Personification of The Canadian State
The Crown is an integral part of a practical form of government, and as such it has a direct and substantive part to play in the lives of all Canadians.
David E. Smith, The Invisible Crown, 1995As the living embodiment of the Crown, the sovereign is regarded as the personification of the Canadian state and, as such, must, along with his or her viceregal representatives, "remain strictly neutral in political terms." The body of the reigning sovereign also thus holds two distinct personas in constant coexistence: that of a natural-born human being and that of the state as accorded to him or her through law; even in private, the monarch is always "on duty". The state is therefore referred to as Her Majesty The Queen in Right of Canada (French: Sa Majesté la Reine du chef du Canada), or The Crown in Right of Canada, and the monarch's legal personality is sometimes referred to simply as Canada.
As such, the king or queen of Canada is the employer of all government officials and staff (including the viceroys, judges, members of the Canadian Forces, police officers, and parliamentarians), the guardian of foster children (Crown wards), as well as the owner of all state lands (Crown land), buildings and equipment (Crown held property), state owned companies (Crown corporations), and the copyright for all government publications (Crown copyright). This is all in his or her position as sovereign, and not as an individual; all such property is held by the Crown in perpetuity and cannot be sold by the sovereign without the proper advice and consent of his or her ministers.
As the embodiment of the state, the monarch tops the Canadian order of precedence and is also the locus of oaths of allegiance, required of many of the aforementioned employees of the Crown, as well as by new citizens, as per the Oath of Citizenship laid out in the Citizenship Act. This is done in reciprocation to the sovereign's Coronation Oath, wherein he or she promises "to govern the Peoples of... Canada... according to their respective laws and customs."
Read more about this topic: Monarchy Of Canada
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