Fire the Governor General -

#juan

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
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In the absence of the Queen, the Governor General is the head of state. I see no problem here.
 
Dexter Sinister

Dexter Sinister

Unspecified Specialist
Oct 1, 2004
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Storm in a teacup. The Queen is in theory the Head of State, but in practice the duties of the Head of State are performed by the Governor-General and the Lieutenant Governors. The actual legal status of all these positions and people is more than a little fuzzy. Read this, it's an official document from a standing committee of the 37th Parliament. Note in particular that if you scroll down a bit to point #2 you'll find this: "As Head of State, the Governor General [emphasis mine] is responsible for representing Canada both in and outside the country." You might also usefully read this.
 
TenPenny

TenPenny

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Jun 9, 2004
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Dexter Sinister said:
Storm in a teacup. The Queen is in theory the Head of State, but in practice the duties of the Head of State are performed by the Governor-General and the Lieutenant Governors. The actual legal status of all these positions and people is more than a little fuzzy. Read this, it's an official document from a standing committee of the 37th Parliament. Note in particular that if you scroll down a bit to point #2 you'll find this: "As Head of State, the Governor General [emphasis mine] is responsible for representing Canada both in and outside the country." You might also usefully read this.
Click to expand...

Never let facts get in the way of a good anti-monarchist rant.
 
FiveParadox

FiveParadox

Governor General
Dec 20, 2005
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Someone posted, elsewhere on the Internet, the same report by the House of Commons — it should be noted, however, that the Commons does not have the authority to decide that the title of head of State has been transferred to anyone other than Her Majesty The Queen of Canada. The report seems to have obviously made a technical error in nomenclature, and it should not lead Canadians to think that The Queen has ceased to be the constitutional head of State — I need only read s. 7 of the Constitution Act, 1867 to know that executive power is vested solely and exclusively in Her Majesty.

On that note, I think that it’s somewhat premature to urge for the replacement of Her Excellency The Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D., the Governor General of Canada. I think that it was a misunderstanding of the workings of constitutional monarchy, and not a conscious attempt to usurp the authority of The Queen as head of State. I do think, however, that Ms. Sheila-Marie Cooke, Secretary to the Governor General, should be dismissed at once; Ms. Cooke led the revamp of the Governor General’s Web site (and its several references to the viceroy as ‘head of State’), and the Secretary also would have been responsible for the oversight of any other Government House workers (i.e., speechwriters). However, Her Excellency needs to address Canadians as soon as possible to re-assert The Queen’s position as head of State.

Government House absolutely must take action to raise the Governor General above this controversy.
 
A

AnnaG

Hall of Fame Member
Jul 5, 2009
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wow Another mountain from a molehill. Someone must have been bored.
 
FiveParadox

FiveParadox

Governor General
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Web Site of the OSGG

Probably a DNS or other such Interweb issue, but I don’t seem to be able to access the Web site of the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General at the moment. I have access to other Canadian government domains, though. How odd? Can anyone access the Office’s Web site? (I have a shred of hope that the Ms. Sheila-Marie Cooke, the Secretary to the Governor General, has made the proper decision to take down the Web site to make corrections to save face for the ‘head of State’ issue of recent days.)

(Here’s the Office’s Web site, if anyone has access.)
 
earth_as_one

earth_as_one

Time Out
Jan 5, 2006
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The Queen is Canada's head of state. When absent from Canada, the GG fills that position temporarily. Both statements are true or false depending on whether the Queen is present in Canada or not.
 
Spade

Spade

Ace Poster
Nov 18, 2008
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Aether Island
Cliffy said:
It was a rhetorical question aimed at nobody in particular.
Click to expand...

For me, the question really boils down to "Do you still consider Canada a colonial appendix of a dead empire?" (Pun intended!) If your answer's "Yes," then for you, Queenie Two is your head of state! However, for the few times big blue bloods blew by Aether Island, neither my wife nor I took out the tea cosy or dusted off the coronation bric-à-brac from the Fifties!
 
VanIsle

VanIsle

Always thinking
Nov 12, 2008
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Goober said:
Fire the Governor General -The Govt has the ability to have the GG removed - She believes she is the head of State - The Queen is - yet she continues on in this battle or fantasy or reach for power. Time to go.

Governor General’s new website adds fuel to head-of-state debate
Click to expand...
I am with you on this Goober. People fill "acting" positions in "jobs" all the time. They get acting pay for the position. They don't get the title. In Corrections BC for example, when the Warden goes on extended leave or is just away for a couple of days, the Deputy Warden does not take on the title of Warden. In the RCMP when an Inspector goes AWOL, the Staff Sergeant who replaces him is still nothing more than the Staff Sergeant. The GG is simply the GG. She is not the H of S nor is she really the acting H of S.
There is actually more to her comments when you read that article. She says this:

"I, a francophone from the Americas, born in Haiti, who carries in her the history of the slave trade and the emancipation of blacks, at once Quebecoise and Canadian, and today before you, Canada's head of state, proudly represents the promises and possibilities of that ideal of society," she said.

She states she is a french speaking person from the Americas, born in Haiti. Then she goes on to separate Quebec from the rest of Canada in her statement by saying that she is both from Quebec and Canada along with calling herself Canada's Head of State. I thought she was "a Canadian who carries in her the history of the slave trade and emancipation of blacks". Her statement should have said nothing more. Canada is a bi-lingual country. There was no need for her to stress that she is a french speaking person and no need for her to state she is from the Americas. She is from Canada. She should be proud enough of her country to call it that - Canada! She should also be humble enough to say that she is the G.G., here to represent Canada's Head of State, Queen Elizabeth 2nd.
 
TenPenny

TenPenny

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Jun 9, 2004
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earth_as_one said:
The Queen is Canada's head of state. When absent from Canada, the GG fills that position temporarily. Both statements are true or false depending on whether the Queen is present in Canada or not.
Click to expand...

Maybe so, but some Parliamentary Committees refer to the GG as head of state.
And one would think that Parliamentary Committees have some idea what they are saying.
 
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