The king or queen of Canada is also monarch and head of state of 14 other Commonwealth realms and resides in the United Kingdom. The monarch, on the advice of his or her Canadian prime minister , [ 1 ] appoints a governor general to administer the government of Canada in the monarch's name. The commission is for an indefinite periodβknown as serving at His Majesty's pleasure βthough, five years is the usual length of term. Since , it has also been traditional to alternate between francophone and anglophone officeholders.
The 30th and current governor general is Mary Simon , who was sworn in on 26 July An Inuk leader from Nunavik in Quebec , Simon is the first aboriginal person to hold the office.
As the sovereign's representative, the governor general carries out the day-to-day constitutional and ceremonial duties of the monarch. The constitutional duties include appointing lieutenant governors , Supreme Court justices, and senators ; signing orders-in-council ; summoning, proroguing , and dissolving the federal parliament ; granting royal assent to bills; calling elections; and signing commissions for officers of the Canadian Armed Forces.
The ceremonial duties include delivering the speech from the throne at the state opening of parliament ; accepting letters of credence from incoming ambassadors; and distributing honours, decorations, and medals.
Per the tenets of responsible government , the governor general acts almost always except on the matter of honours on the advice of the prime minister. The office began in the 17th century, when the French Crown appointed governors of the colony of Canada and, following the British conquest of the colony in , the British monarch appointed governors of the Province of Quebec later the Canadas.
