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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pickup" data-source="post: 941268">Personification of the Canadian state<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/01/Queen_of_canada_wob.jpg/220px-Queen_of_canada_wob.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Queen Elizabeth II wearing the Vladimir Tiara, as well as the Sovereign's insignia of the Order of Canada and the Order of Military MeritThe Crown is an integral part of a practical form of government, and as such it has a direct and substantive part to play in the lives of all Canadians.[SUP][71][/SUP] David E. Smith, The Invisible Crown, 1995As the living embodiment of the Crown,[SUP][61][/SUP] the sovereign is regarded as the personification of the Canadianstate,[SUP][n 11][/SUP][SUP][10][/SUP][SUP][34][/SUP][SUP][77][/SUP][SUP][78][/SUP][SUP][79][/SUP][SUP][80][/SUP] the body of the reigning sovereign thus holding two distinct personas in constant coexistence: that of a natural-born human being and that of the state as accorded to him or her through law;[SUP][n 12][/SUP] even in private, the monarch is always "on duty".[SUP][82][/SUP] The state is therefore referred to as Her Majesty The Queen in Right of Canada (French: Sa Majesté la Reine du chef du Canada),[SUP][83][/SUP] or The Crown in Right of Canada, and the monarch's legal personality is sometimes referred to simply as Canada.[SUP][79][/SUP][SUP][84][/SUP]As such, the king or queen of Canada is the employer of all government staff (including the viceroys, judges, members of theCanadian Forces, police officers, and parliamentarians),[SUP][n 13][/SUP] the guardian of foster children (Crown wards), as well as the owner of all state lands (Crown land), buildings and equipment (Crown held property),[SUP][86][/SUP] state owned companies (Crown corporations), and thecopyright for all government publications (Crown copyright).[SUP][87][/SUP] This is all in his or her position as sovereign, and not as an individual; all such property is held by the Crown in perpetuity and cannot be sold by the sovereign without the proper advice and consent of his or her ministers.As the embodiment of the state, the monarch tops the Canadian order of precedence, and is also the locus of oaths of allegiance,[SUP][n 14][/SUP][SUP][73][/SUP][SUP][79][/SUP][SUP][89][/SUP][SUP][90][/SUP] required of many employees of the Crown, as well as by new citizens, as per the Oath of Citizenship laid out in the Citizenship Act. This is done in reciprocation to the sovereign's Coronation Oath,[SUP][91][/SUP] wherein he or she promises "to govern the Peoples of... Canada... according to their respective laws and customs."[SUP][92][/SUP][h=3][edit]Head of state[/h]Though 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,[SUP][82][/SUP] the sovereign is regarded by official government sources,[SUP][14][/SUP][SUP][93][/SUP][SUP][94][/SUP] judges,[SUP][95][/SUP] constitutional scholars,[SUP][79][/SUP][SUP][96][/SUP] and pollsters as the head of state,[SUP][97][/SUP] while the governor general and lieutenant governors are all only representatives of, and thus equally subordinate to, that figure.[SUP][98][/SUP] Some governors general, their staff, government publications,[SUP][79][/SUP] and constitutional scholars like Edward McWhinney and C. E. S. Franks have,[SUP][99][/SUP][SUP][100][/SUP] however, referred to the position of governor general as that of Canada's head of state,[SUP][101][/SUP][SUP][102][/SUP] though sometimes qualilfying the assertion with de facto or effective;[SUP][103][/SUP][SUP][104][/SUP][SUP][105][/SUP] Franks has hence recommended that the governor general be named officially as the head of state.[SUP][100][/SUP] Since 1927, governors general have been received on state visits abroad as though they were heads of state.[SUP][106][/SUP]Officials at Rideau Hall have pointed to the Letters Patent of 1947 as justification for describing the governor general as head of state, but others countered that the document makes no such distinction, either literally or implicitly,[SUP][107][/SUP] nor does it effect an abdication of the sovereign's powers in favour of the viceroy.[SUP][36][/SUP] Michael D. Jackson, former protocol officer for Saskatchewan, pointed out that Rideau Hall had been attempting to "recast" the governor general as head of state since the 1970s and that doing so preempted both the Queen and all of the lieutenant governors,[SUP][98][/SUP] the latter causing not only "precedence wars" at provincial events (where the governor general usurped the lieutenant governor's proper spot as most senior official in attendance),[SUP][108][/SUP][SUP][109][/SUP] but also constitutional issues by "unbalancing[...] the federalist symmetry."[SUP][65][/SUP][SUP][110][/SUP] This has been regarded as both a natural evolution and as a dishonest effort to alter the constitution without public scrutiny.[SUP][107][/SUP][SUP][111][/SUP] Still others view the role of head of state as being shared by both the sovereign and her viceroys.[SUP][112][/SUP][SUP][113][/SUP][SUP][114][/SUP]In a poll conducted by Ipsos-Reid following the first prorogation of the 40th parliament on 4 December 2008, it was found that 42% of the sample group thought the prime minister was head of state, while 33% felt it was the governor general. Only 24% named the Queen as head of state,[SUP][97][/SUP] a number up from 2002, when the results of an EKOS Research Associates survey showed only 5% of those polled knew the Queen was head of state (69% answered that it was the prime minister).[SUP][115]Wow, look at that last paragraph, sorry to say but it is true, a lot of ignorance on the part of Canadians about the hierarchy of their government.</blockquote>

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