It has the sole power to prepare and introduce
bills providing for the expenditure of public
money or imposing taxes. These bills must be
introduced fi rst in the House of Commons;
however, the House cannot initiate them,
or increase either the tax or the expenditure
without a royal recommendation in the form
of a message from the Governor General.
The Senate cannot increase either a tax or an
expenditure. However, any member of either
house can move a motion to decrease a tax or
an expenditure, and the house concerned can
pass it, though this hardly ever happens.
6
Parliamentary Government
A Federal State
A federal state is one that brings together a
emphatically did not mean that. French-
number of diff erent political communities
speaking and English-speaking alike, they said
with a common government for common
plainly and repeatedly that they were founding
purposes, and separate ?state? or ?provincial?
?a new nation?, ?a new political nationality?, ?a
or ?cantonal? governments for the particular
powerful nation, to take its place among the
purposes of each community. The United States
nations of the world?, ?a single great power?.
of America, Canada, Australia and Switzerland
are all federal states. Federalism combines
They were very insistent on maintaining the
unity with diversity. It provides, as Sir John
identity, the special culture and the special
A. Macdonald, Canada?s fi rst Prime Minister,
institutions of each of the federating provinces
said, ?A general government and legislature for
or colonies. Predominantly French-speaking
general purposes with local governments and
and Roman Catholic, Canada East (Quebec)
legislatures for local purposes.?
wanted to be free of the horrendous threat that
an English-speaking and mainly Protestant
The word ?confederation? is sometimes used
majority would erode or destroy its rights to
to mean a league of independent states, like
its language, its French-type civil law, and its
the United States from 1776 to 1789. But
distinctively religious system of education.
for our Fathers of Confederation, the term
Overwhelmingly English-speaking and mainly
liamentar
y of Par
o: Libr
Phot
The Fathers of Confederation, Quebec Conference, 1864.
A Federal State
7
How Canadians Govern Themselves
Protestant, Canada West (Ontario) was still
The provinces dared not remain separate, nor
smarting from the fact that Canada East
could they merge. They could (and did) form
members in the legislature of the united
a federation, with a strong central government
Province of Canada had thrust upon it a system
and Parliament, but also with an ample measure
of Roman Catholic separate schools which
of autonomy and self-government for each of
most of the Canada West members had voted
the federating communities.
against. Canada West wanted to be free of what
