what does the general governor of canada do
Governor General of Canada The Governor General of Canada (French: Gouverneure générale du Canada[n 1]) is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II. The person of the sovereign is shared equally both with the 15 other Commonwealth realms and the 10 provinces of Canada, but resides predominantly in her oldest realm, the United Kingdom. Because of this, the Queen, on the advice of her Canadian prime minister,[1] appoints a governor general to carry out most of her constitutional and ceremonial duties. The commission is for an unfixed period of time—known as serving at Her Majesty's pleasure—though five years is the normal convention. Beginning in 1959, it has also been traditional to rotate between anglophone and francophone incumbents—although many recent governors general have been bilingual. Once in office, the governor general maintains direct contact with the Queen, wherever she may be at the time.[2]
Prime Minister of Canada The Canadian prime minister serves at Her Majesty's pleasure, meaning the post does not have a fixed term. Once appointed and sworn in by the governor general, the prime minister remains in office until he or she resigns, is dismissed, or dies.[14] The lifespan of parliament was limited by the constitution to five years and, though the governor general may still, on the advice of the prime minister, dissolve parliament and issue the writs of election prior to the date mandated by the Canada Elections Act; the King–Byng Affair was the only time since Confederation that the governor general deemed it necessary to refuse his prime minister's request for a general vote. As of 2007, with an amendment to the Elections Act, Section 56.1(2) was changed to limit the term of a majority government to four (4) years, with election day being set as the third Monday in October of the 4th calendar year after the previous polling date. [15]