Page "Prime Minister of Canada" Paragraph 14

There do exist checks on the prime minister's power: parliament may revoke its confidence in an incumbent prime minister ; cabinet or caucus revolts can quickly bring down a sitting premier, and even mere threats of such action can persuade and / or compel a prime minister to resign his post, as happened with Jean Chrétien ; the Senate may delay or impede legislation put forward by the Cabinet, such as when Brian Mulroney's bill creating the Goods and Services Tax ( GST ) came before the upper chamber ; and, given Canada's federal nature, the jurisdiction of the federal government is limited to areas prescribed by the constitution.

Further, as executive power is constitutionally vested in the monarch, meaning the Royal Prerogative belongs to the Crown and not to any of its ministers, the sovereign's supremacy over the prime minister in the constitutional order is thus seen as a " rebuff to the pretensions of the elected: As it has been said, when the Prime Minister bows before the Queen, he bows before us Canadian people.

" Either the sovereign or his or her viceroy may therefore oppose the prime minister's will in extreme, crisis situations.

Near the end of her time as governor general, Adrienne Clarkson stated: " My constitutional role has lain in what are called ' reserve powers ': making sure that there is a prime minister and a government in place, and exercising the right ' to encourage, to advise, and to warn '[...] Without really revealing any secrets, I can tell you that I have done all three.