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.

Savoie ne sait pas: The Governor General of Canada Does Not Unadjourn the House of Commons

Posted on 2024/12/24 by J.W.J. Bowden

The Governor General does not decide when the House of Commons or the Senate come out of an adjournment and resume sitting. The House of Commons and Senate vote to adjourn themselves and to resume sitting, but the Crown summons, … Continue reading →

Posted in Crown (Powers and Office), Parliament, Prorogation, Speaker of the House of Commons | 3 Comments

All I Want for Christmas Is a Constitutional Crisis

Posted on 2024/12/23 by J.W.J. Bowden

The Most Chaotic Week in Ottawa Since February 1963 Chrystia Freeland resigned as Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister in spectacular fashion on Monday, 16 December 2024 mere hours before she would have delivered the Fall Economic Update in … Continue reading →

Posted in Crown (Powers and Office), Dissolution, Prorogation | 1 Comment

A Time When America Would Have Given Us Seven States

Posted on 2024/12/10 by J.W.J. Bowden

The trope that Canada should avoid becoming “the 51st state” has never made much sense to me. While the Americans would surely not allow Prince Edward Island to carry on as a separate polity (and certainly not under such an … Continue reading →

Posted in History of British North America | Leave a comment

The Presidential Bicameral Adjournment Clause Is Almost An American Equivalent to Prorogation

Posted on 2024/11/22 by J.W.J. Bowden

An American Connection Over the last thirteen years, I have been pleasantly surprised to find that Parliamentum attracts a surprising number of readers from the United States, about one-quarter to one-third of the total depending on the year. I occasionally … Continue reading →

Posted in Comparative, History of British North America, Parliamentarism v Presidentialism | Leave a comment

Tim Houston’s Snap Election in Nova Scotia

Posted on 2024/11/12 by J.W.J. Bowden

Houston Breached the Last Redoubt Nova Scotia long resisted the trend of fixed-date elections in Canada and stood for years as the last redoubt of the ten provinces to rely solely on section 4(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982, which … Continue reading →

Posted in Fixed-Date Elections | Leave a comment