Queen in Right of Alberta | |
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Provincial/State
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Incumbent | |
Elizabeth II Queen of Canada since 6 February 1952 |
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Details | |
Style | Her Majesty |
First monarch | Edward VII |
Formation | 1 September 1905 |
By the arrangements of the Canadian federation, Canada's monarchy operates in Alberta as the core of the province's Westminster-style parliamentary democracy. As such, the Crown within Alberta's jurisdiction is referred to as the Crown in Right of Alberta,Her Majesty in Right of Alberta, or The Queen in Right of Alberta. The Constitution Act, 1867, however, leaves many royal duties in Alberta specifically assigned to the sovereign's viceroy, the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, whose direct participation in governance is limited by the conventional stipulations of constitutional monarchy.
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, whose 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.