Acts of Republic (Canada)

The Acts of Republic were a series of three concurrent and complimentary legislative acts passed by the Parliament of Canada between 29 June and 1 July 1988, which formally transformed the country from a constitutional monarchy to a parliamentary republic.

Formally three separate constitutional amendments, the first officially severed the link between the office of governor-general and the British monarchy, unilaterally making the office of head of state of Canada into a ceremonial presidency; the second act officially renamed Canada the "Canadian Republic" (République canadienne in French), and set out the procedure for the president's election (as the governor general was a monarch-appointed office); the third and final act made clear the intention of preserving the Canadian political system in all fundamental aspects, as such retaining the Westminster system in which the majority in the House of Commons forms an executive government and appoints the Prime Minister of Canada, who continues to serve as the state's executive with the President relegated mostly to a ceremonial role as was the preceding office of governor-general. The National Defence Act was amended on 10 September 1988 to name the President of Canada as commander-in-chief of the armed forces; therefore, in the event of war, the President of Canada takes on more than purely a ceremonial role, and de jure has the final say regarding military operations.

The Acts of Republic ultimately made good on the promise to retain the country's Westminster political system; notable examples include legal terminology, one example of which is the use of the term Crown to refer to the state in all its aspects (with the prosecution in court cases still referred to as "the Crown" or as "Crown prosecutor(s)"). Similarly, the pre-1967 Canadian flag featuring the Union Jack in the canton and the royal coat of arms remains officially approved as an alternate national flag, and the Canadian Republic is still a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The "Royal" prefix was not dropped from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as well as the Royal Canadian Mint, the latter of which will continue to manufacture the particular bills and coins featuring the likeness of Elizabeth II until her death and state funeral (all other bills and coins feature important personages in Canadian history, such as former prime ministers, which will be the case with all denominations following the accession to the British throne of Elizabeth II's heir). Similarly, since the crown now represents the state itself rather than any monarchy, the great majority of government agencies, especially law enforcement and judicial agencies, retain a crown in their official symbol/logo.

The second of the three acts also formally abolished the offices of Lieutenant Governor, of which there were twelve (one for each of the twelve provinces of Canada; each province's lieutenant governor was the official representative of the Governor General and by extension the Monarch of Canada within the respective province. The office itself was kept, but renamed Deputy President, the official representative of the Canadian head of state within each province. Thus, just like the primarily figurehead and ceremonial role of the President of Canada, a province's Deputy President performs the same ceremonial function at the provincial level on behalf of the President of Canada. In this way, the President of Canada can be said to be ultimate head of state of each province in addition to the federation as a whole.

The system of commissioners, of which there are six (one for each territory), each representing the federal government within a particular territory, was left in place, as territories do not share sovereignty with the federation and 12 provinces, being subject to the unilateral authority of the Parliament of Canada. As such, within the six territories, the President of Canada and Prime Minister, as well as the Cabinet of Canada, are represented by the respective territory's commissioner, who each oversees the territory's government, which has devolved authority and is ultimately subject to the authority of the federal government.