Category Archives: Caretaker Convention & Government Formation

Beyond the Writ: The Expansion of the Caretaker Convention in the 21st Century Published in the Saskatchewan Law Review

Posted on 2024/05/13 by J.W.J. Bowden

  The Saskatchewan Law Review just published my and David Brock’s article “Beyond the Writ: The Expansion of the Caretaker Convention in the 21st Century,” presumably available at fine law school libraries everywhere. Here we chronicle and try to explain … Continue reading →

Posted in Caretaker Convention & Government Formation, Constitutional Conventions | 1 Comment

The Caretaker Convention Gobbles Up More Time and Space: The Case of Prince Edward Island in 2023

Posted on 2023/03/20 by J.W.J. Bowden

Since 2015 or so, a segment of Canadian academics, the Privy Council Office in Ottawa and the various Executive Council Offices of the provinces, as well as the media, have decided to propagate a new, expansive, and mostly unfounded interpretation … Continue reading →

Posted in Caretaker Convention & Government Formation, Constitutional Conventions | Leave a comment

My Latest Article in the Journal of Parliamentary and Political Law: How Governor General Lord Aberdeen Reinforced the Caretaker Convention and Dismissed Prime Minister Tupper from Office

Posted on 2022/07/14 by J.W.J. Bowden

I first uncovered the correspondence in which Governor General Lord Aberdeen dismissed Prime Minister Sir Charles Tupper from office in July 1896 all the way back in 2012 while conducting research on something else. The documents have proven more fruitful … Continue reading →

Posted in Appointment of PM, Caretaker Convention & Government Formation, Confidence Convention, Constitutional Conventions, Crown (Powers and Office), Governor General, Governor's Discretion | 2 Comments

The Most Pointless Election Since 1965

Posted on 2021/09/21 by J.W.J. Bowden

2019 & 2021 We have just undergone a futile election which has produced substantively the same outcome as the previous general election in October 2019: a Liberal plurality around 15 to 20 seats short of a majority. On 21 October … Continue reading →

Posted in Caretaker Convention & Government Formation | 5 Comments

Voting in the 44th General Federal Election and Forming a Government Thereafter

Posted on 2021/09/20 by J.W.J. Bowden

Casting and Counting Ballots Canadians not amongst those who voted in the advanced polls in record numbers shall go to the polls today (myself included) to elect their MPs for the 44th Parliament. However, Elections Canada has cautioned that we … Continue reading →

Posted in Caretaker Convention & Government Formation | 2 Comments