Canada and Newfoundland

by Frank G. Carpenter

The government has bought several city blocks near the Parliament quadrangle, on which it will some day erect appropriate structures to house its various departments. Some of them, meanwhile, are accommodated in all sorts of office buildings and remodelled dwellings, a condition that also reminds me of Washington. This fact shows, too, that in the face of the continual cry for greater economy the government machine in Canada is, like our own, getting bigger every year.

The present Parliament house is a new building that will have cost, when complete, nearly twelve million dollars. It is on the site and about the size of the one burned in 1916, except that it has one story more, and its square Gothic tower will be within two feet as high as the dome of the United States Capitol. The entrance hall, which forms the base of this tower, is a veritable forest of pillars that uphold Gothic arches. The arches and walls have a dappled gray-white appearance, due to fossils in the Selkirk limestone. Arched corridors lead to the Senate wing on the right, to the House of Commons on the left, and straight ahead into the library, the only part of the original building not destroyed by the fire.

I found the Senate chamber a beautiful room, handsomely appointed. Its walls are lined with large paintings of Canadian troops in action in the World War. The ninety-six senators who represent the various provinces are appointed for life by the government in power whenever vacancies occur. Seats in this body are often handed out as political plums. The Canadian Senate has not nearly as much power in national affairs as the upper house of our Congress, but a seat in it means both honour and a living.

The House of Commons, the real arena of Canadian political life, is a long, high-ceilinged room, with a broad aisle extending from the door to the speaker’s dais. On each side of the aisle are rows of double desks behind which sit the two hundred and thirty-five members. Those belonging to the majority party are on the speaker’s right, and those of the opposition on his left. The speaker’s big chair is patterned after the one in the English House of Commons. I sat in it and found it very uncomfortable. Above it is the coat of arms of Canada, carved in wood from Westminster six hundred years old. All around the chamber are galleries for visitors.

The members of the Canadian Congress are not as generously provided for as ours. They get salaries of four thousand dollars a year, with nothing extra for secretaries. Instead of cash mileage allowances they receive railroad passes. The Parliament must meet every year, and the sessions usually last from early in January until May or June. Because of the tendency of members to go home before the adjournment, the House passed a law imposing fines of twenty-five dollars a day for absences during the final two weeks. Our Congress might do well to enact a similar law.

Yesterday morning I drove out to Rideau Hall, a big gray stone mansion in park-like grounds overlooking the Rideau and Ottawa rivers. It is the residence of the Governor-General of Canada, the representative of His Majesty, the King of Great Britain, and the nominal head of the Canadian government. The Canadians pay him a princely salary, furnish him this palatial country residence, and make him a generous allowance for entertainment and travel. They sincerely desire that he enjoy his five years among them, provided that he does not interfere in the conduct of their affairs.

“Just consider,” said a Canadian statesman to me to-day, “that the position of the Governor-General in Canada is identical with that of the King in Great Britain. He is a symbol of the unity and continuity of the empire, but his executive duties are purely formal, as he must not take the initiative and must always get the advice of his ministers. Control of the government may shift from one party to another here as in England, but the Governor-General, like the King, continues undisturbed in his office. When his term expires the King names his successor, but no government in London dreams of making the appointment until it has consulted with Ottawa and ascertained that the man chosen is acceptable to us.”

The speaker was a man who has frequently held high offices in the government. Like other Canadians I have met, he believes his country has a more democratic form of government than that of the United States.

“You know,” said he, “we in Canada marvel at the strange spectacle you sometimes have in Washington of a president of one party confronted by a majority in Congress of another party. To us, responsible popular government under such conditions is unthinkable. The majority in the House of Commons always forms our government, or administration, as you call it, and the majority leader becomes premier and head of the cabinet. As long as it is supported by a majority of that house, the cabinet is the supreme power of the land in federal affairs. As soon as it ceases to be supported by the majority, it loses the right to govern and a new ministry comes in. Under our system an election must be held every five years, but it may be held oftener. For example, a prime minister who has met defeat in the Commons may advise a dissolution of Parliament and appeal at once to the people in a general election. You Americans vote by the calendar, every two or four years; we vote on specific issues as the need arises. Every one of our cabinet ministers is an elected member of the House of Commons or a member of the Senate, and must answer for all his official acts on the floor of the House.”

I asked as to the present attitude toward the United States.