Territorial government (Canada)

A territorial government is the form of government used in each of the five territories of Canada. Unlike the 13 provinces, whose provincial governments exist in accordance with the Constitution of Canada (which delineates their geographical area and the jurisdiction a provincial government has, concepts which can only be changed by amendments to the constitution), territorial governments exist purely at the discretion of the Canadian federal government (namely the Parliament of Canada) via the process of devolution. This means that each territory's autonomy (represented by its territorial government) came into existence unilaterally by an act of Parliament, which retains this unilateral discretion over the territories and can theoretically unilaterally dissolve a territorial government at will.

In practice, a territorial government is virtually identical to a provincial government, in that it consists of three branches and is responsible for the majority of affairs of public administration within the territory. The executive branch is called the Territorial Council, and consists of MLAs of the ruling party or coalition (holding a majority of seats in the Territorial Assembly, the legislative branch) who are appointed by the territory's commissioner on advice of its premier to chair a particular territorial ministry (executive department), each of which has a unique portfolio or executive mandate. There is also a judicial branch which is independent of the other two branches of government; a territorial judiciary consists of a supreme court (the highest territorial court), a court of appeal (the second highest), and several district and circuit courts spread about the territory, each responsible for a certain geographical area (district courts usually for a particular municipality and circuit courts for a county). Verdicts of district and circuit courts can be appealed in the territorial court of appeal, whose verdicts can subsequently be appealed in the territorial supreme court; the only courts higher than the territorial supreme court and thus having the authority to appeal their verdicts are the Federal Court of Appeal and finally the Supreme Court of Canada. Territorial court of appeal and territorial supreme court justices are appointed by the commissioner of the territory on advice of the premier.