Posted by Ian McKechnie on October 17, 2009, 8:26 pm, in reply to "Re: GG Website Updated"
38.117.68.220
"It was only in 1952 that, without first consulting with the British prime minister, a prime minister of Canada recommended to the Sovereign one single name: Vincent Massey, Canada’s first Canadian Governor General. This nomination marked an important evolution in Canadian history."
I read somewhere that Macdonald thought the Sovereign should have descretion of appointment. Rubber-stamping is distasteful and has no character to it. The PM should still advise on Canadian appointments of course, but if the phrase "appointed by the Queen of Canada" is to have any meaning, then the appointment should truly be hers, not the PM's. The very idea of sending a single name to the Palace smacks of partisanship (see the Agust 2005 controversies surrounding Jean's appointment).
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