You must read this, I did not know this. Who would have thought!
Canada has someone the US isn't telling us about.
The Governor General of Canada is the vice-regal or viceroy
representative in Canada of the Queen of Canada , who is the head
of state. A viceroy is a royal official who governs a country in
the name of and as representative of the monarch.
Governor General of Canada in Ottawa , Canada .
Parliament of Canada
Canada is one of sixteen British Commonwealth realms, all of which
share the British monarch as their royal leader. The monarch
appoints the Governor General on the advice of the Canadian Prime
Minister, who is the Canadian Head of Government, after which the
Governor General maintains direct contact with the British monarch.
There is no specific term.
President Barack Obama and Canadian Governor General Michaelle Jean
walk across the tarmac following his arrival in Ottawa , Canada ,
Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009. Michelle Jean has been Governor General of
Canada since September 27, 2005.
Jean is Canada 's first black Governor General.
President Barack Obama and Canadian Governor General Michaelle Jean
chat during a meeting following his arrival in Ottawa , Canada ,
Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009.
Executive power of Canada
Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, is the sovereign and Head of State
of Canada, and gives repository of executive power, judicial and
legislative power; as expressed in Constitution of Canada.
The Prime Minister of Canada is currently Stephen Harper. The prime
minister is appointed by the Governor General, who is now Michaelle
Jean, but to ensure the continuity of a stable government, this
person must have the confidence of the House of Commons to lead the
government.
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary Minister of the Crown,
chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government of Canada .
The office is not outlined in any of the documents that constitute
the written portion of the constitution of Canada and executive
authority is formally vested in the Canadian sovereign and
exercised on his or her behalf by the Governor General.
Governor General Michaelle Jean and Prime Minister Stephen Harper
President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper walk
down on the way to a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa ,
February 19, 2009.
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Micha�lle Jean (born September 6, 1957, in Port-au-Prince , Haiti )
is the current Governor General of Canada . Jean was appointed by
Queen Elizabeth II, on the recommendation of Prime Minister Paul
Martin, to succeed Adrienne Clarkson and become the 27th Governor
General of Canada since Confederation in 1867. Prior to this, Jean
was a journalist and broadcaster on Radio-Canada and the CBC.
As the current Governor General of Canada , she is entitled to be
styled Her Excellency while in office, and The Right Honourable for
life; given current practice, she will be sworn in to the Queen's
Privy Council for Canada after her term as the Queen's
representative has ended.
Jean fled Haiti with her family from dictator Fran�ois Duvalier's
regime in 1968. Her father, from whom she was estranged for many
years, was a philosopher who was tortured under Duvalier's regime
and separated from the family for 30 years. The Jean family settled
at Thetford Mines , Quebec ..
As a student at the University of Montreal , Jean received a
Bachelor of Arts degree in Italian and Hispanic languages and
literature and, from 1984 until 1986, taught Italian studies while
completing a Master of Arts degree in comparative literature. Jean
attended the University of Florence , the University of Perugia ,
and the Catholic University of Milan to continue her studies in
language and literature. Besides French and English, Jean is fluent
in Spanish, Italian, and Haitian Creole and can read Portuguese.
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