Author Archives: J.W.J. Bowden

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About J.W.J. Bowden

My area of academic expertise lies in Canadian political institutions, especially the Crown, political executive, and conventions of Responsible Government; since 2011, I have made a valuable contribution to the scholarship by having been published and cited extensively. I’m also a contributing editor to the Dorchester Review and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Parliamentary and Political Law.

Tony Blair’s Canadian Style of Prime Ministerial Government

Posted on 2017/04/09 by J.W.J. Bowden

The British would certainly not say outright that Tony Blair governed like a Canadian prime minister, because it would be beneath the Mother Country to acknowledge one of her former Crown colonies as having provided an example in government. But that is the best … Continue reading →

Posted in Crown (Powers and Office) | 1 Comment

Senator Pratte’s Doublespeak on the Two O Canadas

Posted on 2017/04/08 by J.W.J. Bowden

This country has, in fact, two national anthems: the original French O Canada, which has remained unchanged since 1880, and Weir’s English version of O Canada. The two anthems say completely different things and bear no resemblance to one another, … Continue reading →

Posted in Dorchester Review, O Canada | 3 Comments

Justin Trudeau Will Make Prorogation Great Again

Posted on 2017/04/07 by J.W.J. Bowden

I don’t want to pre-empt my upcoming longer article on this subject, so I will boil down this subject to its essence. The Liberals pledged in their election platform from 2015 that they would never use prorogation for purely political … Continue reading →

Posted in Crown (Powers and Office), Dorchester Review, Prorogation | 2 Comments

The O Canada Bill: Third Reading Purgatory & Grammatical Pedantry

Posted on 2017/04/04 by J.W.J. Bowden

In my AP English class in 2004, I recall that several of my classmates protested against diagramming sentences on the erroneous and misplaced grounds that “Our boss will never ask us to diagram a sentence!” (Incidentally, the fact that we were using … Continue reading →

Posted in Dorchester Review, History of British North America, O Canada | 1 Comment

Why The Finance Minister Is the Most Important After the Prime Minister

Posted on 2017/04/04 by J.W.J. Bowden

  Introduction If you asked Canadians, Britons, or Australians which minister is the most important after the prime minister, you would almost invariably get the same answer: the Finance Minister — known as the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Commonwealth Realms, Comparative, Parliamentarism v Presidentialism, Responsible Government, Separation of Powers | 3 Comments