The governor general of Canada is the federal representative of the Canadian monarch, currently King Charles III. The king or queen of Canada is also monarch and head of state of 14 other Commonwealth realms and lives in the United Kingdom. The monarch, on the advice of his or her Canadian prime minister, appoints a governor general to administer the government of Canada in the monarch's name. The commission is for an indefinite period—known as serving at His Majesty's pleasure—though, five years is the usual length of term. Since 1959, it has also been traditional to alternate between francophone and anglophone officeholders. The 30th and current governor general is Mary Simon, who was sworn in on 26 July 2021. An Inuk leader from Nunavik in Quebec, Simon is the first Indigenous person to hold the office.
24 Sussex Drive, originally called Gorffwysfa and usually referred to simply as 24 Sussex, is the official residence of the prime minister of Canada, in the New Edinburgh neighbourhood of Ottawa, Ontario. Built between 1866 and 1868 by Joseph Merrill Currier, it has been the official home of the prime minister of Canada since 1951. It is one of two official residences made available to the prime minister, the Harrington Lake estate in nearby Gatineau Park being the other.
The Cabinet of Canada is a body of ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the tenets of the Westminster system, forms the government of Canada. Chaired by the prime minister, the Cabinet is a committee of the King's Privy Council for Canada and the senior echelon of the Ministry, the membership of the Cabinet and Ministry often being co-terminal; as of November 2015 there were no members of the latter who were not also members of the former.
Rideau Hall is the official residence in Ottawa of both the Canadian monarch and their representative, the governor general of Canada. It stands in Canada's capital on a 36-hectare (88-acre) estate at 1 Sussex Drive, with the main building consisting of approximately 175 rooms across 9,500 square metres (102,000 sq ft), and 27 outbuildings around the grounds. Rideau Hall's site lies outside the centre of Ottawa. It is one of two official royal residences maintained by the federal Crown, the other being the Citadelle of Quebec.
7 Rideau Gate is the Canadian government's official state guest house for very important dignitaries, such as visiting heads of government or other high-level officials. The house is located in Ottawa, Ontario, near other official residences such as Rideau Hall and 24 Sussex Drive.
Margaret Joan Trudeau is a Canadian activist and the mother of Justin Trudeau, the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. She married Pierre Trudeau, the 15th prime minister of Canada, in 1971, three years after he became prime minister. They divorced in 1984, during his final months in office. She is also the mother of the journalist and author Alexandre "Sacha" Trudeau, and Michel Trudeau. She is the first woman in Canadian history to have been both the wife and the mother of prime ministers. Trudeau is an advocate for people with bipolar disorder, with which she has been diagnosed.
Justin Pierre James Trudeau is a Canadian politician who has been serving as the 23rd prime minister of Canada since 2015 and the leader of the Liberal Party since 2013.
Sussex Drive, also known as Ottawa Regional Road 93, is an arterial road in Ottawa, Ontario, the capital of Canada. It is one of the city's main ceremonial and institutional routes. Travelling roughly parallel to the Ottawa River, Sussex Drive begins as a continuation of Sir George-Étienne Cartier Parkway at Rideau Gate, at the entrance to Rideau Hall. It travels south to Rideau Street, with the portion south of St. Patrick Street forming the northbound half of a one-way pair with Mackenzie Avenue. Both Mackenzie Avenue and Sussex Drive connect with Colonel By Drive at their southern end, which continues south alongside the Rideau Canal.
The King's Privy Council for Canada, sometimes called His Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council (PC), is the full group of personal consultants to the monarch of Canada on state and constitutional affairs. Practically, the tenets of responsible government require the sovereign or his viceroy, the governor general of Canada, to almost always follow only that advice tendered by the Cabinet: a committee within the Privy Council composed usually of elected members of Parliament. Those summoned to the KPC are appointed for life by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister of Canada, meaning that the group is composed predominantly of former Cabinet ministers, with some others having been inducted as an honorary gesture. Those in the council are accorded the use of an honorific style and post-nominal letters, as well as various signifiers of precedence.
Harrington Lake is the summer residence and all-season retreat of the prime minister of Canada, and also the name of the land which surrounds it. The farm that surrounded most of the lake was the property of Margaret and John Harrington. John could not farm the land and moved to the local town of Iron Sides. The family stayed on the farm for many years and eventually moved to old Ottawa. The property is located near Meech Lake—where the Meech Lake Accord was negotiated in 1987—approximately 35 kilometres northwest of Ottawa, in Gatineau Park, amidst the Gatineau Hills in Quebec. The property is not open to the public, but the Mackenzie King Estate, the retreat of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King at Kingsmere, is a tourist attraction located 2 kilometres south in the park.
The South African High Commission in Ottawa is the High Commission of South Africa in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located at 15 Sussex Drive in the New Edinburgh neighbourhood of Ottawa. Directly across the street from the embassy is 24 Sussex Drive the official residence of the Prime Minister of Canada. East of the High Commission is 7 Rideau Gate, Canada's official guest house for visiting dignitaries. Rideau Hall, the official residence of the Governor General of Canada is also nearby at 1 Sussex Drive.
David Lloyd Johnston is a Canadian academic, author, and statesman who served from 2010 to 2017 as Governor General of Canada, the 28th since Canadian Confederation. Johnston was the special rapporteur appointed to investigate reports of foreign interference in recent Canadian federal elections until his resignation on June 9, 2023.
The Office of the Prime Minister comprises the political staff which support the prime minister of Canada. Located in the Office of the Prime Minister and Privy Council Building in Ottawa, Ontario. The PMO provides policy advice, information gathering, communications, planning, and strategizing. It should not be confused with the Privy Council Office (PCO) – a department of the Government of Canada and part of the Public Service, which is expressly non-partisan. The PMO is concerned with making policy, whereas the PCO is concerned with executing the policy decisions.
Secretary to the Governor General is the title used by the administrative head of the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General (OSGG), the Canadian government office that supports the work of the Governor General of Canada. The position is based at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Ontario.
Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon,, styled as the Earl of Willingdon between 1931 and 1936, was a British Liberal politician and administrator who served as Governor General of Canada and as Viceroy and Governor-General of India.
André Dallaire is a Canadian man who attempted to assassinate Canadian prime minister Jean Chrétien in 1995. Dallaire claimed that he heard voices that led him to break into the 24 Sussex Drive residence. At trial, Justice Paul Bélanger agreed with Dallaire's earlier diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia and found Dallaire guilty of attempted murder, but not criminally responsible.
Lilias Evva Massey was a Canadian dignitary, who served as châtelaine of Rideau Hall during her father-in-law Vincent Massey's term as Governor General of Canada.
The Canadian secretary to the King is the senior operational member of the royal household for the monarch of Canada, presently King Charles III. The office was established as Canadian secretary to the Queen in 1959. The present office holder is Donald Booth, who was appointed to the position in 2019.
The premiership of Justin Trudeau began on November 4, 2015, when the first Cabinet headed by Justin Trudeau was sworn in by Governor General David Johnston. Trudeau was invited to form the 29th Canadian Ministry and become Prime Minister of Canada following the 2015 election, where Trudeau's Liberal Party won a majority of seats in the House of Commons of Canada, defeating the Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government. In both federal elections of 2019 and 2021, Trudeau was re-elected with minority governments; with his party losing the popular vote twice.
The 2020–2021 Rideau Hall workplace review was an external review by Quintet Consulting of the workplace culture at Rideau Hall—which hosts the governor general of Canada and her staff—initiated by the Privy Council Office (PCO) following allegations of harassment and verbal abuse by Governor General Julie Payette and her secretary, Assunta di Lorenzo. The review ultimately produced a report in January 2021 concluding that Payette and Di Lorenzo presided over a toxic work environment, resulting in their resignations on January 21.
