Commander-in-Chief of Canadian Forces
Queen Elizabeth II, as
Queen of Canada is, by the
Canadian Constitution, the
Commander-in-Chief of the
Canadian Forces. The
Constitution Act, 1867 states: 15. The Command-in-Chief of the Land and Naval Militia, and of all Naval and Military Forces, of and in Canada, is hereby declared to continue to be vested in the Queen.
[Constitution Act, 1867]However, beginning in 1904, the exercise of the duties of the Commander-in-Chief was transferred to the vice-regal representative in Canada, the
Governor General. The
Militia Act from that year stated that "the Command-in-Chief of the Militia is declared to continue and be vested in the King, and shall be administered by His Majesty or by the Governor General as his representative." Following this, in 1905, the
Letters Patent constituting the Office of the Governor General were amended to read the
Letters Patent constituting the Office of the Governor General and Commander-in-Chief.
Following the establishment of the Canadian Department of the Naval Service in 1910, the position was known as the Commander-in-Chief of the Militia and Naval Forces, and after the creation of the
Royal Canadian Air Force in 1919, the Monarch became Commander-in-Chief of the Militia and Naval and Air Forces.
The 1947 Letters Patent issued by
King George VI allowed the Governor General to exercise almost all the duties of the Head of State of Canada, and the new Commission of Appointment referred to the Office of Governor General and Commander-in-Chief in and over Canada.
[Letters Patent, 1947] [Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Forces]In 1968, following the unification of the
Royal Canadian Navy, the
Canadian Army and the
Royal Canadian Air Force, the Monarch became Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Armed Forces (now, the
Canadian Forces).
Though all executive power is legally reposed in the apolitical institution of the Canadian Crown, the role of Commander-in-Chief is, however, pimarily symbolic in practice; under the
Westminster system's parliamentary custom and practice, the
Prime Minister of Canada holds
de facto decision-making power over the deployment and disposition of Canadian forces. Still, all declarations of war are issued with the approval of, and in the name of the Canadian Monarch, and must be signed by the Monarch or Governor General, as was done with the proclamation that declared Canada at war with
Nazi Germany, issued on
September 10,
1939, which stated: "Whereas by and with the advice of Our
Privy Council for Canada We have signified Our Approval for the issue of a Proclamation in the Canada Gazette declaring that a State of War with the German Reich exists and has existed in Our Dominion of Canada as and from the tenth day of September, 1939."
[Proclamation of a State of War between Canada and Germany]*
Governor General of Canada*
Commander-in-Chief*
Monarchy in Canada: The Crown and the Canadian Forces*
List of Canadian organizations with royal patronage: Military
