Dalek News 16Feb 2022

Thoughts on Commonwealth Constitutions

Excerpts from:
Governor General of Canada: the Role, the Myth, the Legend

The Governor General of Canada is the representative of Canada’s head of state,the Queen.

The Constitution Act, 1867 expressly states that the executive branch of Canada’s government
is assigned to the Queen and that the Governor General will carry on the Government of Canada
on behalf and in the name of the Queen.

Two established reserve powers are the Governor General’s authority to refuse a prime minister’s
request to dissolve Parliament and the right to appoint and dismiss a prime minister.

The last time the Governor General refused to accept the advice of a Canadian prime minister
was in 1926, commonly referred to as the King-Byng Affair.

Like Canada’s Governor General, the Governor General of Australia has the power to dismiss a
prime minister in rare circumstances.
In Canada, we can only speculate as to what would happen if the Governor General attempted to
exercise that power because we have never faced such a situation.

However, Australia’s history gives us some insight into what it might look like.

In the autumn of 1975, Australia’s House of Representatives and Senate became locked
in a political standoff. The Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, held a majority of seats
in the House of Representatives, but he was unable to get the Senate to approve his budget bills.

To resolve the deadlock, the Governor General dismissed Prime Minister Whitlam,
essentially sacking him and removing his ministry from power.
The Governor General appointed the leader of the opposition party in the House of
Representatives, Malcolm Fraser, as prime minister.

The Governor General of Canada, since 26 July 2021 is Mary Simon.

references:

https://www.constitutionalstudies.ca/2017/09/governor-general-of-canada-the-role-the-myth-the-legend/
Wikipedia, google.