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Romeo Phillion was the longest-serving prisoner in Canadian history to have a murder conviction overturned.

The Deschênes Commission (officially known as the Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals in Canada) was an independent commission of inquiry established by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Its purpose was to investigate accusations that alleged war criminals from the Second World War had found refuge and were living in Canada. The commission took a broad approach to its mandate, investigating war crimes as well as crimes against humanity. While war crimes had already been established as a specific kind of crime after the Second World War, crimes against humanity were not as clearly described, and therefore did not have a clear and defined punishment structure. The outcome of this report was to formalize crimes against humanity and create that framework. Specifically, the Criminal Code was amended so that war crimes would be offences under Canadian law regardless of Canada's involvement in said war. A two-part final report was completed and delivered at the end of 1986. The first part concluded that alleged Nazi war criminals were residing in Canada, but also that Canada lacked the legal means to prosecute those individuals. The second part of the report—that concerned with allegations against specific individuals—remains confidential.

The North-West Territories Act, passed by the Liberal government of Alexander Mackenzie in April 1875, was an attempt to improve government administration and direct the development of the North-West Territories. Established in 1870, the North-West Territories was the first Canadian territory. It covered a vast area, stretching from Labrador to the Rocky Mountains and from the forty-ninth parallel to the Arctic Ocean.

The Liberal Party has dominated federal politics for much of Canada’s history, using the formula for success of straddling the political center developed under the leadership of Sir Wilfrid Laurier. Liberals have formed numerous governments and provided Canada with 10 prime ministers, but the party has also experienced defeat and internal divisions. In the election of October 2015, the party rose from third to first place in the House of Commons, winning a majority government under leader Justin Trudeau. The Liberals won a minority government in the 2019 election.

Maritime Rights was a regional protest that climaxed in the 1920s. Essentially a reform movement, it was triggered by the region's declining influence in CONFEDERATION and its inability to protect important interests in transportation, tariffs, port development and federal subsidies.

A premier is the chief minister of a provincial government. Because of the shared framework of cabinet government, the office of provincial premier is similar to that held by Canada's Prime Minister.

Almost every Canadian who pays money to, or receives benefits from, the federal government has a 9-digit Social Insurance Number (SIN).

Land claims seek to address wrongs made against Indigenous peoples, their rights and lands, by the federal and provincial or territorial governments. There are different types of land claims. Comprehensive claims (also known as modern treaties) deal with Indigenous rights, while specific claims concern the government’s outstanding obligations under historic treaties or the Indian Act. There are many ongoing comprehensive and specific claims negotiations in Canada.

The term Parliament refers to the Crown, the House of Commons and the Senate. Together, these institutions create Canadian laws. Parliament has two branches: the executive (the Crown, prime minister and cabinet) and the legislative (the House of Commons and the Senate). This system is a blend of parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy. It is based on the Westminster tradition in Britain. Each of the Crown, Senate and Commons must agree with (assent to) a law before it is enacted. The government of the day derives its authority from the people who elected it. It is therefore a representative government, even though it acts in the name of the Crown — a largely symbolic institution. In formal terms, Parliament includes all three bodies. But in common usage, the legislative branch is often equated with Parliament.

Allotment of Time, rules of the House of Commons, Standing Orders 115, 116 and 117, often confused by the media with the closure rule, S.O. 57. Since 1968 most bills pass the committee stage in the standing committees and may be amended at the report stage, but S.O.

 The Non-Partisan League was an agrarian protest movement imported into Canada from North Dakota in 1915. The league became a political force in the Prairie provinces after its 1916 victory in the North Dakota state election. A number of leading urban radicals, including J.S.

Inquiry Into Certain Activities of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Royal Commission of (McDonald Commission), was a federal commission, est 1977, following allegations of crimes by the RCMP Security Service.

In Canada, the public promotion of hate against identifiable groups and the advocacy of genocide is, under certain conditions, a criminal offence, punishable by up to 2 years' imprisonment.

Redistribution describes both the allocation of seats in the House of Commons to the provinces and the procedure for drawing specific constituency boundaries within the provinces. This occurs every 10 years.

Social democracy, historically, is a term that has been used by individuals on both the far and moderate left to describe their beliefs, but in recent years the latter have embraced the term almost exclusively (indeed radical left-wing critics often use the term disparagingly).

Natural-resource development has played a major role in Canada's economy and continues to be a focus of national concerns.