INTRODUCTION. 
|B 
the press, the right of the people to assemble or to petition 
the Government; but whilst Congress cannot pass a law 
infringing these rights, the Canadian. like the British, Parlia- 
ment may do so. 
6. Congress with the assent of three-fourths of the States Awesd 
may amend its Constitution; the Dominion Parliament has Consti- 
no similar power. The Dominion may alter the franchise ton: 
or legislate on matters relating to the election of members 
of the House of Commons, but so far as substantial changes 
in the Constitution are concerned recourse must be had to 
the Imperial Parliament. 
It is naturally to be expected that difference of opinion fanaa 
would occasionally arise as to the limits of the Dominion and Provinces 
the Provincial powers respectively. The only serious conflict 393 Dex 
that has arisen is due to the exercise of the right of the 
Governor-General to veto a Provincial Act. In this respect 
the Governor-General by statute possesses a power that does 
not belong to the Crown. The Crown may veto an Act of 
the Dominion, but cannot veto an Act of a Provincial legisla- 
ture. The number of Provincial Acts vetoed by the Governor- 
General is comparatively small, but the mere fact that the 
Governor-General, acting on the advice of his ministers, 
may find himself obliged to veto a Provincial Act on the 
ground that it is contrary to the “policy of the Dominion,” 
may give rise to a serious conflict of Provincial versus Do- 
minion policy. 
In Canada, as in the States, the judiciary (including Judiciary 
under this term the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council) 
tends to occupy the most prominent place as the arbiter be- 
tween Provincial and Dominion rights. The decisions of the 
Courts as to the limits of the legislative power of the Do- 
minion and of the Provinces have been loyally accepted in 
Canada, as in the States, and as time goes on there seems 
every reason to expect that the importance and power of the