Crown in Canada

Definition of Crown

Crown meaning or descrpition: the state, including in the context of the criminal justice system; and/or the legal representative of the state (Source of this concept of Crown: emp.ca/books/468-7 and emp.ca/books/353-6)

Crown

Definition of Crown by Rand Dyck and Christopher Cochrane (in their book “Canadian Politics: Critical Approaches”) in the context of political science in Canada: The collectivity of executive powers exercised by or in the name of the monarch.

Crown

This section offers an overview of Crown under Canadian law, reporting on the history of the institution.

In Canada, the state is commonly referred to as “the Crown”,[1] the country’s supreme executive authority.[2] On the other hand, the Crown is constitutionally conferred in the person of the Sovereign. In order to distinguish the notion of the Canadian “Crown” from the Crown in other countries that recognize the British Monarch as their formal head of state, it is usual to speak of “the Crown in right of Canada”.[3]

Much of Britain’s constitutional development revolved around Parliament’s efforts to limit or appropriate royal prerogative power. Today, with very few exceptions, no act of the monarch (or Governor General as the monarch’s representative) is carried out without the formal advice and consent of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. The Crown does retain the right to be consulted, to encourage and to warn.[4]

Because Canada is a federal state, the Crown is represented in each of the provinces by a Lieutenant Governor.

Concept of Crown in Ontario

This section provides the essential definition of Crown relevant or under the laws of Ontario: The government. (Cabinet ministers and public servants, but not the Legislature or judges.)

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Notes

1. A usage which dates from the time “when all powers of government were vested in the monarch and were exercised by delegation from the monarch” (Hogg, 4th ed., p. 268).
2. Section 9 of the Constitution Act, 1867 provides that “Executive Government and Authority of and over Canada … be vested in the Queen”. “This power is placed above and outside the governmental structure and political parties of the day; power is given to them temporarily and in trust by the Crown on behalf of the people” (Jackson, D.M., The Canadian Monarchy in Saskatchewan, 2nd ed., Regina: Government of Saskatchewan, 1990, p. 12). “[O]ne institution (the government) does not possess power but exercises it; while the other institution (the Crown) possesses power but does not exercise it” (MacKinnon, F., The Crown in Canada, Calgary: Glenbow‑Alberta Institute, McClelland and Stewart West, 1976, p. 15). “The government rules. It does not reign. The Crown reigns … the power of the state is held in a non‑partisan office above the conflicts and divisions of the political process” (Monet, J., The Canadian Crown, Toronto/Vancouver: Clarke, Irwin & Company, 1979, p. 18).
3. Hogg, 4th ed., p. 269. In 1953, the Canadian Parliament adopted An Act respecting the Royal Style and Titles to reflect the fact that the Sovereign was the Sovereign not only of the United Kingdom but also of Canada (S.C. 1952‑53, c. 9).
4. Bagehot, W., The English Constitution, Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1966, p. 111.

See Also

1. Politics
2. Political Science

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This entry was last updated: July 6, 2017