Government of British Columbia

The Government of British Columbia (French: Gouvernement de la Colombie-Britannique) is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The term Government of British Columbia can refer to either the collective set of all three institutions, or more specifically to the executive—ministers of the Crown (the Executive Council) of the day, and the non-political staff within each provincial department or agency, i.e. the civil services, whom the ministers direct—which corporately brands itself as the Government of British Columbia, or more formally, His Majesty's Government (French: Gouvernement de Sa Majesté).^[1][2]

Government of British Columbia
Provincial government
Overview
Established	July 20, 1871 (1871-07-20)
State	British Columbia
Country	Canada
Leader	Premier
Appointed by	Lieutenant Governor
Main organ	Executive Council
Responsible to	Legislative Assembly
Headquarters	Victoria
Website	www2.gov.bc.ca

The current construct was established when the province joined Confederation in 1871. British Columbia is a secondary jurisdiction of Canada, a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy in the Westminster tradition; a premier—David Eby of the New Democratic Party since 2022—is the head of government and is invited by the Crown to form a government after securing the confidence of the Legislative Assembly, typically determined through the election of enough members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) of a single political party in an election to provide a majority of seats, forming a governing party or coalition.^[3] The sovereign is King Charles III, Canada's head of state, who is represented provincially in British Columbia by the lieutenant governor, Janet Austin since 2018.

Role of the Crown

Main articles: Monarchy of Canada and Monarchy in British Columbia

See also: Monarchy in the Canadian provinces

Charles III is King in Right of British Columbia

Janet Austin is Lieutenant Governor

King Charles III, as sovereign, is also the King in Right of British Columbia. As a Commonwealth realm, the Canadian monarch is shared with 14 other independent countries within the Commonwealth of Nations.^[9] Within Canada, the monarch exercises power individually on behalf of the federal government and the ten provinces.

The powers of the Crown are vested in the monarch and are exercised by the lieutenant governor. The advice of the premier and Executive Council is typically binding; the Constitution Act, 1867 requires executive power to be exercised only "by and with the advice of the Executive Council".^[10]

Lieutenant governor

Main article: Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia

The lieutenant governor is appointed by the governor general, on the advice of the prime minister of Canada.^[14] Thus, it is typically the lieutenant governor whom the premier and ministers advise, exercising much of the royal prerogative and granting royal assent.

The executive power is vested in the Crown and exercised in-Council, meaning on the advice of the Executive Council; conventionally, this is the Cabinet, which is chaired by the premier and comprises ministers of the Crown.

Premier and Executive Council

David Eby has been Premier of British Columbia since 2022

The term Government of British Columbia, or more formally His Majesty's Government, refers to the activities of the King-in-Council. The day-to-day operation and activities of the Government of British Columbia are performed by the provincial departments and agencies, staffed by the non-partisan public service and directed by the elected government.

Premier

Main article: Premier of British Columbia

See also: Executive Council of British Columbia

The premier of British Columbia is the primary minister of the Crown. The premier acts as the head of government for the province, chairs and selects the membership of the Cabinet, and advises the Crown on the exercise of executive power and much of the royal prerogative. As premiers hold office by virtue of their ability to command the confidence of the elected Legislative Assembly, they typically sit as a MLA and lead the largest party or a coalition in the Assembly. Once sworn in, the premier holds office until either they resign or they are removed by the lieutenant governor after either a motion of no confidence or defeat in a general election.^[15]

David Eby has been premier since November 18, 2022, after winning the NDP leadership election. He succeeded John Horgan, who led the New Democratic Party to a majority government in the 2020 British Columbia general election.^[16][17]

See also

• Politics of British Columbia
• Politics of Canada and Government of Canada

References

1. MacLeod, Kevin S. (2008), A Crown of Maples (PDF) (1 ed.), Ottawa: Queen's Printer for Canada, p. 18, ISBN 978-0-662-46012-1, retrieved June 21, 2009
2. Government of Canada, Department of Justice (1999-11-03). "Department of Justice - Final Report of the French Constitutional Drafting Committee". www.justice.gc.ca. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
3. "Westminster Tradition". www.leg.bc.ca. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
4. Claude Bouchard (16 February 2016). "Jugement No. 200-17-018455-139" (PDF) (in French). Cour supérieure du Québec. p. 16. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 May 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2016 – via Le Devoir.
5. Romaniuk, Scott Nicholas; Wasylciw, Joshua K. (February 2015). "Canada's Evolving Crown: From a British Crown to a "Crown of Maples"". American, British and Canadian Studies Journal. 23 (1): 108–125. doi:10.1515/abcsj-2014-0030.
6. Department of Canadian Heritage (2015). "Crown of Maples: Constitutional Monarchy in Canada" (PDF). Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
7. "Queen and Canada". The Royal Household. Archived from the original on 20 February 2009. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
8. "The Queen of Canada". Government of Canada. Archived from the original on 24 February 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
9. ^{[4][5][6][7][8]}
10. Branch, Legislative Services (2020-08-07). "Consolidated federal laws of canada, THE CONSTITUTION ACTS, 1867 to 1982". laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 5 June 2022. Retrieved 2021-04-03.
11. Hicks, Bruce (2012). "The Westminster Approach to Prorogation, Dissolution and Fixed Date Elections" (PDF). Canadian Parliamentary Review. 35 (2): 20.
12. MacLeod 2008, p. 36
13. Government of Canada (4 December 2015). "Why does the Governor General give the Speech?". Queen's Printer for Canada. Archived from the original on 26 April 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
14. ^[11][12][13]
15. Brooks 2007, p. 235
16. "British Columbians heading to the polls on October 24 in fall election". Global News. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
17. "B.C. NDP will form decisive majority government, CBC News projects | CBC News". CBC. Retrieved October 25, 2020.

Works cited

• Brooks, Stephen (2007). Canadian Democracy: An Introduction (5 ed.). Don Mills: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-543103-2.

External links

• Official website
• Organizational structure of the BC government; on gov.bc.ca
• Government 101: How Government Works; on gov.bc.ca