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.