More on Canada’s Governors General

It’s hard to summarize illustrious careers and engaging personalities in short news briefs, so I’ve collected more about Canada’s newest Governor General, 69-year-old David Johnston here.

Johnston became Canada’s 28th Governor General since Confederation in a warm ceremony last Friday, which included a his beaming wife, children and grandchildren along with much applause for out-going Governor General Michaëlle Jean.  Johnston’s first official speech was a personable summary of his goals, and included a few impromptu anecdotes as well.

I couldn’t resist adding links detailing some individual coat of arms created for recent Governors General.  Among other images, Johnston’s uses five books to symbolize education and his daughters and there’s a row of zeros and ones representing computer code. Adrian Clarkson’s has elements of her Chinese heritage, and Michaëlle Jean’s is full of references to her Haitian background.

Even in Canada, the function of the Governor General isn’t always fully understood. Here is my best summary (bearing in mind I am a new Canadian myself, having spent my first four decades in the good old USA.)

Depending on your point of view, it’s an odd relic. Or a fine and wise provision for stability.

After the arrival of white settlers, modern Canada was founded as colonies, owned and ruled by European monarchs.  Their majesties couldn’t be everywhere, so the kings of France, or (later) the kings of England appointed representatives to act on their behalf. This function is traced back to 1608 when Samuel de Champlain acted as the Governor of New France.

Times change. The power of the monarchy and British rule was replaced by elected representation within Canada, as exercised by Parliament and the Prime Minister.  Today the Governor General attends a heck of a lot of parades, dinners and award ceremonies. The Governor General also reads the throne speech and signs documents into law.  But a few real, game-changing powers are still vested in that position.

Because the throne and the Governor General are theoretically non-partisan and devoted to the long-term welfare of the country as a whole, the Governor General retains what could be characterized as the option, even the duty, to weigh in should elected parties reach a critical impasse.

An impasse of that nature took place in December of 2008 under Michaëlle Jean, when Conservative Stephen Harper asked her to prorogue (suspend) Parliament just before a confidence vote he would likely have lost.  Jean had a range of options, each with its own set of problems.  She intentionally kept Harper cooling his heels for over two hours before granting that request, which presumably kept Harper in power after all.

Experts and pundits are still arguing if she got it right.

Canadians have been living under one minority government or another since 2004. In recent years, no single political party has been able to persuaded the electorate it deserves full power. This heightens the chance some similar crisis could kick up again – until some party attains a more-stable majority.

Perhaps with that in mind – and for the first time – what’s been described as an expert, non-partisan panel picked nominees worth considering this time around, and Harper selected Johnston out of that pool of talent.

Governors General deciding who shall rule has been a once-in-a-lifetime type of thing in the past. But if that comes around again this time, Johnston is widely viewed as having the gravitas to make a credible decision and defend it (and his role as referee) against inevitable partisan spin.

I’ve mentioned before that many Canadians can’t see why their country still needs a Queen, or a Governor General.  Fair enough. But until that system is debated and possibly changed, the current structure’s rule do apply.

Which is why Canada’s Governor General is a hard-working symbol, and so much more.

Tags: canada, David Johnston