This brief syllogism explains why succession to the Crown of Canada falls under the “office of Queen” of s.41(a) of the Constitution Act, 1982.

1. The Crown is as corporation sole.

The Supreme Court of Canada: “The Crown is technically a corporation sole, and is of course in the legal sense a person capable of being a subject of rights and duties.”

The Law Commission of the United Kingdom: “Corporation sole – a corporation consisting of one person and his or her successors in a particular office or station. Examples include the Crown, government ministers, and bishops.”

2. A corporation sole, by definition, includes the successors to that office.

The Law Commission of the United Kingdom: “A corporation sole consists of one person and his or her successors in some particular office or station, who are incorporated by law in order to give them certain legal capacities and advantages which they would not have in their natural person. Unlike a corporation aggregate, a corporation sole has a dual capacity, namely its corporate capacity, and its individual or natural capacity.”

The Queen’s Bench for Saskatchewan: “a ‘corporation sole’ is an unusual type of corporation consisting of only one person and his successors in some particular station, who are incorporated by law in order to give them some legal capacities and advantages. In this sense the sovereign in England is a sole corporation – so is a bishop.”

3. Therefore, succession pertains directly to the “office of Queen” of s.41(a) of the Constitution Act, 1982 and forms part of the Constitution of Canada. (The Crowns of the United Kingdom and Canada are separate corporations sole and legal persons vested in the same natural person).

4. Only a constitutional amendment can thus alter succession to the Crown of Canada.

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