362 THE BRITISH APPROACH TO POLITICS

Act. The Dominion Government, and the Government of a
Province, acting together, can modify this Constitution in order
to prevent inconvenient differences between the laws of separate
Provinces; but fundamental alterations can only be made by the
Parliament of the United Kingdom. This position is not changed
even by the Statute of Westminster; but if a strong demand for
the alteration of the 1867 Act should arise from Canada, it could
hardly be resisted.

As the West of Canada was developed^ successive Acts drew
the administrative boundaries, so that there are now nine
Provinces; the districts of the extreme North are Territories
administered by the Dominion Government.

Executive power is in the hands of the Governor-General and
a Privy Council, though from the latter a Cabinet is selected,
functioning as does that of Britain. The legislature is the
Governor-General, the Senate and the House of Commons. The
Senate is an undemocratic body, whose ninety-six members
must possess a property qualification. They are chosen for life
by the Governor-General, the proportions in which they are
selected being such as to strengthen the position of the smaller
Provinces. Bills must pass through both Houses to become law,,
but the Senate does not as a rule press opposition very far. The
House of Commons is elected in the usual manner; it may be
dissolved by the Governor-General, and cannot in any event
continue for more than five years.

It has often been remarked that the frontier between Canada
and the United States is the longest in the world, and has no
military forces stationed on either side. Both nations evidently
regard conflict as out of the question, and this is a factor making
for British-American friendship. Further, while Canada would
not wish to attach herself politically to the United States, there
is a strong economic connection. There is more American-owned
than British-owned capital in the Dominion; there has been
much migration in both directions but chiefly out of Canada,
Many Asiatics have entered the Western Provinces, so that the