If you ask a passer-by directly “Who is the president of Canada”, then the majority will not be able to answer anything intelligible, many will be embarrassed by their ignorance. But in the question of ignorance itself, no less than in the honest answer: "I don’t know." Why?
A bit of history
There is knowledge about the state in question, which everyone possesses without exception, but they do not concern the answer to the question of who the president of Canada is. Hockey and maple leaf are well-known, and what’s wrong with politics is a more complicated task. Diligent students who studied history at school will recall that the first immigrants in the lands of North America, which is now occupied by the state of Canada, were French. But soon the British poured into it, and in the end England tidied up this part of the New World to her own hands. In the nineteenth century, Canada gained dominion status as part of Britain. After the fall of the colonial system, Canadians chose to remain in the British
Commonwealth of Nations and, having a virtually independent government, nominally recognize the power of the English monarchs. Hence the conclusion that the political system of Canada should be similar to the English, so the President of Canada is an extra link in the management system.
Political structure
Canada is a constitutional monarchy in form of government. The right to assert this comes from the recognition, albeit of a nominal, but still supreme power in the country of the Queen of England, who asserts her representative in this territory, and he is by no means called the President of Canada. This is the Governor General. His mission is more likely to symbolically and ceremonially emphasize the supremacy of the monarchy and its presence in government. Nevertheless, he has the right to approve senior officials and accept their resignation, as well as the right to decide whether or not to dissolve the lower house of parliament. Executive power is represented by the cabinet of ministers, headed by the prime minister, who is also considered by many to be the head of state, as if he were the president of Canada. This understanding is incorrect, since only executive power is in his hands, and an essential and important element of subordination to the governor-general remains.
Prime Minister of Canada
And yet, the prime minister’s figure is key to Canada’s political life. Gradually, his functions expanded, reaching a level at which they can be compared with the non-existent, but hypothetically represented status of "President of Canada." Now some deputies are initiating judicial consideration of the possibility of reducing the power of the head of government. In the meantime, the Prime Minister of Canada leads the government, but is also the leader of the parliamentary majority party and most often consists of the House of Commons. Here is a combination of ownership of both legislative and executive powers. Formally obeying the Queen of England, Canada is in the wake of its international politics.
Territorial administrative structure
A separate document , the Constitution of Canada, does not exist. In the 80s of the last century, a very clear list of documents and legislative acts was formed that may be included in the content of the constitution. Canada is a federal state consisting of three territories and ten provinces. Each subject of the federation has its own parliaments, headed by prime ministers. A federal bicameral parliament sits in Ottawa. Since the territory of the state was settled by immigrants from two main countries: France and England, then at the federal level in Canada, two languages ​​are recognized as state languages. The province where mainly speak only French is Quebec. The rest are mostly English speaking.
Quebec problem
"Separatism" has become a curse word, an anathema word for modern politicians. Quebec residents have earned this title, many of which advocate for the sovereignty of the province until its secession from Canada. These views are based on cultural and historical contradictions. Quebec, as a French-speaking territory, is opposed to the English-speaking part of the country, although it is much larger. The merit of the Québec bloc, which advocates secession, can be attributed to the promotion of exclusively peaceful and democratic methods of struggle, such as referenda. This issue has not yet been resolved. Of course, the Canadian government is opposed to precedents of violation of the integrity of other states in the world, as it is interested in maintaining its own unity.
Canada's place in the international arena
After the Second World War, Canada began to play an active role in UN peacekeeping and humanitarian action. At the moment, she is one of the members of the G8, along with the most developed and strong states in the world. At the G8 summits, we will not hear the name of the President of Canada, because the Prime Minister represents the country. In general, Canada supports the policies of the United States and England, always speaking on the side of their proposals. Stephen Harper, the current prime minister, takes a tough stance against the Russian government, criticizing both the assessment of events in Syria, Ukraine, and other issues where the views of Russian representatives differ from the views of the countries of "Western democracies."
So, in fact, the answer to the question: “Who is the president in Canada” is very light and sounds short: “Nobody!” In a country that is a
parliamentary monarchy, such a post simply does not exist. But knowing a little about the history of a given state and its place in international politics is very useful.