Editing Monarchy of Canada (section)

==Personification of the Canadian state==
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As the living embodiment of [[the Crown]],<ref name=InterpAct/><ref>{{Harvnb|Newman|2017|p=63}}</ref> the sovereign is regarded as the [[personification]] of the Canadian [[State (polity)|state]]{{#tag:ref|The sovereign has been described by [[Eugene Forsey]] as the "symbolic embodiment of the people—not a particular group or interest or party, but the people, the whole people";<ref name=Forsey/> his daughter, Helen Forsey, said of his opinion on the Crown, "for him, the essence of the monarchy was its impartial representation of the common interests of the citizenry as a whole, as opposed to those of any particular government."<ref name=Forsey/> The [[Department of Canadian Heritage]] said the Crown serves as the "personal symbol of allegiance, unity and authority for all Canadians,"<ref name=DCHCrown/><ref name=DCH3>{{Cite book |url=http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2011/pc-ch/CH4-130-2010-eng.pdf |title=Symbols of Canada |publisher=Queen Printer for Canada |author=Department of Canadian Heritage |date=2010 |location=Ottawa |page=3 |isbn=978-1-1001-4692-8 |archive-date=21 October 2020 |access-date=6 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021093649/http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2011/pc-ch/CH4-130-2010-eng.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> a concept akin to that expressed by King [[Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV]]: "{{Lang|fr|l'État, c'est moi}}", or, "I am the state".<ref name=ontla1996>{{Citation |first=Shea |last=Derwyn |author-link=Derwyn Shea |contribution=Bill 22, Legislative Assembly Oath of Allegiance Act, 1995 > 1720 |contribution-url=http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/committee-proceedings/committee_transcripts_details.do;jsessionid=c72d607830d68e75be455a5244a3950ae2235bd3f36e.e3eQbNaNa3eRe34KaN4RaNeRb310n6jAmljGr5XDqQLvpAe?locale=en&Date=1996-04-10&ParlCommID=45&BillID=&Business=Bill+22%2C+Legislative+Assembly+Oath+of+Allegiance+Act%2C+1995&DocumentID=19205 |title=Committee Transcripts: Standing Committee on the Legislative Assembly |date=10 April 1996 |place=Toronto |publisher=Queen's Printer for Ontario |url=http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/committee-proceedings/committee_transcripts_details.do?locale=en&Date=1996-04-10&ParlCommID=45&BillID=&Business=Bill+22%2C+Legislative+Assembly+Oath+of+Allegiance+Act%2C+1995 |access-date=16 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611135306/https://www.ontla.on.ca/web/committee-proceedings/committee_transcripts_details.do?locale=en&Date=1996-04-10&ParlCommID=45&BillID=&Business=Bill+22,+Legislative+Assembly+Oath+of+Allegiance+Act,+1995 |archive-date=11 June 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Robertson Davies]] stated in 1994, "the Crown is the consecrated spirit of Canada",<ref>{{Cite book |last=Davies |first=Robertson |author-link=Robertson Davies |title=Hunting Stuart and The Voice of the People |publisher=Simon & Pierre |date=8 August 1996 |location=Toronto |isbn=978-0-8892-4259-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/huntingstuartvoi0000davi}}</ref> and past Ontario chairman of the [[Monarchist League of Canada]] Gary Toffoli opined, "the Queen is the legal embodiment of the state at both the national and the provincial levels [...] She is our sovereign and it is the role of the Queen, recognized by the constitutional law of Canada, to embody the state."<ref>{{Citation |first=Gary |last=Toffoli |contribution=Bill 22, Legislative Assembly Oath of Allegiance Act, 1995 > 1620 |contribution-url=http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/committee-proceedings/committee_transcripts_details.do;jsessionid=c72d607930d600b4e9b4ead54d5496d1d6b94ab16cbc.e3eRb3iNcheNe34OaN4La3yRa3j0n6jAmljGr5XDqQLvpAe?locale=en&Date=1996-04-10&ParlCommID=45&BillID=&Business=Bill+22%2C+Legislative+Assembly+Oath+of+Allegiance+Act%2C+1995#P58_1620 |title=Committee Transcripts: Standing Committee on the Legislative Assembly |date=10 April 1996 |place=Toronto |publisher=Queen's Printer for Ontario |url=http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/committee-proceedings/committee_transcripts_details.do?locale=en&Date=1996-04-10&ParlCommID=45&BillID=&Business=Bill+22%2C+Legislative+Assembly+Oath+of+Allegiance+Act%2C+1995 |access-date=16 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611135306/https://www.ontla.on.ca/web/committee-proceedings/committee_transcripts_details.do?locale=en&Date=1996-04-10&ParlCommID=45&BillID=&Business=Bill+22,+Legislative+Assembly+Oath+of+Allegiance+Act,+1995 |archive-date=11 June 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
|group=n|name=Pers1}}{{Refn|<ref name=SKEX10/><ref name=Buck2/><ref name=DCH3/><ref name=Bell125>{{Harvnb|Bell|Bousfield|Toffoli|2007|p=125}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sovereign |last=Harris |first=Carolyn |title=Sovereign |date=12 January 2023 |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |publisher=Historica Canada |access-date=5 March 2023 |archive-date=27 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240427163745/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sovereign |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Compendium>{{Cite web |website=House of Commons of Canada |title=Role of the Crown and the Governor General |date=March 2008 |page=1 |url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/compendium/web-content/pdf-e/parliamentaryframework-e/c_d_rolecrowngovernorgeneral-e.pdf |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20121016145855/http://www.parl.gc.ca/compendium/web-content/pdf-e/parliamentaryframework-e/c_d_rolecrowngovernorgeneral-e.pdf |archive-date=16 October 2012 |access-date=14 October 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|MacLeod|2015|p=51}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Marleau|Montpetit|2000|loc=The Crown}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Citizenship and Immigration Canada |author-link=Citizenship and Immigration Canada |title=Discover Canada |place=Ottawa |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |date=2009 |page=2 |url=http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/pub/discover.pdf |isbn=978-1-1001-2739-2 |access-date=3 December 2009 |archive-date=22 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091122160954/http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/pub/discover.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Tidridge|2011|p=17}}</ref><ref>{{Cite conference |url=http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/committee-proceedings/committee_transcripts_details.do?locale=en&BillID=&ParlCommID=45&Date=1996-04-10&Business=Bill+22%2C+Legislative+Assembly+Oath+of+Allegiance+Act%2C+1995&DocumentID=19205 |title=Committee Transcripts |publisher=Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Ontario |access-date=28 November 2015 |author=Legislative Assembly of Ontario |book-title=Standing Committee on the Legislative Assembly - 1996-Apr-10 - Bill 22, Legislative Assembly Oath of Allegiance Act, 1995 |date=1996 |location=Toronto |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208153822/http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/committee-proceedings/committee_transcripts_details.do?locale=en&BillID=&ParlCommID=45&Date=1996-04-10&Business=Bill+22%2C+Legislative+Assembly+Oath+of+Allegiance+Act%2C+1995&DocumentID=19205 |archive-date=8 December 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Tidridge|2011|pp=79, 143}}</ref>}} and is meant to represent all Canadians, regardless of political affiliation.<ref>{{Citation |url=https://www.westernstandard.news/opinion/chartrand-even-if-no-longer-defender-of-the-faith-the-crown-still-defends-canadian-values/article_d29e0ad4-e440-11ed-9e71-0b02d8fda693.html |last=Chartrand |first=Philippe |title=Even if no longer defender of the faith, the Crown still defends Canadian values |date=26 April 2023 |newspaper=Western Standard |publisher=New Media Corporation |access-date=30 April 2023}}</ref> As such, he, along with his or her viceregal representatives, must "remain strictly neutral in political terms".<ref name=Forsey/>

The person of the reigning sovereign thus holds two distinct personas in constant coexistence, an ancient theory of the "King's two bodies"—the body natural (subject to infirmity and death) and the body politic (which never dies).<ref>{{Citation |url=https://www.constitutionalstudies.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/22.1-Full-Issue.pdf |title=The Role of Monarchy in Modern Democracy: European Monarchies Compared| editor-last1=Hazell| editor-first1=Robert| editor-last2=Morris| editor-first2=Bob |chapter=Royal Succession, Abdication, and Regency in the Realms |last=Twomey |first=Anne |date=17 September 2020 |page=34 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |location=London |isbn=978-1-5099-3103-3 |access-date=2 May 2023 |archive-date=16 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816131152/https://www.constitutionalstudies.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/22.1-Full-Issue.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> The Crown and the monarch are "conceptually divisible but legally indivisible [...] The office cannot exist without the office-holder",{{#tag:ref|As Peter Boyce put it: "The Crown as a concept cannot be disentangled from the person of the monarch; but, standard reference to the Crown extends well beyond the Queen's person."<ref>{{Harvnb|Boyce|2008|p=5}}</ref>|group=n|name=Boyce}}<ref name=OCCanThrone/> so, even in private, the monarch is always "on duty".<ref name=Bell125/> The terms ''the state'', ''the Crown'',<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/F-11/FullText.html |author=Elizabeth II |title=Financial Administration Act |date=9 October 2012 |at=83.1 |website=Justice Laws |access-date=6 December 2012 |archive-date=2 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120802061843/http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/F-11/FullText.html |url-status=live}}</ref> ''the Crown in Right of Canada'', ''His Majesty the King in Right of Canada'' ({{Langx|fr|Sa Majesté le Roi du chef du Canada}}),<ref>{{Cite web |author=Elizabeth II |author-link=Elizabeth II |title=Memorandum for Understanding of Cooperation on Addressing Climate Change |date=21 May 2004 |page=1 |url=http://arizonaenergy.org/images/ontario_mou_e.pdf |access-date=16 May 2009 |website=Arizona Energy |archive-date=20 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101120042909/http://arizonaenergy.org/images/ontario_mou_e.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> and similar are all synonymous and the monarch's [[legal personality]] is sometimes referred to simply as ''Canada''.<ref name=Compendium/><ref>{{Cite web |author=Assembly of First Nations |author-link=Assembly of First Nations| author2=Elizabeth II| author2-link=Elizabeth II |title=A First Nations – Federal Crown Political Accord |date=2004 |page=3 |website=Assembly of First Nations |url=http://www.afn.ca/cmslib/general/PolAcc.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090502153215/http://www.afn.ca/cmslib/general/PolAcc.pdf |archive-date=2 May 2009 |access-date=29 September 2009}}</ref>

[[File:1TS 0197 (16440153338).jpg|thumb|A photo portrait of Queen Elizabeth II stands at the front of a citizenship ceremony led by [[Lieutenant Governor of Ontario]] [[Elizabeth Dowdeswell]], illustrating the sovereign as the focus of the [[Oath of Citizenship (Canada)|Oath of Citizenship]]]]

The monarch is at the apex of the [[Canadian order of precedence]] and, as the embodiment of the state, is also the focus of oaths of allegiance,{{#tag:ref|It is stated in the ''Rules & Forms of the House of Commons of Canada'' that, "allegiance to the King means allegiance to the country."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Beauchesne |first=Arthur |title=Rules & Forms of the House of Commons of Canada |publisher=The Carswell Company Limited |date=1958 |location=Toronto |page=14 |edition=4 |isbn=0-4593-2210-9}}</ref>|group=n|name=Oath}}{{Refn|<ref name=DCH3/><ref name=Compendium/><ref name=CIC29>{{Harvnb|Citizenship and Immigration Canada|2009|page=29}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|MacLeod|2015|p=30}}</ref>}} required of many of the aforementioned employees of the Crown, as well as by new [[citizenship|citizens]], as by the [[Oath of citizenship (Canada)|Oath of Citizenship]]. Allegiance is given in [[Reciprocal (grammar)|reciprocation]] to the sovereign's [[Coronation]] Oath,<ref>{{Harvnb|Bousfield|Toffoli|2002|p=78}}</ref> wherein he or she promises to govern the people of Canada "according to their respective laws and customs".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.oremus.org/liturgy/coronation/cor1953b.html |title=The Form and Order of Service that is to be performed and the Ceremonies that are to be observed in the Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in the Abbey Church of St. Peter, Westminster, on Tuesday, the second day of June 1953 |publisher=Anglican Liturgical Library |access-date=16 May 2009 |archive-date=7 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161007112304/http://www.oremus.org/liturgy/coronation/cor1953b.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

===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>

===Arms===<!-- ONLY THE OFFICIAL 1957 ARMS TO BE USED: Only the last official rendition from 1957 which is free for use should be used. The more recent 1994 emblem is still subject to copyright and will be automatically removed. -->
{{Main|Arms of Canada|Royal standards of Canada}}
[[File:Royal Standard of Canada.svg|thumb|The [[Royal standards of Canada|Sovereign's Flag for Canada]] employing the shield of the royal arms in banner form]]

The [[Arms of Canada|Arms of His Majesty the King in Right of Canada]] is the [[arms of dominion]] of the Canadian monarch and, thus, equally the official [[coat of arms]] of Canada{{Sfn|Tidridge|2011|p=71}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://canadiancrown.gc.ca/eng/1396525887776 |author=Department of Canadian Heritage, Government of Canada |title=Canadian Flags of the Royal Family |date=2 October 2014 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=9 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102234745/http://canadiancrown.gc.ca/eng/1396525887776 |archive-date=2 January 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and a symbol of [[Canadian sovereignty|national sovereignty]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Swann |first=Conrad |title=Canada Symbols of Sovereignty: An investigation of the arms and seals borne from the earliest times to the present in connection with public authority in and over Canada. along with consideration of some connected flags |chapter=Chapter I, Arms of dominion and sovereignty and public authority |location=Toronto |publisher=University of Toronto Press}}</ref> It is closely modelled after the [[royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom]], with French and distinctive Canadian elements replacing or added to those derived from the British version, which was employed in Canada before the granting of the Canadian arms in 1921.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Use of Non-Traditional Evidence: A case study using heraldry to examine competing theories for Canada's Confederation |first=Bruce M. |last=Hicks |journal=British Journal of Canadian Studies |date=2010 |volume=43 |issue=1 |pages=87–117 |doi=10.3828/bjcs.2010.5 |issn=0269-9222}}</ref>

The [[Royal standards of Canada|royal standard]] is the monarch's official flag, which depicts the royal arms in [[Banner of arms|banner form]].<ref name=CHA>{{Citation |url=http://archive.gg.ca/heraldry/pub-reg/project-pic.asp?lang=e&ProjectID=518&ProjectElementID=1811 |author=Office of the Governor General of Canada: Canadian Heraldic Authority |title=Public Register of Arms, Flags, and Badges > Registration of the Flag of Her Majesty the Queen for personal use in Canada |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=22 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921080127/http://reg.gg.ca/heraldry/pub-reg/project-pic.asp?lang=e&ProjectID=518&ProjectElementID=1811 |archive-date=21 September 2013}}</ref> It takes precedence above all other flags in Canada—including the [[Flag of Canada|national flag]] and those of the other members of the royal family<ref name=DCHMon/>—and is typically flown from buildings, vessels, and vehicles in which the sovereign is present (although exceptions have been made for its use when the monarch is not in attendance). The royal standard is never flown at half-mast because there is always a sovereign: when one dies, his or her successor becomes the sovereign instantly. Elements of the royal arms have also been incorporated into the [[Flag of the governor general of Canada|governor general's flag]]; similarly, the [[Flags of the lieutenant governors of Canada|flags of the lieutenant governors]] employ the shields of the relevant provincial coat of arms.