Oft-ignored in the study of Canadian history or dismissed as a vestige of colonial status, the governor general's office provides essential historical insight into Canada's constitutional evolution. In the nineteenth century, as today, individual governors general exercised considerable scope in interpreting their approach to the office. The era 1847-1878 witnessed profound changes in Canada's relationship with Britain, and in this new book, Barbara J. Messamore explores the nature of these changes through an examination of the role of the governor general. Guided by outmoded instructions and constitutional conventions that were not yet firmly established, the governors general of the time - Lord Elgin, Sir Edmund Head, Lord Monck, Lord Lisgar, and Lord Dufferin - all wrestled with the implications of colonial self government. The imprecision of the viceregal role made the character of the appointee especially important and biographical details are thus essential to an understanding of how the new experiment of colonial self-government was put into practice. Messamore's book marries constitutional history and biography, providing illumination on some of the key figures of nineteenth-century Canadian politics.

This book is a comprehensive review and analysis of the reserve powers and their exercise by heads of state in countries that have Westminster systems. It addresses the powers of the Queen in the United Kingdom, those of her vice-regal representatives, and those of heads of state in the less studied realms and former colonies that are now republics. Drawing on a vast range of previously unpublished archival and primary material, The Veiled Sceptre contains fresh perspectives on old controversies. It also reveals constitutional crises in small countries, which have escaped the notice of most scholars. This book places the exercises of reserve powers within the context of constitutional principle and analyses how heads of state should act when constitutional principles conflict. Providing an unrivalled contemporary analysis of reserve powers, it will appeal to constitutional scholars worldwide and others involved in the administration of systems of responsible government.

The Crown in Canada has had a profound influence in shaping a country and a constitution that embraces the promotion of political moderation, societal accommodation, adaptable constitutional structures, and pluralistic governing practices. While none of these features themselves originated through legislative or constitutional action, David E. Smith, Christopher McCreery, and Jonathan Shanks propose that all reflect the presence and actions of the Crown. Examining how a constitutional monarchy functions, Canada’s Deep Crown discusses how the legal and institutional abstractions of the Crown vary depending on the circumstances and the context in which it is found. The Crown presents differently depending on who is observing it, who is representing it, and what role it is performing. With a focus on the changes that have taken place over the last fifty years, this book addresses the role of the Crown in dispersing power throughout Canada’s system of government, the function the sovereign, governor general, and lieutenant governors play, and how the demise of the Crown and transition to a new sovereign is likely to unfold.

An integral part of Canada’s political culture, the constitutional monarchy has evolved over the 150 years since Confederation to become a uniquely Canadian institution. Canada inherited the constitutional monarchy from Britain even before Confederation in 1867. In the 150 years since then, the Crown has shaped, and been shaped by, Canada’s achievement of independence, its robust federalism, the unique identity of Quebec, and its relationship with Indigenous peoples. What has this “Canadian Crown” contributed to the Canada of the twenty-first century? How is this historic yet resilient institution perceived today? The essays in this book respond to these questions from a variety of perspectives, encompassing the arts, the role of the vice-regal representatives, the Indigenous peoples, and the contemporary position of the monarch. In discussing whether there is a distinctly Canadian monarchy, the authors look beyond Canada’s borders, too, and explore how Canada’s development has influenced other Commonwealth realms.

Without pressure from a small but influential group of London financiers, Confederation would not have occurred in 1867, if at all. These financiers supported the unification of the British North American colonies because they believed it would rescue their under-performing investments and keep British North America within the British Empire. Andrew Smith discusses the role of British investors in Canadian Confederation, covering the period from the construction of the Grand Trunk Railroad in the 1850s to Canada's purchase of Rupert's Land in 1869-70. He describes how some investors lobbied the British government for the policies that made Confederation possible, working closely with the Fathers of Confederation, many of whom were participants in the same trans-Atlantic crony-capitalist system. British factory owners with classical liberal beliefs, however, disliked Confederation because they believed it would delay the political independence of the North American colonies, something they saw as beneficial. British Businessmen and Canadian Confederation reminds Canadians that most contemporaries of Confederation saw it as a way to preserve the colonists' bonds with Britain rather than to expand their political autonomy. It should interest a wide audience - from students of Canadian political history to historians interested in Victorian globalization.

In the middle of the Great War, Victor Cavendish, the ninth Duke of Devonshire, and his wife Lady Evelyn landed in Halifax in November 1916 so he could serve as the governor general of Canada. Throughout the difficult years of the First World War and its aftermath, the new governor general travelled extensively, oversaw policy, presided over Canada’s rejection of the British honours system, and walked a fine line between the colonial authorities and Canada’s desire for greater independence. Meanwhile, the duchess managed their home at Rideau Hall and fretted over propriety between her daughters and the young male staff who lived with them. In Victor and Evie, Dorothy Anne Phillips provides an intimate portrait of a family at the centre of Canadian social and political life. Utilizing letters released in 2005, the correspondence of an aide-de-camp, the duke’s diary, and other primary documents, Phillips constructs a detailed inquiry into the family’s relationships with each other and with the prominent people they met. This volume details their reactions to a number of dramatic events, including the conscription crisis, the Halifax Explosion, the influenza epidemic, the Winnipeg General Strike, the Prince of Wales’s tour across Canada, and the courtship of their daughter Dorothy by the young Harold Macmillan, the future British prime minister. An engaging account of politics, travel, love, and tragedy, Victor and Evie presents the life of a governor general and his family during a pivotal moment in early twentieth-century Canada.

This first volume begins with the history of Canada's Indigenous inhabitants prior to the arrival of Europeans and ends with the nation-building project that got underway in 1864.