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Privy Council is a common name for the King’s Privy Council for Canada. It is also known as His Majesty’s Privy Council for Canada. It was established (as the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada) under the Constitution Act, 1867. Its purpose is to advise the Crown (the reigning monarch).

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was an international trade agreement. It was signed by 23 nations, including Canada, in 1947. It came into effect on 1 January 1948. It also led to the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995. The GATT was focused on trade in goods. It aimed to reduce tariffs and remove quotas among member countries. The GATT helped reduce average tariffs from 40 per cent in 1947 to less than five per cent in 1993. The GATT was an early step toward globalization. The WTO replaced the GATT on 1 January 1995.

This article is a plain-language summary of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry: General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

The King-Byng Affair was a constitutional crisis that happened in 1926. It pitted the powers of a prime minister against the powers of a governor general. It began when Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King asked Governor General Lord Julian Byng to dissolve Parliament and call a new election. Byng refused. It ended with King winning another election. Since then, no governor general has publicly refused the advice of a prime minister.

This article is a plain-language summary of the King-Byng Affair. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry: King-Byng Affair.

The province of Manitoba has a majority Progressive Conservative government, formed on 10 September 2019. The premier of the province is Heather Stefanson and the lieutenant-governor is Anita R. Neville. Manitoba joined Confederation in 1870 and its legislature met for the first time the following year.

The province of New Brunswick has a majority Progressive Conservative government, formed on 14 September 2020. The premier of the province is Blaine Higgs and the lieutenant-governor is Brenda Murphy. New Brunswick’s first premier following Confederation was Andrew Wetmore, who served from 1867 to 1870. New Brunswick politics have been dominated by one of two parties, the Liberals and the Conservatives (eventually Progressive Conservatives), each of which have held power for lengthy periods of time. In 1987, for example, Frank McKenna’s Liberal party won every seat in the legislature. This had only happened once before in Canadian history, when the Prince Edward Island Liberals won every seat in 1935.

The Cabinet is a committee of ministers. It holds executive power in government. This means it has the power to execute, or carry out, the government’s plans. Cabinets are chaired by the prime minister. In the provinces, they are chaired by the premier. Ministers typically come from the party with the most seats. They oversee major departments, such as finance, health, natural resources, etc. Cabinets are usually strong and driven by agreement. But some believe they have grown weaker as the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has grown stronger.

This article is a plain-language summary of Cabinet. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry: Cabinet.

In a monarchy, the Crown is an abstract concept or symbol that represents the state and its government. In a constitutional monarchy such as Canada, the Crown is the source of non-partisan sovereign authority. It is part of the legislative, executive and judicial powers that govern the country. Under Canada’s system of responsible government, the Crown performs each of these functions on the binding advice, or through the actions of, members of Parliament, ministers or judges. As the embodiment of the Crown, the monarch — currently King Charles III — serves as head of state. The King and his vice-regal representatives — the governor general at the federal level and lieutenant-governors provincially — possess what are known as prerogative powers; they can be made without the approval of another branch of government, though they are rarely used. The King and his representatives also fulfill ceremonial functions as Head of State.

The province of Nova Scotia has a majority Progressive Conservative government, formed on 17 August 2021. The premier of the province is Tim Houston and the lieutenant-governor is Arthur J. LeBlanc. Among Nova Scotia’s contributions to Canadian politics was the movement for responsible government, initiated by Joseph Howe, a political reformer, in 1836. In 1848, politicians in Nova Scotia formed the first responsible government in British North America.

Canada is a constitutional monarchy. As such, there is a clear division between the head of state and the head of government. The head of government is the prime minister, an elected political leader. The head of state is the Canadian monarch. Their duties are carried out by the governor general, who acts as the representative of the Crown — currently Charles III — in Canada. (Lieutenant-Governors fulfill the same role in provincial governments.) The governor general performs a wide array of ceremonial duties. They also fulfill an important role in upholding the traditions of Parliament and other democratic institutions. Inuk leader Mary Simon was formally installed as Canada’s 30th Governor General on 26 July 2021. She is the first Indigenous person to hold Canada’s viceregal position.