Governor General of Canada

The Governor General of Canada (French : Gouverneur général du Canada, or : Gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. As the sovereign is shared equally with 15 other independent countries in a form of personal union, as well as with the ten other jurisdictions of Canada, and resides predominantly in her oldest realm, the United Kingdom, she, on the advice of her Canadian prime minister only, appoints the governor general to carry out most of her constitutional and ceremonial duties for an unfixed period of time—known as serving at Her Majesty's pleasure—though five years is the normal convention. Beginning in 1959, it is also traditional to rotate between anglophone and francophone incumbents. Once in office, the governor general maintains direct contact with the Queen, wherever she may be at the time.

The office has its roots in the 16th and 17th century colonial governors of New France and British North America, and thus is the oldest continuous institution in Canada. The present incarnation of the position emerged with Canadian Confederation and the British North America Act in 1867, which defined the viceregal office as the "Governor General acting by and with the Advice of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada." However, the post still ultimately represented the government of the United Kingdom (that is, the monarch in his British council) until, after continually decreasing involvement by the British government and the passage in 1931 of the Statute of Westminster, the governor general became the direct, personal representative of the uniquely Canadian sovereign (the monarch in his Canadian council). During that process of gradual independence, the governor general took on an ever expanding role: in 1904, the Militia Act granted permission for the governor general to use the title of Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian militia, in the name of the sovereign and actual Commander-in-Chief, and in 1927 the first official international visit by a governor general was made. In 1947, King George VI issued letters patent allowing the viceroy to carry out almost all of the monarch's powers in his or her stead. Per the Constitution Act, 1982, any constitutional amendment that affects the Crown, including the Office of the Governor General, requires the unanimous consent of each provincial legislature as well as the federal parliament.

The current governor general is David Lloyd Johnston, who has served since 1 October 2010; Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper recommended him to succeed Michaëlle Jean. Johnston's wife—who is thus the viceregal consort—is Sharon Johnston.

Read more about Governor General Of Canada:  Spelling of Title, Appointment, Role, Residences and Household, Symbols and Protocol, Activities Post-commission, Canadian Institutions Established By Governors General

Famous quotes containing the words governor, general and/or canada:

    Ah, Governor [Murphy, of New Jersey], don’t try to deceive me as to the sentiment of the dear people. I have been hearing from the West and the East, and the South seems to be the only section which approves of me at all, and that comes from merely a generous impulse, for even that section would deny me its votes.
    William Howard Taft (1857–1930)

    General education is the best preventive of the evils now most dreaded. In the civilized countries of the world, the question is how to distribute most generally and equally the property of the world. As a rule, where education is most general the distribution of property is most general.... As knowledge spreads, wealth spreads. To diffuse knowledge is to diffuse wealth. To give all an equal chance to acquire knowledge is the best and surest way to give all an equal chance to acquire property.
    Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)

    Though the words Canada East on the map stretch over many rivers and lakes and unexplored wildernesses, the actual Canada, which might be the colored portion of the map, is but a little clearing on the banks of the river, which one of those syllables would more than cover.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)