The Crown and Lieutenant Governor

Canada's political system has three main components:

Parliamentary Democracy

Canada's system of government has three branches of Parliament; Governor General, House of Commons and the Senate, that debate laws before they vote on them. The monarch appoints the Governor General as his representative on the advice of the Prime Minister. Governor General appoints the senators to represent regions on the advice of the Prime Minister. The members of the House of Commons, however, are elected by the people to represent them in their ridings, therefore creating a parliamentary democracy.

This system of "responsible government" means the ministers must retain the confidence of a majority of the elected members in the House of Commons (federal) or Legislative Assembly (provincial).

Federal State

There are two concurrent jurisdictions in Canada: the central government in Ottawa and the 10 provincial governments. These jurisdictions are "co-sovereign," in that each has exclusive constitutional responsibilities as well as some shared ones; together they make up the Canadian State. The three territories, while receiving their authority from the Parliament of Canada, have been granted the right to exercise many powers similar to those of provinces and their form of government continues to evolve.

Constitutional Monarchy

The Canadian Head of State is a hereditary monarch, His Majesty King Charles III, King of Canada, who reigns over Canada's parliamentary democracy and federal state. The King is personally represented by the Governor General for Canada as a whole and by the Lieutenant Governor in each of the 10 provinces. They carry out most of His Majesty's functions as Head of State.

The Lieutenant Governor is the representative of The King in Saskatchewan; this position is non-partisan and apolitical. The Lieutenant Governor acts on the advice of the Premier and the government, but has the right to advise, to encourage, and to warn.

One of the Lieutenant Governor's responsibilities is to ensure that Saskatchewan always has a Premier. The Lieutenant Governor presides over the swearing-in of the Premier, the Chief Justice of Saskatchewan, and cabinet ministers. The Lieutenant Governor summons, prorogues, and dissolves the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly, delivers the Speech from the Throne and gives Royal Assent to acts of the Legislative Assembly. The Lieutenant Governor signs official documents and meets with the Premier.

To learn more, please visit The Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan website.

At the start of each sitting of the Legislature, the government introduces their priorities in the Speech from the Throne, read by the Lieutenant Governor on behalf of the government. You can read through current and past throne speeches in the Publications Centre.