The final days of the Donald Trump presidency have come to include a disproportionate amount of attention on the 25th amendment, the constitutional mechanism by which a U.S. president can be forcibly removed from power.
It was all rendered moot by Trump’s January 8th announcement that he would facilitate an “orderly transition” of power. But what happens if Canada should ever be plagued by a rogue prime minister? A head of government who refuses to convene parliament, listen to their cabinet or acknowledge the results of an election? Surprisingly, the Westminster system may not be as prepared for such a scenario as we all would like to think.
First made law in 1967, the U.S. 25th amendment officially puts the vice-president in charge if the sitting president either dies, resigns or is otherwise “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” The amendment has usually been treated as a kind of failsafe in the event that a president became mentally unfit while in office.
“The thing to be clear is, [in Canada] there is nothing equivalent to the vice-presidential position where there is a clearly delineated line of succession,” Karl Salgo, executive director of the Institute on Governance and a former Parliament Hill procedural advisor, told the National Post.
If Prime Minister Justin Trudeau quit tomorrow, Governor General Julie Payette would probably ask his deputy Chrystia Freeland to take over – but there’s nothing saying Payette would have to. Technically, the Governor General can appoint anybody as prime minister of Canada; the only requirement is that they’re able to command the confidence of the House. If the House of Commons decided tomorrow that Ryan Reynolds was best equipped to man the tiller of our great dominion, he could be sitting in the Langevin Block by week’s end without so much as winning a seat in the House of Commons.
[Interesting Read]
See Also:
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(3) The yellow badge of Canadian courage
(4) Why the Bank of Canada could be among the first to raise interest rates
(5) Trudeau’s failure means no Pfizer doses next week for Canada
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