johnston |first=David |title=Canada and the Crown: Essays on Constitutional Monarchy |chapter=Foreword |page=xi |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |location=Montreal |date=2013 |isbn=978-1-5533-9204-0 |access-date=17 April 2023}}</ref> as "the very centre of [Canada's] constitution and democracy."<ref name=Tidridge16/> Although Canada is a federation, the Canadian monarchy is unitary throughout all jurisdictions in the country,<ref name=Roberts13>{{Harvnb|Roberts|2009|p=13}}</ref> the sovereignty of the different administrations being passed on through the overreaching Crown itself as a part of the executive, legislative, and judicial operations in each of the federal and provincial spheres<ref>{{Harvnb|Newman|2017|p=60}}</ref> and the [[headship of state]] being a part of all equally.<ref name=Roberts13/> The Crown thus links the various governments into a federal state,<ref name=MacLeod17/> while it is simultaneously also "divided" into 11 legal jurisdictions, or 11 "crowns"—one federal and 10 provincial<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jackson |first=D. Michael |title=Golden Jubilee and Provincial Crown |journal=Canadian Monarchist News |volume=7 |issue=3 |page=6 |publisher=Monarchist League of Canada |location=Toronto |date=2003 |url=http://www.monarchist.ca/cmnews/CMN_winter_spring_2003_Update-3.pdf |access-date=21 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071026215833/http://www.monarchist.ca/cmnews/CMN_winter_spring_2003_Update-3.pdf |archive-date=26 October 2007}}</ref>—with the monarch taking on a distinct [[legal person]]a in each.{{#tag:ref|For example, if a lawsuit is filed against the federal government, the respondent is formally described as ''His Majesty the King in Right of Canada'', or simply {{Lang|la|[[Rex (title)|Rex]]}}.<ref name=CRHT2/> Likewise, in a case in which a party sues both the province of [[Saskatchewan]] and the federal government, the respondents would be formally called ''His Majesty the King in Right of Saskatchewan'' and ''His Majesty the King in Right of Canada''.<ref>{{Cite court |litigants=Chief Myles Venne and all of the Councllors of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band v. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada and Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of Saskatchewan |vol=Q.B. No. 2655 of 1987 |court=Court of Queen's Bench for Saskatchewan |date=14 July 1987 |url=https://www.usask.ca/nativelaw/factums/view.php?id=115 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509024133/http://www.usask.ca/nativelaw/factums/view.php?id=115 |url-status=dead}}</ref>|group=n|name=Pers2}}{{#tag:ref|Illustrative of this arrangement is property transfers; of this, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources states: "When public land is required by the federal government or one of its departments, or any provincial ministry, the land itself is not transferred. What is transferred is the responsibility to manage the lands on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen (HMQ). This is accomplished by an order-in-council or a minister's order, which transfers management of land either from HMQ in right of Ontario to HMQ in right of Canada as represented by a department or to HMQ in right of Ontario as represented by another ministry. The Crown does not transfer ownership to itself."<ref>{{Cite report |last=Ministry of Natural Resources |title=Disposition of Public Land to Other Governments and Agencies |location=Toronto |publisher=Queen's Printer for Ontario |date=24 January 2006 |page=2 |series=3.2.B |url=http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/mnr_e000096.pdf |access-date=25 April 2010 |archive-date=14 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150114164538/http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/mnr_e000096.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref>|group=n|name=OMNR}} As such, the constitution instructs that any change to the position of the monarch or his or her representatives in Canada requires the consent of the [[Senate of Canada|Senate]], the [[House of Commons of Canada|House of Commons]], and the legislative assemblies of all the provinces.<ref name=ElizabethII1982>{{Citation |author=Elizabeth II |author-link=Elizabeth II |publication-date=17 April 1982 |title=The Constitution Act, 1982 |series=V.41.a |location=Ottawa |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |url=http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/const/const1982.html#sec52 |access-date=16 May 2009 |date=1982 |archive-date=22 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160222233202/http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/const/const1982.html#sec52 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Crown, being shared and balanced,<ref name=Johnstonxi/> provides the bedrock upon which all of Canada's different regions and peoples can live together peacefully<ref>{{Harvnb|Tidridge|2011|p=17}}</ref> and was said by David E. Smith, in 2017, to be the "keystone of the constitutional architecture" of Canada.<ref>{{Citation |last=Smith |first=David E. |title=The Constitution in a Hall of Mirrors: Canada at 150 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |location=Toronto |date=2017 |page=iii |isbn=978-1-4875-0247-8}}</ref>
[[File:DSC01923 - Royal Window (29867749537).jpg|thumb|left|The Royal Window in the [[Rideau Hall#The McKay villa and Mappin block|foyer]] of [[Rideau Hall]], commemorating Queen [[Elizabeth II]]'s [[Ruby Jubilee of Elizabeth II|Ruby Jubilee]]. At centre is the [[Arms of Canada|Royal Coat of Arms of Canada]] surrounded by the shields of each of the sovereign's 10 provincial and then-two territorial coats of arms.]]

The Crown is located beyond politics, existing to give authority to and protect the constitution and system of governance.<ref name=Tidridge16/> Power, therefore, rests with an institution that "functions to safeguard it on behalf of all its citizens", rather than any singular individual.<ref>{{Harvnb|MacLeod|2015|p=16}}</ref> The sovereign and his representatives typically "act by 'not acting'"{{#tag:ref|Robert E. Hawkins called this "inefficient efficiency", which can "be placed alongside the other oxymorons that convention embeds in our constitution, oxymorons like loyal opposition, liberal democracy, and constitutional monarchy itself."<ref name=Hawkins104/>|group=n|name=REH}}—holding power, but, not exercising it—both because they are unelected figures and to maintain their neutrality, "deliberately, insistently, and resolutely",<ref>{{Citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s5EHDAAAQBAJ&dq=history+of+the+%22queen%27s+personal+canadian+flag%22&pg=PR2| editor-last1=Jackson| editor-first1=D. Michael| editor-last2=Lagassé| editor-first2=Philippe |last=Hawkins |first=Robert E. |title=Canada and the Crown: Essays on Constitutional Monarchy |chapter="Inefficient efficiency": The Use of Vice-Regal Reserve Powers |page=103 |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |location=Montreal |date=2013 |isbn=978-1-5533-9204-0 |access-date=18 April 2023}}</ref> in case they have to be an impartial arbiter in a constitutional crisis and ensure that normal democratic discourse can resume.{{Refn|<ref>{{Citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s5EHDAAAQBAJ&dq=history+of+the+%22queen%27s+personal+canadian+flag%22&pg=PR2| editor-last1=Jackson| editor-first1=D. Michael| editor-last2=Lagassé| editor-first2=Philippe |last=McCreery |first=Christopher |title=Canada and the Crown: Essays on Constitutional Monarchy |chapter=Confidante and Chief of Staff: The Governor General's Secretary |page=201 |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |location=Montreal |date=2013 |isbn=978-1-5533-9204-0 |access-date=18 April 2023}}</ref><ref name=Hawkins104>{{Harvnb|Hawkins|2013|p=104}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Jackson|Lagassé|2013|p=7}}</ref>}} Consequently, the Crown performs two functions:<ref name=Jackson11-13>{{Harvnb|Jackson|Smith|2012|pp=11–30}}</ref> as a unifying symbol and a protector of democratic rights and freedoms,<ref name=Johnstonxi/> "tightly woven into the fabric of the Canadian constitution."<ref name=Jackson11-13/>

At the same time, a number of freedoms granted by the constitution to all other Canadians are denied to, or limited for, the monarch and the other senior members of the royal family: freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom to travel, freedom to choose a career, freedom to marry, and freedom of privacy and family life.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hazell|Morris|2017|p=30}}</ref>

While the Crown is empowered by statute and the [[royal prerogative]], it also enjoys inherent powers not granted by either.<ref>{{Citation |url=https://www.constitutionalstudies.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/22.1-Full-Issue.pdf| editor-last1=Lagassé| editor-first1=Philippe| editor-last2=MacDonald| editor-first2=Nicholas A. |title=The Crown in the 21st Century| last1=Daly| first1=Paul |series=Royal Treatment: The Crown's Special Status in Administrative Law |page=87 |volume=22 |issue=1 |date=2017 |publisher=Centre for Constitutional Studies |location=Edmonton |access-date=5 June 2023 |archive-date=16 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816131152/https://www.constitutionalstudies.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/22.1-Full-Issue.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Court of Appeal of British Columbia]] ruled in 1997 that "the Crown has the capacities and powers of a natural person"<ref>{{Cite court |litigants=Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Assn of Canada v British Columbia (Attorney General) |vol=4 |reporter=Dominion Law Reports |opinion=613 |pinpoint=149 |court=Court of Appeal of British Columbia |date=1997}}</ref> and its actions as a natural person are, as with the actions of any natural person, subject to judicial review.<ref>{{Harvnb|Newman|2017|p=85}}</ref> Further, it was determined in ''R. v Secretary of State for Health the ex parte C'' that, "as a matter of capacity, no doubt, [the Crown] has power to do whatever a private person can do. But, as an organ of government, it can only exercise those powers for the public benefit, and for identifiably 'governmental' purposes within limits set by the law."<ref>{{Cite court |litigants=Shrewsbury & Atcham Borough Council v Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government |reporter=Civilian |opinion=148 |pinpoint=Paragraphs 47–48, Note 36 |court=Court of Appeal (England and Wales) |date=2008}}</ref> Similarly, use of the royal prerogative is justiciable,<ref>{{Harvnb|Daly|2017|p=93}}</ref> though, only when the "subject matter affects the rights or legitimate expectations of an individual".<ref>{{Cite court |litigants=Black v Canada (Prime Minister) |vol=54 |reporter= |opinion=215 |pinpoint=3d |court=Ontario Court of Appeal |date=2001}}</ref>

The governor general is appointed by the monarch on the advice of his federal prime minister and the lieutenant governors are appointed by the governor general on the advice of the federal prime minister. The [[commissioner]]s of Canada's territories are appointed by the federal governor-in-council, at the recommendation of the [[minister of Crown–Indigenous relations]], but, as the territories are not sovereign entities, the commissioners are not personal representatives of the sovereign. The [[Advisory Committee on Vice-Regal Appointments]], which may seek input from the relevant premier and provincial or territorial community, proposes candidates for appointment as governor general, lieutenant governor, and commissioner.<ref>{{Citation |url=http://home.mytelus.com/telusen/portal/NewsChannel.aspx?ArticleID=news%2Fcapfeed%2Fnational%2F20654467.xml&CatID=National |last=Cheadle |first=Bruce |title=Harper creates new panel to ensure 'non-partisan' vice regal appointments |date=4 November 2012 |publisher=The Canadian Press |access-date=4 November 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130207122847/http://home.mytelus.com/telusen/portal/NewsChannel.aspx?ArticleID=news%2Fcapfeed%2Fnational%2F20654467.xml&CatID=National |archive-date=7 February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?category=1&featureId=6&pageId=26&id=5139 |last=Office of the Prime Minister of Canada |title=PM announces new Advisory Committee on Vice-Regal Appointments |date=4 November 2012 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=4 November 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106084858/http://pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?category=1&featureId=6&pageId=26&id=5139 |archive-date=6 November 2012}}</ref>

===Sovereign immunity===
It has been held since 1918 that the federal Crown is immune from provincial law.<ref>{{Cite CanLII |litigants=Gauthier v The King |court=Supreme Court of Canada |num=85 |format=canlii |pinpoint=p 194 |parallelcite=[1918] 56 SCR 176 |date=5 March 1918 |courtname=auto}}</ref> Constitutional convention has also held that the Crown in right of each province is outside the jurisdiction of the courts in other provinces. This view, however, has been questioned.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Walker |first=Janet |title=Interprovincial Sovereign Immunity Revisited |url=http://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1608&context=ohlj |journal=[[Osgoode Hall Law Journal]] |date=1997 |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=379–397 |doi=10.60082/2817-5069.1608| s2cid=141661165 |doi-access=free |archive-date=30 January 2023 |access-date=1 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230130022614/https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1608&context=ohlj |url-status=live}}</ref>

Lieutenant governors do not enjoy the same immunity as the sovereign in matters not relating to the powers of the viceregal office, as decided in the case of former Lieutenant Governor of Quebec [[Lise Thibault]], who had been accused of misappropriating public funds.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/lise-thibault-ex-quebec-lieutenant-governor-testifies-at-her-fraud-trial-1.2720523 |title=Lise Thibault, ex-Quebec lieutenant-governor, testifies at her fraud trial |date=2014 |publisher=CBC News |access-date=1 February 2023 |archive-date=17 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200917174228/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/lise-thibault-ex-quebec-lieutenant-governor-testifies-at-her-fraud-trial-1.2720523 |url-status=live}}</ref>