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Canada: Governor General
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Canada is a constitutional monarchy with a federal system, a parliamentary government, and strong democratic traditions. The 1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees basic rights in many areas. Queen Elizabeth II, as Queen of Canada, serves as a symbol of the nation's unity. She appoints a governor general, who serves as her representative in Canada, on the advice of the prime minister of Canada, usually for a 5-year term. The prime minister is the leader of the political party in power and is the head of the cabinet. The cabinet remains in office as long as it retains majority support in the House of Commons on major issues.
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Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the Constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter and is led by the Right Honourable Madam Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, P.C. since 2000. Its nine members are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister and Minister of Justice. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are appointed after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet ... appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels.
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Phil Sorgen joined Microsoft Canada in January 2006 as President. He has been with Microsoft Corp. since 1996, most recently in the position of General Manager of the US Enterprise Sales Operations Team where he was responsible for managing the alignment, synergy, and integration of the Enterprise Sales, Enterprise Partner, Inside Sales, Commercial Licensing, and Industry organizations. He was ... a member of the US Leadership Team responsible for sales, marketing, services and industry strategy across the US Enterprise Business.
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The monarch is represented by a viceroy, the Governor General, who is empowered to exercise almost all of the constitutional duties of the sovereign, though wielding these powers almost always on the advice of the appointed Queen's Privy Council for Canada. In practice, the only body to direct the use of the executive powers is the Cabinet – a committee of the Privy Council made up of Ministers of the Crown, all of whom are responsible to the elected House of Commons. The Cabinet is headed by the Prime Minister, who holds the conventional position of head of government; to ensure the stability of government, the Governor General will usually appoint the person who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet, and by convention, the Governor General respects the Prime Minister's choices. Michaëlle Jean has served as Governor General since September 27, 2005, and Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party, has been her Prime Minister since February 6, 2006.
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The Queen's powers are exercised by the Governor General except when the Queen is in Canada. The Governor General, like the sovereign or Queen, is not political and remains above politics. The role in Canada is... largely ceremonial.
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[T]here is a huge number of campgrounds in Canada. These range from privately owned R.V. parks to the publicly operated campgrounds in national and provincial parks, and are almost always well-kept and generally very beautiful.
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Governor General