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Constitution - Governor-General and Lieutenant-Governors [s.58]. Société de l’Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick v. Canada (Prime Minister)
In Société de l’Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick v. Canada (Prime Minister) (SCC, 2026) the Supreme Court of Canada allowed an appeal, this brought against a NB Court of Appeal ruling that allowed a Crown appeal, this from a NB Queen's Bench ruling that held that "ss. 16(2), 16.1 and 20(2) of the Charter impose an obligation of personal bilingualism on the holder of the position of Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick".
Here the court considers the position and role of the Governor-General and the Lieutenant-Governors for each province:(1) Role of the Lieutenant Governor
[28] Section 58 of the Constitution Act, 1867 provides that the Governor General in Council has the power to appoint, for each province, “an Officer, styled the Lieutenant Governor”. Although this power is discretionary, it is exercised in accordance with the convention whereby the Governor General in Council follows the Prime Minister’s advice in making appointments (see, generally, A. F. Marshall, “Crown”, in Canadian Encyclopedic Digest (4th ed. (loose-leaf), at § 45). Section 58 does not make this power of appointment subject to any particular requirement.
[29] The Lieutenant Governor is the Crown’s representative in the province and, as such, embodies the Crown and exercises the powers, prerogatives, immunities and capacities granted to it in right of the province (J. McL. Hendry, Memorandum on the Office of Lieutenant-Governor of a Province: Its Constitutional Character and Functions (With Appendices) (1955), at p. 19; J. T. Saywell, The Office of Lieutenant-Governor: A Study in Canadian Government and Politics (1957)). This constitutional status was decisively affirmed by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Liquidators of the Maritime Bank of Canada v. Receiver-General of New Brunswick, [1892] A.C. 437, which established that, for the purposes of provincial government, the Lieutenant Governor is a representative of the Sovereign and not merely an officer of the federal government.
[30] The office of Lieutenant Governor has a dual character. The Lieutenant Governor is, on the one hand, a representative of the Crown in right of the province and a constituent element of the legislature and, on the other, a provincial authority appointed by the federal government, through the constitutional mechanism for designating the Crown’s representatives in the provinces. In the context of responsible government, the Lieutenant Governor must almost always act on the advice of the Premier of the province and the ministers who have the confidence of the elected assembly, as most political power remains in the hands of democratically elected authorities. However, the Lieutenant Governor retains reserve powers, which must be exercised with exceptional discretion, when it is necessary to resolve a parliamentary crisis of confidence (P. W. Hogg and W. K. Wright, Constitutional Law of Canada (5th ed. Supp.), at § 9:3). One of the Lieutenant Governor’s essential responsibilities is to give royal assent to laws passed by the provincial legislature, and this assent normally cannot be denied.
[31] Finally, the Lieutenant Governor performs an important ceremonial and social role. Through their participation in the public life of the province, they embody the continuity of the state and the relationship between institutions and citizens. The Lieutenant Governor thus performs a symbolic function, both as a constituent element of the provincial legislature and as a representative of the Crown in right of the province, thereby providing a link between the Crown and Canadian society.
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