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This thread's for you Ben
I know how much you admire our current GG. 
Canadian monarchists and constitutional experts are raising strong objections to a speech given this week in Paris by Governor-General Michaelle Jean, in which she referred to herself twice as Canada's "head of state" -- a position occupied by Queen Elizabeth.
The phrasing is controversial because the governor-general is normally referred to as the "Queen's representative in Canada," a vice-regal delegate who routinely performs the functions of the head of state but does not carry that title.
Rideau Hall explained the reference, in a response to questions from Canwest News Service, as follows: "As the representative of the Crown in Canada, the Governor-General carries out the duties of Head of State, and therefore is de facto Head of State."
But that response has only further stunned officials with the Monarchist League of Canada, who reacted sharply to Ms. Jean's speech and her apparent self-promotion to a higher station in Canada's constitutional monarchy.
"This, of course, is very concerning," said Robert Finch, the league's chairman. "It is the Queen who is the head of state. The Governor-General is simply the representative of the head of state--not head of state herself."
He added: "At best, I chalk it up to ignorance on the part of some staff at Rideau Hall as to what the governor-general's constitutional role is. At worst, it is a blatant attempt to elevate the office of the governor-general into something that it is clearly not -- nor was ever intended to be -- all at the expense of the Queen."
Ms. Jean's controversial speech was made on Monday at an executive meeting of UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, which strives to promote global unity through the promotion of the arts and intellectual development.
She focused in her address on the merits of fostering cultural diversity as a way to help achieve international harmony. "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.
Later in the speech, while discussing her efforts to promote education among Canada's youth, Ms. Jean again styled herself as Canada's head of state: "Everywhere that I have travelled as head of state ... I have met truly remarkable young people."
The idea that the governor-general is Canada's head of state conflicts with some of the federal government's own references to the position. In A Crown of Maples, an online guide to Canada's constitutional monarchy published by the Department of Canadian Heritage, a section titled The Queen as Head of State: Personifying the Country states: "As Queen of Canada, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is our head of state and a powerful symbol of Canada and Canadian sovereignty."
Ian Holloway, dean of law at the University of Western Ontario in London, thinks the Monarchist League is right. "Formally speaking, it's incorrect for the governor general of Canada to describe herself as the head of state," he told Canwest News Service.
He says the Constitution Act of 1867 "provides that the executive government of Canada is vested in the Queen."
Rideau Hall spokeswoman Julie Rocheleau said Ms. Jean's use of the phrase "head of state" to describe her role is justified by a 1947 agreement in which the "letters patent of King George VI" -- Queen Elizabeth's father -- "transferred all the duties of Head of State of Canada to the Governor General."
Canadian monarchists and constitutional experts are raising strong objections to a speech given this week in Paris by Governor-General Michaelle Jean, in which she referred to herself twice as Canada's "head of state" -- a position occupied by Queen Elizabeth.
The phrasing is controversial because the governor-general is normally referred to as the "Queen's representative in Canada," a vice-regal delegate who routinely performs the functions of the head of state but does not carry that title.
Rideau Hall explained the reference, in a response to questions from Canwest News Service, as follows: "As the representative of the Crown in Canada, the Governor-General carries out the duties of Head of State, and therefore is de facto Head of State."
But that response has only further stunned officials with the Monarchist League of Canada, who reacted sharply to Ms. Jean's speech and her apparent self-promotion to a higher station in Canada's constitutional monarchy.
"This, of course, is very concerning," said Robert Finch, the league's chairman. "It is the Queen who is the head of state. The Governor-General is simply the representative of the head of state--not head of state herself."
He added: "At best, I chalk it up to ignorance on the part of some staff at Rideau Hall as to what the governor-general's constitutional role is. At worst, it is a blatant attempt to elevate the office of the governor-general into something that it is clearly not -- nor was ever intended to be -- all at the expense of the Queen."
Ms. Jean's controversial speech was made on Monday at an executive meeting of UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, which strives to promote global unity through the promotion of the arts and intellectual development.
She focused in her address on the merits of fostering cultural diversity as a way to help achieve international harmony. "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.
Later in the speech, while discussing her efforts to promote education among Canada's youth, Ms. Jean again styled herself as Canada's head of state: "Everywhere that I have travelled as head of state ... I have met truly remarkable young people."
The idea that the governor-general is Canada's head of state conflicts with some of the federal government's own references to the position. In A Crown of Maples, an online guide to Canada's constitutional monarchy published by the Department of Canadian Heritage, a section titled The Queen as Head of State: Personifying the Country states: "As Queen of Canada, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is our head of state and a powerful symbol of Canada and Canadian sovereignty."
Ian Holloway, dean of law at the University of Western Ontario in London, thinks the Monarchist League is right. "Formally speaking, it's incorrect for the governor general of Canada to describe herself as the head of state," he told Canwest News Service.
He says the Constitution Act of 1867 "provides that the executive government of Canada is vested in the Queen."
Rideau Hall spokeswoman Julie Rocheleau said Ms. Jean's use of the phrase "head of state" to describe her role is justified by a 1947 agreement in which the "letters patent of King George VI" -- Queen Elizabeth's father -- "transferred all the duties of Head of State of Canada to the Governor General."
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