Download PDF - Stewart McKelvey

______________________________________________________________________________Stewart McKelveyDoing Business in Atlantic CanadaNewfoundland and Labrador’s economy is highly dependent on the resource sector. Oil and gas, fishproducts, newsprint, mineral products and electricity account for most of the province’s exported goods.However, the value of the services industry has been increasing in recent years due to growth in areassuch as tourism, communications, business and computer services.Newfoundland and Labrador is in the unique position of having two time zones. Labrador is in the AtlanticTime Zone, which is one hour ahead of the Eastern Time Zone. Newfoundland is in the NewfoundlandTime Zone, which is one-half hour ahead of the Atlantic Time Zone. So if it is 1 p.m. in Toronto it will be 2p.m. in Labrador and 2:30 p.m. in Newfoundland. Both Newfoundland and Labrador observe DaylightSaving Time.The Canadian Political and Judicial SystemsCanada has a parliamentary system of democratic government. A former dominion of Great Britain,Canada is a constitutional monarchy, its head of state being the Queen of Canada, Queen Elizabeth II,who is also Queen of Britain, Australia, New Zealand and a number of other Commonwealth nations.Under the Constitution Act, 1867, powers and responsibilities are divided between the federalgovernment and the 10 provincial governments, with the federal government retaining jurisdiction over thethree territories. The federal list of powers under the Constitution generally relates to national matters,such as the regulation of trade and commerce, criminal law and procedure, direct and indirect taxation,banking, currency, defence, navigation and shipping, patents and copyrights. The provincial list ofpowers is generally concerned with local matters, such as municipal institutions, local works andundertakings, education, direct taxation, the administration of justice, property and civil rights, and mattersof a merely local and private nature in the province (including internal trade issues). The Constitution alsoprovides for concurrent federal and provincial jurisdiction in a number of areas, including health, theenvironment, agriculture and immigration.An important element of the Constitution is the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which wasadopted in 1982. The Charter guarantees a series of rights and freedoms, subject only to suchreasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.Among the rights and freedoms contained in the Charter are:• fundamental freedoms, including freedom of conscience and religion; freedom of thought, belief,opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication;freedom of peaceful assembly; and, freedom of association;• democratic rights, such as the right of citizens to vote in elections for members of the House ofCommons and legislative assemblies;• mobility rights, including the right to live and to seek employment anywhere in Canada;• equality rights;• legal rights, such as the right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure;• language rights, such as the right to use either of Canada's official languages and the right ofFrench and English linguistic minorities to an education in their language; and• protections for aboriginal peoples' pre-existing rights.The Charter is particularly significant because unlike earlier Canadian human rights legislation, it isentrenched in the Constitution, which is the supreme law of Canada. Laws that are not consistent withthe Constitution (including the Charter) may be found to be invalid.Canada’s system of government has three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. At the federallevel, the legislative branch is represented by the Parliament, which consists of the House of CommonsPage 6