The Governor General of Canada

The British Queen is Canada's legal Head of State, but as she does not live in this country Canada also has an "acting" Head of State who is known as the Governor General. He or she is a Canadian citizen who is "appointed by the Queen, on the advice of the Prime Minister." In practice this means the Prime Minister gets to chose, and the Queen just signs the paperwork. The position of Governor General used to be quite a powerful position. Before Canada was granted self-rule, the Governor General would be appointed by Britain to literally govern Canada. Today it is mostly a figurehead job, much like the monarchy itself.

After Canada became self-governing in 1867, Britain would appoint various Lords, Dukes, Viscounts, and other nobles to serve as Governor General for a few years before being recalled back to London (or some other British colony). The Governor General did not play a huge role in day-to-day political matters, but still acted as an important intermediary between the UK government and the Canadian one. There were a few notable exceptions of course, and some Prime Ministers repeatedly clashed with the British viceroys.

Since 1952, all Governors of Canada have been Canadian-born, and as I mentioned, appointed based on the Prime Minister's advice, instead of the advice of the British Government. In contemporary Canada, the Governor General has traditionally been some "elder statesman" from the Prime Minister's party, such as a former cabinet minister or a senator, who deserves a reward for loyalty. This tradition may be on its way out, however. The last two Governor Generals have actually been former television hosts, as we shall see.

Today, the Governor General's main role is to represent the Queen, and generally perform the expected duties of a ceremonial Head of State. These usually include handing out awards and medals, attending special banquets and summits, and shaking hands with other world leaders. She is also technically the Commander-in-Chief of Canada's armed forces, and the nominal head of many other important government organizations. If there is a photo op to be had, you can be sure the Governor General will be there.

In practical terms the Governor General is a figurehead with almost zero political relevance in the actual governance of the country. The GG is not a member of the cabinet, she doesn't participate in policy discussions, and she can't propose legislation. At most, she can just be an "advisor" if the PM decides he wants to chat with her for some reason.

According to the Constitution of Canada however, the Governor General holds enormous, dictatorial powers. Technically every decision that the government of Canada makes must be "approved" by the Governor General. This can be a bit confusing to those who don't fully understand how our system of government works. I've often read foreign encyclopedias in which they state things like "In Canada, the Governor General appoints the Senate" or "In Canada the Governor General commands the army." Technically this is true, but to state it like that is very misleading. In modern day Canada the Governor General only "symbolically" exercises power, and instead of making her own decisions, only does what the Prime Minister tells her to do.

The Governor General's most important symbolic power is giving "Royal Assent". After a bill is passed by Parliament, the Governor General must sign it in order to make it law. All of the political appointments that the government makes, such as senators, cabinet members, judges, ambassadors, etc must receive Royal Assent as well. Technically a Governor General could veto a law or appointment, but this never happens. She just goes along with whatever. In fact these days the Governor General often doesn't even sign the papers herself, some understudy does.

As meaningless as the Governor General may seem to be, political pundits always point out that in huge political emergencies the Governor General could actually use her constitutional powers to provide political stability. The Governor has the right to fire the Prime Minister or call an election whenever she deems it necessary. So, in theory if some crazy guy became Prime Minister and started killing everyone or something, the Governor General could fire him. As I will discuss in more depth in the Parliament section, there can also be situations in which the legislature can get deadlocked, and emergency elections need to be called by the GG to escape the crisis.

Again, this is mostly all theoretical. In real life, who knows what would happen. It's just assumed the Governor General will step in and save us in emergencies. The last time the Governor General actually did something independently was way back in 1923, when Governor General Lord Byng fired the Prime Minister for calling too many elections, which in turn caused a big political crisis. Since then it's pretty much been a given that the GG will just act as a obedient puppet to the PM.

The current Governor General of Canada is Michaelle Jean, who was appointed by Prime Minister Paul Martin in the summer of 2005. Prior to assuming office, Ms. Jean used to be a documentary TV show host on the CBC. Originally from Haiti, Jean is Canada's second non-white Governor General and third female. So I guess she's not really that ground-breaking.

Her appointment was controversial, however, because the Prime Minister had failed to adequately background check her. Journalists later revealed that in the past she had made statements supporting Quebec separatism and had hung out with members of the radical Marxist Quebec terrorist group, the FLQ . She was then forced to release an akward statement of "loyalty to Canada" before being sworn-in.

Ms. Jean's husband is Jean-Daniel Lafond, a controversial French-Canadian filmaker. The spouse of the Governor General is traditionally considered a sort of "co-Governor General," and is always involved in official ceremonies and the like. Both Ms. Jeans and her husband are well-known for their left-wing, Liberal-friendly political views, which needless to say, are not uncommon traits for Liberal-appointed Governor Generals to have.

As Supreme Commander of the Canadian military, the Governor General gets to wear a bunch of medals. At one time, the Governor Generals used to wear elaborate colonial uniforms too, with golden braids and a tri-cornered hat with a big white feather. The uniform has not been worn since the 70's, but the Governors continue to wear the medals on their civilian clothes. This sometimes looks a little weird, as you can see in the picture above.

Every one of Canada's ten provinces have a representative of the Queen, as well. These are known as the Lieutenant Governors, and are appointed by the Governor General, again on the Prime Minister's "advice." The Lieutenant Governors exercise similar powers to that of the Governor General, but on a much smaller, provincial level. In actual practice Lieutenant Governors are rarely seen, and most Canadians are barely aware of their presence. Like the Governor General, they are usually retired politicians from the PM's party.

There are literally tons of awards given out annually by the Governor General and Lieutenant Governors , recognizing achievement in everything from architecture to bravery to television. Two of the most prestigious awards given by the Governor General are the Order of Canada and the Governor General's Literary Award. The latter award obviously recognizes outstanding Canadian authors, while the former recognizes outstanding Canadians of all types. Winning the Order of Canada is a sign that you are a very important Canadian. All the past Prime Ministers have won it, as well as famous Canadian celebrities like Wayne Gretzsky and Celine Dion.

You can read some bios of Canada's recent Governor Generals on this page, where I analyze how they've been depicted in editorial cartoons over the years. You can also just see a gallery of them, and their dates of office here.