Did you hear?  The constitutional foundation of the Canadian state has been radically altered by the pronunciations of an unelected, appointed official.  No, the Senate has not repealed the BNA Act or amended the Charter.

As has been amply discussed in the media, Governor General Michaelle Jean has declared herself Canada’s head-of-state, therefore usurping the role of the Crown.  Why is this a problem do you ask?  I mean, she has about as much power as the Secretary-General of the United Nations, or the mayor of a small town, so who cares if she styles herself not as the Queen’s representative in Canada, but as Canada’s de facto Queen?

The constitutional nature of Canada has been altered radically over the past 50 years, and hardly has it ever encompassed a formal amendment.  Aside from several minor amendments, the Constitution and Canada Acts of 1982 are the only formal, major changes.  In the meantime, the constitution has “evolved” without due process.  Consider:

• The concentration of executive powers, namely the ability of cabinet to raise new taxes without the consent of Parliament (see Magna Carta).
• Justices “reading” new sections into the Constitution as they see fit (see “living tree” or “organic” constitutional doctrines).
• The subordination of real rights – such as that of speech, assembly and conscious – to fiat right, such as the right to services or not being offended (see almost any case from the Canadian Human Rights Commission).
• The steady encroachment of the federal government into areas of provincial jurisdiction, accelerating a process that began with early Judicial Committee of the Privy Council decisions soon after confederation.

So maybe I’m a crusty old constitutionalist still hung up on such archaic things as the division of powers and due process, but if the constitutional nature of Canada is to change, it should be done so legally and formally, and not through the backdoor as most major changes have been.

As an ex small-r republican myself, I know the arguments for and against the monarchy well enough, but if we are to hive off our last remaining formal link to the Crown and empire of old, it should be done so publicly and through formal constitutional amendment, not through an appointed former Radio-Canada employee who “reads” her new title into it.