In our government, the crown's function is as a custodian or caretaker that oversees the peaceful transfer of power and is occasionally called upon to act as a referee. We had that a few years ago here in BC when the Christy Clark Liberals attempted to form a minority government despite having fewer seats than the NDP/Green Party coalition. BC's Lieutenant Governor at the time played a key role in sorting out that mess, declining Clark's request for a new election after the non-confidence motion defeated the Clark government, and allowing Horgan's coalition government to proceed.
And you might say "well, big deal. This was just a ceremonial figurehead acting on the advice given by some constitutional scholars." And that's true. And you might say "so we could have just got the same result by just appointing an expert to make the decision." And that's the part where I say "not so fast." Because that necessitates the question, who appoints the expert?
We've had plenty of opportunity to watch the kind of shenanigans that our friends to the south have gotten up to over the years, and especially in recent years. Does that really give you much faith in the independence and objectivity of appointed experts?
-k
If the bulk of the work is being done by the constitutional scholars, does it really matter who appoints the middleman? Right now, the PM basically chooses the GG and LGs.
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