Precedence, Titles, and Forms of Address in Canada

In Precedence, Titles, and Forms of Address in Canada the author explores the legal history of the concept of precedence that underlies state protocol. Tracing the beginnings of the legal concept of precedence from medieval English law the book follows the application of English legal concepts of precedence to the British Colonies in North America prior to the American Revolution. From there precedence is traced into both post-confederation and present-day Canada. Both the Canadian Government's Table of Precedence for officials and dignitaries and its provincial and territorial counterparts are listed and explained. Precedence among judges and the legal profession in the courts of law are also highlighted as is, briefly, the application of precedence to military formations in the Canadian armed forces. The book acknowledges the early association of precedence with titles of nobility and gentry and explains how British titles of nobility were eliminated in Canada as the country strove to develop a more egalitarian culture. In the final section of the book the forms of address appropriate in the modern context to government officials in Canada are set out, and the book explains how officials are to be addressed in person, and in correspondence, with their appropriate honorific titles.