Monarchy in Alberta - Constitutional Monarchy in Alberta

Constitutional Monarchy in Alberta

The role of the Crown is both legal and practical; it functions in Alberta in the same way it does in all of Canada's other provinces, being the centre of a constitutional construct in which the institutions of government acting under the sovereign's authority share the power of the whole. It is thus the foundation of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the province's government. The Canadian monarch— since 6 February 1952, Queen Elizabeth II— is represented and her duties carried out by the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, who's direct participation in governance is limited by the conventional stipulations of constitutional monarchy, with most related powers entrusted for exercise by the elected parliamentarians, the ministers of the Crown generally drawn from amongst them, and the judges and justices of the peace. The Crown today primarily functions as a guarantor of continuous and stable governance and a nonpartisan safeguard against the abuse of power. This arrangement began with the granting of Royal Assent to the 1905 Alberta Act and continued an unbroken line of monarchical government extending back to the late 18th century. However, though Alberta has a separate government headed by the Queen, as a province, Alberta is not itself a kingdom.

Government House in Edmonton is owned by the sovereign only in her capacity as Queen in Right of Alberta and is used both as an office and official event location by the lieutenant governor, the sovereign, and other members of the Canadian Royal Family. The viceroy resides in a separate home provided by the provincial Crown and the Queen and her relations reside at a hotel when in Alberta. Members of the Royal Family have owned property in a private capacity: for a number of decades, King Edward VIII (later the Duke of Windsor) owned Bedingfield Ranch, near Pekisko, High River.