Role of the Governor General of Canada - Report Example

1.0 Introduction The Islam world, China and the UK are just but a few examples that have seen the services of a monarch as head of and a president or prime minister as the head of government. Many other countries or united nations have the monarch in operation up to date. The monarch represented by the king and/or queen takes care of all states affairs ranging from presiding over very important state function to making most of the appointments in the government. Now Canada is yet another country that is led by a monarch as the head of state represented by the Governor General and the Prime Minister (PM) as the head of government. Other arrangements have the queen/king as ceremonial leaders alongside the heads of states and heads of governments. The governor general is appointed by her majesty the queen of England (UK) and the queen has the discretion to choose a man or woman for that job. Initially the appointments by any monarch wherever in the world have been reserved for men except for a few cases where women have had a chance to be appointed by the monarch to head governments. Out of the five governor generals that have been appointed to lead government of Canada since the 1980s, three of them have been women. This demonstrates the issue of women leadership in top places and the general affirmative action in the entire Canada. This paper seeks to highlight and analyze the roles and duties of the governor general of Canada in a bid to establish the roles and duties of a governor general and hence evaluate whether or not the powers accorded to this office can be abused. 2.0 Literature Review The analysis and highlight of the roles and duties of the governor general of Canada has been dealt with by a number of authors who have written books or articles to this effect. At least three of these literary works shall be reviewed to show the coverage that has been made concerning an analysis of the roles of thee governor general of Canada. The first book that delves into the issue of the roles of a governor general is George Winterton's book titled Parliament, the Executive, and the Governor-General: A Constitutional Analysis. The book is basically about the practice of federal power, the executive power and the legislative power in governments. It cited Australia as the working example through which it analyses the constitutional relationship between the Queen and the governor general. The book just as well tries to highlight and examine the degree to which the judiciary represented by the courts is able to review the actions of government as provided by the constitution. Besides the governmental action, the prerogative powers in the federal government are also highlighted with the possible judicial review of these powers. As the book closes, it does so by paying specific attention to the roles and powers of a governor general which are provided for by the constitution. The relevance of book is the fact that it considers a government structure similar to that in Canada and the roles of the Australian governor general only varies slightly from that of the Canadian one. Australia is only used as an example but the book pays specific emphasis to the prerogative powers given to the federal government top leaders such as the Prime Minister, the Governor General and how these powers are not easily reviewable not even by the legislature or even judicially. From the constitutional power conferred on the governor general, it is easier to analyze his/her roles (Winterton, 1983). Adrienne Clarkson's Heart Matters: a Memoir is a classical relevant piece of literature as far the topic of this paper is concerned. It should be remembered that Adrienne Clarkson herself was a governor general of Canada (1999-2005) and during her leadership, the governor general's office spent millions and millions of dollars on issues that were not even related tot eh official roles of Clarkson as a governor general. The book, as a memoir dwells most on Clarkson's role as a governor general. Basically the book tries to help the reader understand the role do the office of the governor general just as well as to elaborate how the appointments are made. She is a francophone and appointments of governors general in Canada keep on alternating between Francophone and Anglophones (Clarkson, 2007). The Crown and Constitutional Law in Canada by Noonan P. William crowns it all by considering the issue of the crown and the constitutional powers that the crown has including appointments such as that of the governor general. The book ventures considerably into the royal prerogatives, the constitution of Canada, parliament of Canada and the governor general of Canada. Generally, the book considers the constitutional position about he powers of the crown. It also shows the expression of these powers in the royal prerogative section in which the appointment of the governor general is part of the royal's prerogatives. The relevance of the book to the topic of concern of this book is the fact that it reviews how the governor general of Canada is appointed and this helps understand the roles. The nature of appointment of the governor general acts as a precursor to the roles and responsibilities of the governor general (Noonan, 1998). 3.0 Hypothesis Having seen the literature review, the following hypotheses are conceivable: Governor General is a ceremonial head of state who most of the time does not want to be seen politicking but can advice, warn and encourage the prime minister and the cabinet about governmental issues The Governor General represents the crown and serves at the mercy and wish of the queen who appoints him/her The powers of the governor general especially the one of dismissing the prime minister, ministers and dissolving parliament are excessive and may be used inappropriately 4.0 Research Methods The official roles and responsibilities of the governor general of Canada can be got through research. The research methods embraced were case study and a survey. The survey simply involved getting the a number of government officials such as legislators and even some members of the judiciary to state what they knew the role of the governor general was. These views of these people including the members of the public were then analyzed to get the most recurring. The survey also involved the consultation of the constitution of Canada to see the exact prescription of the roles of the governor general. The second research method applied was the case study. In this method, the life of one governor in general was considered and the role of role of the office inferred. The case study involved the analysis of the memoir written by Adrienne Clarkson was analyzed in a bid to infer the roles of the governor general. The memoir, albeit it doesn't give the very private life of Adrienne Clarkson, it dwells considerably on the life of her while at the helm of governor general. As first Governor General without political or military past, as the first Asian-Canadian Governor General and as the second Governor General woman after the first (Jeanne Sauv, 1984-1990) Adrienne Clarkson as a governor general shows the dynamics in the appointments of governor general by the crown and the constitutional roles of the office. The case studies also shed some light onto the powers of the office by inference to the conduct of Adrienne Clarkson as a governor general. 5.0 Analysis of Data As intimated earlier on, the data collected by the above research methods is subjected to a serious analysis to ascertain the roles of the governor general of Canada as understood by legislators, members of the judiciary and the general public. The views of these groups of people about their understanding of the roles of the governor general of Canada are compared to those stipulated in the constitution. Five people from each of the already mentioned groups were interviewed and these are the views that were analyzed to give forth the final true roles of a governor general. Secondly, the case study involves a detailed study and analysis of the memoir by the former governor general, Adrienne Clarkson which from the demeanors and general conduct of her as the governor general, the roles of this office can be inferred. Only the section of the memoir that deals with her life as a governor general is of specific interest for the sake of this paper. Therefore the full memoir was studied but specific emphasis was paid on the section on which she narrates her life and experiences as a governor general. 6.0 Results The governor general has the role of performing all the constitutional duties prescribed for the sovereign on behalf of the crown and to maintain the stability of government. Actually, the governor general is the official representative of the monarch and as such may exercise almost all the powers vested in the crown. The Governor General can also be empowered through he prime minister to grant immunity to anyone accused. It should be understood that the monarch of Canada is also monarch of the UK and as such, the British Government has no right to advice the Queen about anything concerning Canada because Canada is a sovereign state. Furthermore, the governor general plays a ceremonial role as the head of state. The head of government is the prime minister. As such, the governor general makes visits to other countries in account of Canada, hosts international leaders such as high commissioners, heads of state, ambassadors, delegation of foreign leaders etc. He/she also presides over ceremonial groups besides awarding prizes (e.g. the Governor General's Literary Awards), awards and even medals and decorations especially to military leaders (Marsh, 1988). Some of the common official duties and roles of the governor general of Canada are listed below: Gives Royal Assent to bills both from the House of Commons and the senate (Winterton, 1983) Executes the cabinet decisions Based on advice from cabinet, the governor general appoints the superior court judges Closes parliament, calls it back and can dissolve parliament following appropriate advice from the prime minister Reads the Speech from the Throne outlining the agenda of the Canadian federal government every new parliamentary session (Winterton, 1983) Can appoint or dismiss a prime minister only in times of emergency. This personal authority has although never been use by any of the past Canadian governors general Receives and sends ambassadors and high commissioners Governor General of Canada is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Canada Through awards such as Order of Canada, the governor general of Canada promotes and encourages excellence, nationalism and national unity Presides over state functions such as the swearing in ceremonies of prominent leaders such as the chief justice, the prime minister and even the ministers Ensures that Canada has a prime minister and a stable government and in an event where the prime minister dies, it is the responsibility of the governor general to ensure that the there is continuity in the government's operations Signs official documents and meets on a regular basis with both the PM and other government official to offer advice, encouragement or to warn. 7.0 Conclusion In conclusion, the role of the governor general of Canada is well understood by both he government officials and the general public. Majority of responses given in the survey tallied with one another and with the prescribed official roles of the governor general in the constitution. It is apparent that the governor is only a ceremonial leader and the Prime Minister manages the government affairs. From the memoir written by the former governor general, Adrienne Clarkson, the ceremonial role of the office of the governor general as a representative of the monarch is inferred. Similarly, the memoir sheds some light on the appointment of the governor general and some of the official roles, duties and responsibilities of the governor general. In short, the governor general represents the crown in Canada and he is the head of state and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Canada among other roles enumerated above. This research adds to the general understanding of the role of the governor general and the arrangement of the Canadian government. 8.0 Bibliography Winterton G, (1983): Parliament, the Executive, and the Governor-General: A Constitutional Analysis, Melbourne University Press Clarkson A, (2007): Heart Matters: A Memoir, Viking Press, pp130-137 Noonan P. W, (1998): The Crown and Constitutional Law in Canada, Sripnoon Publications Marsh J. H, (1988), Governor General, The Canadian Encyclopedia, Toronto: Hurtig Publishers Read More