CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER

Does the Canadian Prime Minister Have Too Much Power?



Does the Canadian Prime Minister Have Too Much Power?

Introduction

In the Canadian parliamentary system, the Prime Minister holds the highest position and exerts considerable power, especially when his party's majority in parliament. In fact, increasingly observers believe that there has been over a year concentration of power in the Prime Minister (PMO). If we judge from the remarks made ??to the Commission on its website, many Canadians are also concluded that the Prime Minister and the PMO hold power. Over two terms is excessive and focus too much power in the hands of one man. Power corrupts. "In another, it must undertake an overhaul of the power structure to avoid one person, as Prime Minister, may influence the decisions of others by his power of concentration nomination. CPM power makes more difficult the game balances Cabinet, in the public and in Parliament to amend or challenge the measures recommended by the Prime Minister (White, 2006).

The power of the prime minister is restricted in several ways. If the Cabinet or the Assembly of Delegates of the ruling party rebels against the head of government, this comes back quickly, as a rule. Even the threat to call an assembly of delegates, can lead to rapid withdrawal, such as Jean Chretien in 2003. Another limitation is the Senate can delay and obstruct the legislative process. Since Canada is a federal state, the influence of the federal government on the federal level is limited. However, since access to the actions of the federal government and provincial governments often overlap, the power of the Prime Minister by the united opposition of the provincial governments will be reduced drastically.

As the executive power rests with the monarch and is exercised formally by the Governor-General, both have the power to defy the will of the Prime Minister. Senator and constitutional expert Eugene Forsey stated, a governor-general must "take all necessary steps to thwart the will of a ruthless prime minister." The last governor-general, who exercised this power was, Lord Byng, in the wake of the King-Byng affair of 1926 (Savoie, 1999).

The senate has almost no power. Its sole responsibilities are reviewing bills (yes it can vote on them down, it just cannot vote a bill down if the (elected) house votes on it twice), it can propose non-money bills, and conducts (rare) investigations into government departments. Further, since senators are appointed until 75 and vacancies are rare, rarely does a PM have the power to alter the balance of seats in the senate. Further, senators do not normally vote along party lines. If they find a technical or legal mistake in the bill, they vote it down, if not they pass it. Further, appointments are almost always by province/region and often at the request of various provinces. Being able to appoint senators does not equal power (Bashevkin, 2009).

Discussion

The Prime Minister is the leader of the party with the most seats in the House of ...