The Canadian Crown and The Canadian Forces - Role in Command

Role in Command

The role of the Canadian Crown in the Canadian Armed Forces is established through both constitutional and statutory law; the National Defence Act states that "the Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada" and the Constitution Act, 1867, vests Command-in-Chief of those forces in the sovereign—presently Queen Elizabeth II—though, the sovereign's representative, the Governor General of Canada, carries out the duties and bears the title of that position on the monarch's behalf. Since Canadian Confederation, three members of the Royal Family have been titled as Commander-in-Chief: the Duke of Argyll (1871–1883), Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (1911–1916), and the Earl of Athlone (1940–1946).

Formally, there is a direct chain of command from the Queen of Canada to the governor general, through the Chief of the Defence Staff to all of the officers who hold the Queen's Commission, and through them, to all members of the Canadian Forces. No other person, including the prime minister, cabinet ministers, nor public servants is part of the chain of command; nor does any other person have any command authority in the Canadian Forces, an arrangement maintained to ensure that "the military is an agent for and not a master of the state." As such, all new recruits into the Canadian Forces are required to recite the Oath of Allegiance to the monarch and his or her heirs and successors. According to the National Defence Act, the use of traitorous or disloyal words towards the reigning king or queen is a service offence and may be punishable by up to seven years imprisonment.

Declarations of war, the mobilisation of troops, and the organisation of the forces all fall within the Royal Prerogative; direct parliamentary approval is not necessary for such, though the Cabinet may seek it nonetheless and the Crown-in-Parliament is responsible for allocating moneys necessary to fund the military. The monarch issues letters patent, known as the Queen's Commission, to commissioned officers in the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Further, all regulations for the Canadian Forces are set out by the sovereign in the Queen's Regulations and Orders. Neither the monarch nor the viceroy, however, involve themselves in direct military command; per constitutional convention, both must almost always exercise the Royal Prerogative on the advice of the Cabinet, although the right to unilaterally use those powers in crisis situations is maintained.

Three military units comprise the Household Division, symbolically charged specifically with protecting the monarch and governor general: the Governor General's Horse Guards, the Governor General's Foot Guards, and the Canadian Grenadier Guards.