Poor Michaëlle Jean. She's in a no-win situation. There are so few existing precedents they are pratically one-offs if they apply at all to this situation, and no matter what she does some very loud people will view it as partisan and complain that it's inappropriate for an appointee (and a representative of the monarch yet!) to have that kind of power. But she's duty-bound, she has no choice.
Because there's no one clear answer and so little precedent, you'd really have to be the universally-acknowledged single greatest constitutional expert in Canada to have wide credibility here, and Madam Jean is not. Nothing against her, she's an excellent figurehead and knows more about the constitution than I do (and probably does have the very best constitutional experts as her advisors) but the optics are never going to work with someone who isn't an acknowledged expert.
I wonder if Madam Jean has had a chance to talk to the Queen lately? Do Governors General get to talk to the Queen? Her Majesty might have some insight into this situation. I don't know if the UK has ever been in a situation where the Crown has had to decide whether to prorogue Parliament or call an election or let a minority coalition govern, but since the Queen has been head of state since before Madam Jean was even born, she might have given this a bit of thought.
No comments:
Post a Comment