加拿大總督的職責 / The Roles and Responsibilities of the Governor General of Canada

(Photo Credit 攝影图片: Wikipedia/Governor General of Canada - Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean)


在十月十四日加拿大聯邦政府大選之後,沒有人預料一個政治大風波,会在短短的数月間在渥太華國会爆發。以下是節錄自Wikipedia 的“2008 Canadian political dispute”:

“ … On November 27, 2008, (the) Finance Minister … provided the House of Commons with his fiscal update. … Since the fiscal update was a vote of confidence on the newly formed Conservative minority government, it had the possibility of bringing down the government … On December 1, 2008, the three opposition parties agreed to defeat the Conservatives in a vote of non-confidence. Under the agreement signed by (the) Liberal … and New Democratic Party leaders, the (Liberal-NDP) coalition government would have … a Liberal prime minister (with Stéphane Dion as the initial prime minister)… The coalition agreement is in force until June 30, 2011. The Bloc Québécois … has agreed … to support the proposed coalition government… However, the Bloc Québécois would not be a direct participant in the coalition itself…

… (Governor General) Michaëlle Jean faces a difficult choice in interpreting her … role as governor general of Canada. Should Prime Minister Harper come to Rideau Hall, he may advise four possible courses of action: 1) Dismiss parliament and call an immediate election, only two months after the last; 2) Prorogue Parliament until January, delaying any possible non-confidence motion by the coalition; 3) Prorogue Parliament for a longer time, up to a year; or 4) he may resign as prime minister and the governor general could permit the coalition headed by Dion to govern …

… On the federal level, the reserve powers of the Governor-General have been used twice in respect to declining the advice of the Prime Minister. The first took place in 1896, when Charles Tupper refused to resign as prime minister following his loss in the election of that year and Governor General Lord Aberdeen refused to sign several appointments, forcing Tupper to relinquish office.

... The second instance was in 1926, during the King-Byng Affair, when William Lyon Mackenzie King's government asked the Governor General at the time, Lord Byng of Vimy, to dissolve Parliament and call an election so that it could avoid a non-confidence motion. Lord Byng of Vimy refused and gave Arthur Meighen, the leader of the Official Opposition, a chance to form the government. Meighen's government was itself defeated in the first non-confidence vote it faced. King, running on a platform which sought to limit the Governor General's powers, was re-elected with a strong majority in the resulting elections…”

Governor General Michaëlle Jean現已減短她在東欧的旅程,趕緊回國解决這政治風暴,她的首要職責是要清楚明白加拿大的歷史前例precedents (例如上述: 1896年Governor General Lord Aberdeen 和拒絕下台的Prime Minister Charles Tupper, 和1926年的King-Byng Affair) ,與及總督的权力界限 reserve powers of the Governor-General。總督莊美楷回加後將会和現任總理哈珀The Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper会面,之後要立刻作一决定,讓選民知道在這世界經濟動蕩危机時刻,誰会領導這個國家。

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References:

1. 2008 Canadian Political Dispute: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Canadian_political_dispute

2. The King-Byng Affair: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King-Byng_Affair

3. Reserve Powers of the Governor General: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_power

4. Past and current Governors General of Canada:

伍冰枝: http://zh.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%E4%BC%8D%E5%86%B0%E6%9E%9D&variant=zh-hk

Adrienne Clarkson: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrienne_Clarkson

總督莊美楷(中譯米凯勒‧琼/庄美楷):
http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BA%84%E7%BE%8E%E6%A5%B7

Governor General of Canada Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michaelle_Jean


5. My previous two blog articles on the Governor General of Canada (GG) and the Oct 14, 2008 Federal Election:

加拿大總督 / Governor General of Canada (Click View)

2008年10月14日加拿大聯邦政府大選 ∕ Canada's Federal Election Oct 14, 2008 (click View)