Queen? In Canada? Since when?

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She may not legally be a non-citizen, but she is "foreign" in that she spends most of her time in the UK; she doesn't really seem "Canadian." In the United States, we had a revolution to do away with this nonsense; even a merely symbolic, ceremonial rule is too much for Americans.

Does she have a palace in Canada or does she have to kip on someone's sofa when she's there?

The Queen is purely symbolic in Canada. S show of solidarity and recognition of our origins. If I remember correctly she holds literally no real power.

Good question, there is no palace, so my guess would be she crashes at the Governor-General's place. He has an official residence that's set up for state functions.

Which is part of why the U.S. will eventually fail as a country, it cannot accept anything but being at the top. Even if the top is no longer possible for the country.

As she is in Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.

Some of us don't like the symbolism (myself included, on the intellectual level at least) but there is not denying that the for all practical purposes the Queen has no power. She is nothing more than a symbol and an expense. There is not point in having a revolution over that. If you think so then that goes a long way to explain America's repulsive foreign policy and general outlook.

no, she isn't just symbolic. her representative in canada can refuse to sign a bill into law.

How do those in the Commonwealth feel about The Queen having power in 16 different Sovereign Nations

it's kind of nifty to me, like having a nice grandmother watching over us

Well ... she doesn't really. Here in Canada the power held by the Queen is the Royal Assent which hyperlexia mentioned, which is a sort of last-ditch safety measure against something such as, say, the Enabling Act.

But she can't exercise it - it's the Governor General who does. She can't advise him to exercise it. And though technically she appoints the GG, she must do so on the advice of the PM so for all practical purposes he names the GG.

It's pretty much irrelevant really, except in the sense that it keeps some historical ties with other Commonwealth nations.



Ahahaha. Yeah. That too.

That's what I meant. Most are unknown; a few are known, but only because they have shown themselves incompetent.

Not really.

In theory the monarchy still has those powers but in practice if the monarch ever chose to try and exercise those powers a modern day legal/political beheading would be swift and brutal. So in reality, the monarch has no powers at all and functions merely as a celebrity, good for tourism, business and the commonwealth games but nothing more.

I think the GG did something mildly independant a century ago, though. There was a chance for Michaëlle Jean to do something of her own when Harper wanted to prorogue the parliement and avoid a censure motion, but she did as she was asked, and Harper is still there.

Yes, Harper I think has been a case study in the sort of thing where you should have the GG step in. It's a last-ditch safeguard, its good to have, but that doesn't mean it's always going to work.

I think many people are ignoring three vast powers that a Canadian Prime Minister has, that a US President does not:

1) Patronage: None of the Prime Minister's recommendations for Governor-in-Council appointments are subject to review. In contrast, almost every Presidential appointment is subject to Senate approval.

2) Legislation: The Prime Minister controls the legislative agenda, and when his party is in the majority, the Prime Minister can ensure passage of any legislation that he chooses to present. The US President has no ability to create, propose or enact legislation. He only has the power to stop what he does not like. But the Canadian Prime Minister has the same power: almost all Canadian legislation is enacted, "to come into force on a date to be fixed by proclamation." All he need do is never advise the Governor General to proclaim the legislation in force.

3) Supply: The Prime Minister controls the budget process, which is subject only to confidence votes in the House. In the United States the President can propose a budget, but the budget enacted by Congress is the one that binds him.