Editing Monarchy of Canada (section)

===Head of state===
Although it has been argued that the term ''head of state'' is a republican one inapplicable in a constitutional monarchy such as Canada, where the monarch is the embodiment of the state and thus cannot be head of it,<ref name=Bell125/> the sovereign is regarded by official government sources,{{Refn|<ref name=DCHMon/><ref name=Buck1>{{Cite web |url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchAndCommonwealth/Canada/Canada.aspx |author=The Royal Household |title=The Queen and the Commonwealth > Queen and Canada |publisher=Queen's Printer |access-date=14 May 2009 |archive-date=21 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821082408/http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchAndCommonwealth/Canada/Canada.aspx |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|MacLeod|2015|p=51}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Aird|1985|p=2}}</ref>}} judges,<ref>{{Cite court |litigants=Roach v. Canada (Attorney General) |vol=05-CV-301832 CP |court=Ontario Superior Court |date=23 January 2009 |url=http://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2009/2009canlii7178/2009canlii7178.pdf |archive-date=20 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320123916/https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2009/2009canlii7178/2009canlii7178.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> constitutional scholars,<ref name=Compendium/><ref>{{Harvnb|Forsey|2005|p=34}}</ref> and pollsters as the head of state,<ref name=IR2008>{{Cite press release |title=In the Wake of Constitutional Crisis: New Survey Demonstrates that Canadians Lack Basic Understanding of Our Country's Parliamentary System |place=Toronto |publisher=Ipsos Reid |date=15 December 2008 |page=1 |url=http://www.dominion.ca/DominionInstituteDecember15Factum.pdf |access-date=18 May 2010 |via=Dominion Institute |archive-date=12 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612183428/http://www.dominion.ca/DominionInstituteDecember15Factum.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref> while the governor general and lieutenant governors are all only representatives of, and thus equally subordinate to, that figure.<ref name=Boswell>{{Cite news |last=Boswell |first=Randy |title=Governor General calling herself 'head of state' riles monarchists |newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |date=7 October 2009 |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/Governor+General+calling+herself+head+state+riles+monarchists/2077884/story.html |access-date=7 October 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091010185406/http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Governor%2BGeneral%2Bcalling%2Bherself%2Bhead%2Bstate%2Briles%2Bmonarchists/2077884/story.html |archive-date=10 October 2009}}</ref> Some governors general, their staff, government publications,<ref name=Compendium/> and constitutional scholars like Ted McWhinney and C.E.S. Franks have,<ref>{{Harvnb|McWhinney|2005|p=8}}</ref><ref name=Franks>{{Citation |last=Franks |first=C.E.S. |title=Keep the Queen and choose another head of state |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=9 April 2010 |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/keep-the-queen-and-choose-another-head-of-state/article1529705/singlepage  |access-date=23 January 2011 |location=Toronto |archive-date=13 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110213224654/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/keep-the-queen-and-choose-another-head-of-state/article1529705/singlepage  |url-status=dead}}</ref> however, referred to the position of governor general as that of Canada's head of state;<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jean |first=Michaëlle |author-link=Michaëlle Jean |date=5 October 2009 |contribution=Speech at UNESCO |contribution-url=http://www.gg.ca/media/doc.asp?lang=e&DocID=5890 |editor-last=Office of the Governor General of Canada |editor-link=Governor General of Canada |title=Media > Speeches |place=Paris |publication-place=Ottawa |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=7 October 2009}}{{Dead link|date=February 2021|bot=medic}}{{Cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gg.ca/osgg-bsgg/fin/2005-06/fs-2006-03_e.asp |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20090224205433/http://www.gg.ca/osgg-bsgg/fin/2005-06/fs-2006-03_e.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 February 2009 |last=Office of the Governor General of Canada |author-link=Governor General of Canada |title=The Office > Annual Reports > Report on Performance |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=7 October 2009}}</ref> though, sometimes qualifying the assertion with {{Lang|la|[[de facto]]}} or ''effective'';{{Refn|<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gg.ca/osgg-bsgg/fin/2003-04/index_e.asp |archive-url=https://archive.today/20060220042411/http://www.gg.ca/osgg-bsgg/fin/2003-04/index_e.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 February 2006 |last=Office of the Governor General of Canada |author-link=Governor General of Canada |title=The Office > Annual Reports > 2003–2004 > Annual Report 2003–2004 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=7 October 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gg.ca/gg/rr/index_e.asp |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20071211191052/http://www.gg.ca/gg/rr/index_e.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 December 2007 |last=Office of the Governor General of Canada |title=Governor General > Role and Responsibilities |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=15 May 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=12247 |publisher=Office of the Governor General of Canada |title=Media > News Releases and Messages > For the First Time, a Head of State is Officially Welcomed at the Governor General's Residence at the Citadelle: One of the Highlights of the Governor General's Program During Her Stay in Quebec City from September 18 to 24, 2006 |date=18 September 2006 |agency=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=4 December 2016 |archive-date=20 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220052548/http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=12247 |url-status=live}}</ref>}} Franks has hence recommended that the governor general be named officially as the head of state.<ref name=Franks/> Still others view the role of head of state as being shared by both the sovereign and his viceroys.{{Refn|<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Heard |first=Andrew |title=The Governor General's Decision to Prorogue Parliament: Parliamentary Democracy Defended or Endangered |journal=Points of View |volume=Discussion Paper No. 7 |page=12 |publisher=Centre for Constitutional Studies |location=Edmonton |date=January 2009 |url=http://www.law.ualberta.ca/centres/ccs/uploads/PointsofView7.pdf |isbn=978-0-9811-7510-2 |access-date=10 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101128090048/http://www.law.ualberta.ca/centres/ccs/uploads/PointsofView7.pdf |archive-date=28 November 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Geddes |first=John |title=How the term "head of state" is actually used in Canada |magazine=Maclean's |publisher=Roger's Communications |location=Toronto |date=9 October 2009 |url=http://www.macleans.ca/2009/10/09/how-the-term-head-of-state-is-actually-used-in-canada |issn=0024-9262 |access-date=10 October 2009 |archive-date=15 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091015094041/http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/10/09/how-the-term-head-of-state-is-actually-used-in-canada  |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Boyce>{{Harvnb|Boyce|2008|p=29}}</ref>}} Since 1927, governors general have been received on [[state visit]]s abroad as though they were heads of state.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gg.ca/gg/sv/index_e.asp |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20081204063625/http://www.gg.ca/gg/sv/index_e.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 December 2008 |last=Office of the Governor General of Canada |author-link=Governor General of Canada |title=Governor General > State Visits |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=7 October 2009}}</ref>
[[File:The Governor General of Canada, Mr. David Johnston inspecting the Guard of Honour, at the Ceremonial Reception, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on February 24, 2014.jpg|thumb|left|Then-Governor General [[David Johnston (governor general)|David Johnston]] reviews the guard of honour at [[Rashtrapati Bhavan]] during a state visit to India, 24 February 2014]]

Officials at Rideau Hall have attempted to use the ''Letters Patent, 1947'', as justification for describing the governor general as head of state. However, the document makes no such distinction,<ref name=Coup>{{Cite news |last=Gardner |first=Dan |title=A very Canadian coup |newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |date=9 October 2009 |url=http://communities.canada.com/ottawacitizen/blogs/katzenjammer/archive/2009/10/09/a-very-canadian-coup.aspx |access-date=10 October 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130119020358/http://communities.canada.com/ottawacitizen/blogs/katzenjammer/archive/2009/10/09/a-very-canadian-coup.aspx |archive-date=19 January 2013}}</ref> nor does it effect an abdication of the sovereign's powers in favour of the viceroy,<ref name=Heard/> as it only allows the governor general to "act on the Queen's behalf".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://canadiancrown.gc.ca/eng/1396015117980 |last=Department of Canadian Heritage |title=The Crown |publisher=Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada |date=24 September 2014 |access-date=8 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101230729/http://canadiancrown.gc.ca/eng/1396015117980 |archive-date=1 January 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://canadiancrown.gc.ca/eng/1396356285001 |last=Department of Canadian Heritage |title=Governor General Ceremonies |publisher=Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada |date=2 October 2014 |access-date=8 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102063140/http://canadiancrown.gc.ca/eng/1396356285001 |archive-date=2 January 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> D. Michael Jackson, former Chief of Protocol of Saskatchewan, argued that Rideau Hall had been attempting to "recast" the governor general as head of state since the 1970s and doing so preempted both the Queen and all of the lieutenant governors.<ref name=Boswell/> This caused not only "precedence wars" at provincial events (where the governor general usurped the lieutenant governor's proper spot as most senior official in attendance)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jackson |first=D. Michael |date=2002 |contribution=Political Paradox: The Lieutenant Governor in Saskatchewan |editor-last=Leeson |editor-first=Howard A |title=Saskatchewan Politics Into the 21st Century |location=Regina |publisher=Canadian Plains Research Center}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Gardner |first=Dan |title=A stealth campaign against the Queen |newspaper=Calgary Herald |date=17 February 2009 |url=https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/blogs/stealth+campaign+against+Queen/1297679/story.html |access-date=26 February 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090617115509/http://www.calgaryherald.com/opinion/blogs/stealth%2Bcampaign%2Bagainst%2BQueen/1297679/story.html |archive-date=17 June 2009}}</ref> and Governor General Adrienne Clarkson to accord herself precedence before the Queen at a national occasion,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fidelis |title=Canadian Confusion on Juno Beach |journal=Canadian Monarchist News |volume=Summer 2004 |issue=22 |page=2 |publisher=Monarchist League of Canada |location=Toronto |date=2004 |url=http://www.monarchist.ca/sites/default/files/documents/2004/8/135.pdf |access-date=16 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114134201/http://www.monarchist.ca/sites/default/files/documents/2004/8/135.pdf |archive-date=14 November 2013}}</ref> but also constitutional issues by "unbalancing&nbsp;[...] the federalist symmetry".<ref name=Roberts13/><ref name=GardnerRight>{{Cite news |last=Gardner |first=Dan |title=Governor General to Dan Gardner: you're right |newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |date=13 February 2009 |url=http://communities.canada.com/ottawacitizen/blogs/katzenjammer/archive/2009/02/14/governor-general-to-dan-gardner-you-re-right.aspx |access-date=26 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707180847/http://communities.canada.com/ottawacitizen/blogs/katzenjammer/archive/2009/02/14/governor-general-to-dan-gardner-you-re-right.aspx |archive-date=7 July 2012}}</ref> This has been regarded as both a natural evolution and as a dishonest effort to alter the constitution without public scrutiny.<ref name=Coup/><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Geddes |first=John |title=If you do all the head-of-state stuff, aren't you the head of state? |magazine=Maclean's |publisher=Roger's Communications |location=Toronto |date=9 October 2009 |url=http://www.macleans.ca/2009/10/09/if-you-do-all-the-head-of-state-stuff-arent-you-the-head-of-state |issn=0024-9262 |access-date=10 October 2009 |archive-date=13 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091013055347/http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/10/09/if-you-do-all-the-head-of-state-stuff-arent-you-the-head-of-state  |url-status=live}}</ref>

In a poll conducted by [[Ipsos-Reid]] following the [[2008–2009 Canadian parliamentary dispute#Governor General prorogues parliament|first prorogation of the 40th parliament]] on 4 December 2008, it was found that 42 per cent of the sample group thought the prime minister was head of state, while 33 per cent felt it was the governor general. Only 24 per cent named the Queen as head of state,<ref name=IR2008/> a number up from 2002, when the results of an [[EKOS Research Associates]] survey showed only 5 per cent of those polled knew the Queen was head of state (69 per cent answered that it was the prime minister).<ref>{{Cite book |author=EKOS Research Associates |author-link=EKOS Research Associates |title=Trust and the Monarchy: an examination of the shifting public attitudes toward government and institutions |chapter-url=http://www.ekos.com/admin/articles/31may2001.pdf |access-date=8 February 2009 |date=30 May 2002 |publisher=EKOS Research Associates |location=Montreal |page=47 |chapter=F. Monarchy |ref={{Harvid|EKOS|2002}} |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219001238/http://www.ekos.com/admin/articles/31may2001.pdf |archive-date=19 December 2008}}</ref>