GG is a key guardian of Canada’s democracy – must be fully independent and impartial, not handpicked by PM through secretive, biased process

Canada should not request King Charles’ approval of next GG – having the King read Speech from the Throne today is a step backwards that goes against what most voters want, and is not an assertion of Canada’s independence

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, May 27, 2025

OTTAWA – Today, Democracy Watch called on federal party leaders to learn the lessons of the past, and strengthen Canada’s sovereignty, by reaching an agreement on a new, democratic and Canadian selection process for the next Governor General (GG) that does not request approval from King Charles (all of which can be done without changing any law or Canada’s Constitution).  The new selection process should begin by the end of 2025 as the current GG’s term ends in July 2026.

Like the Officers of Parliament, the Governor General (GG) must be independent of the Prime Minister and ruling party Cabinet because s/he makes many key decisions about the operations of Parliament and the government, and so the Prime Minister and Cabinet should not be choosing the GG (or any Officer of Parliament) alone because it taints the position with partisanship and makes them weak lapdogs of the PM.

Asking for the King’s approval of our next GG would send a clear signal that Canada still doesn’t have full sovereignty.  Having King Charles read the Speech from the Throne today is a step backwards to when Canada was more controlled by Britain, not an assertion of Canada’s independence.  It also goes against survey results in 2023 (see also here and here and here) and 2024 that show a majority or near majority of Canadians don’t want Canada to continue to be a constitutional monarchy.

It also sends a message to U.S. President Donald Trump that Canada approves of monarchs, which is a dangerous message to send given Trump is acting like he has king-like power and immunity from accountability, including the king-like power to annex Canada.

“Given how important it is for the Governor General to be independent of the Prime Minister and impartial, especially in a minority government situation, federal party leaders should establish a democratic process for choosing the next Governor General,” said Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch.  “After the Governor General is chosen through a democratic process, the Prime Minister should also tell King Charles who Canada has chosen, and not ask his approval, and if he accepts that as the new protocol it will become clear that Canada chooses its own head of state.”

To democratize the selection of the Governor General, without needing any changes to any law or Canada’s Constitution, Democracy Watch proposes that an independent committee whose members are approved by all federal party leaders in the House of Commons be established to conduct a public, merit-based search for a shortlist of three nominees for GG, and then at least all federal party leaders should approve the final choice of GG, or better would be a secret, ranked ballot vote by MPs.

Even better, given that the GG appoints the Lieutenant Governors of each province, the Prime Minister should send the shortlist of three nominees to the recognized party leaders in each legislature across Canada and have them rank the nominees in a secret ballot.  The GG would be the person who receives the most votes from this ranked ballot vote.

This would give the GG the democratic legitimacy to say no to abuses of power by the PM, without tainting the GG with partisanship (as would happen if the GG was elected directly by voters, given candidates would very likely run under party banners).

To Canadianize the selection of the Governor General, Democracy Watch proposes that the Prime Minister should not request that King Charles approve of the person chosen through the process.  The King does have to approve the person formally, but if the Prime Minister does not request the approval, and the King agrees to whomever is nominated, then a new constitutional convention will be established that Canada chooses its own Head of State.  This will be a simple but significant step toward full independence for Canada, and would make our political system more a parliamentary democracy and less a constitutional monarchy.

Former Prime Minister Trudeau tried to rig the selection of the Governor General (even more than former Prime Minister Harper did) by setting up a façade of an Advisory Panel, co-chaired by his friend and Cabinet appointee Dominic LeBlanc, with every other member of the Panel also appointed by Trudeau.

Instead, to democratize the selection of the GG, and every other federal good government watchdog, a fully independent committee with members approved by all federal party leaders should be conducting public, merit-based searches for a shortlist of qualified candidates for each position.  Democracy Watch also proposes that this process be used to find qualified non-MP candidates for Speaker of the House of Commons.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch
Tel: (613) 241-5179
Cell: 416-546-3443
Email: [email protected]

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