What the heck is a "Governor General" ?

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15 countries have governor generals. But who are they, and what do they do? Let's take a look at the strange office of the "Queen's representative," a legacy of colonial rule across the world of the former British Empire and Commonwealth.
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3 окт 2024

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Комментарии : 1,3 тыс.

@Waldzkrieger 4 года назад

We always ask "what" is a Governor General, but we never ask "how" is the Governor General. :(

@ben-hb6yf 4 года назад

Damn that was DEEP

@bhaskarbharali5853 4 года назад

Sad

@Vlad-hz5cq 4 года назад

I’m 14 and this is deep :(

@The_Dylan_Snow 4 года назад

I'll do you one better, why is a Governor General?

@Waldzkrieger 4 года назад

@@The_Dylan_Snow shoot I didn't even think of that

@joshualieblein5223 4 года назад

What if JJ was appointed Governor General of Canada? Would he have to be the Jovernor Jeneral?

@swolejeezy2603 4 года назад

Or would he be GG McCullough

@larrybxl5406 4 года назад

JJ is much too American to ever be a GG

@acasualcactus5878 3 года назад

GG JJ

@davidozab2753 3 года назад

Quebec wouldn't stand for it! 😂

@smashingthreeplates2171 3 года назад

His appointment to "Governor General" would be quite interesting; however, he is more likely to run for an MP and then for Prime Minister, because the Governor-General is supposed to be ceremonial and J.J. is not two much of a fan of powerless, ceremonial positions. The idea is still interesting, though.

@frostyguy1989 4 года назад

"...And the Australian offshoot New Zealand." Them's fightin' words, son.

@JJMcCullough 4 года назад

Prove me wrong kiwis prove me wrong

@McGuignol70 4 года назад

@@JJMcCullough Actually Australia is the New Zealand offshoot.

@frostyguy1989 4 года назад

Are you basing this off that whole one year period where New Zealand was administered as part of New South Wales? That's a flimsy argument that falls apart when you consider the following: 1: Australia was not a thing yet, and would not be a thing until Federation in 1901. Until then, the continent was divided into separate colonies. New Zealand can't have been an Australian offshoot, if there was *no* *Australia* . 2: New South Wales never had any real authority over New Zealand in the single solitary year that it had de jure control. A lot of people outside Australia and NZ seem to think we're very close neighbours. In reality, there's a 2000km distance between mainland Australia and mainland NZ. And considering 1840 -1841 was an era where the fastest possible communication was letters on a ship that could take weeks to reach its destination through the stormy Tasman Sea, and you see the issue. I'm not even going into the fact that British "control" was questionable as the Maori iwi had greater claim to exercise authority at that point. 3: The Australian colonies and New Zealand could not have been more different in 1840. Australia's colonies were predominately white and settlement had been ongoing for decades. In New Zealand, the British population was a tiny minority, as no serious settlement had started yet. The Maori were still the majority, and the early settlers from Britain were often dependent on Maori goodwill to survive the first years.

@archdukefranzferdinand567 4 года назад

@@frostyguy1989 You fail to consider that New Zealand is just mini Australia

@frostyguy1989 4 года назад

@@archdukefranzferdinand567 By that logic, Austria is just mini Germany.

@Gazzyl161 4 года назад

In Greece we have a president who has the exact same job as the governor general with the exception of being elected by parliament. They are basically the replacement of the king after the monarchy was abolished. I think that this is the case for most countries that got rid of their kings and queens. A few years back there was a lot of drama around the president because according to the consitution every five years the parliament must vote to elect a president and if it fails to do so then the parliament must be dissolved and new elections must be held. The leftist party SYRIZA famously sabotaged the vote of the president to force early elections and oust the conservatives from power during the highpoint of the greek crisis. Last year the consitution was amended to remove that article among other changes obviously because all parties knew that that was a bit of a dick move. Aaaaaah fun memories.

@robertjarman3703 4 года назад

Maybe replace it with sequentially voting, so that if you can't get say a 2/3 vote to support a non partisan on the first say three rounds, vote another three times with 3/5. If that fails, try for an absolute majority another three times. And if that fails, keep voting but eliminate the lowest voted candidate and vote again, until someone has an absolute majority or there are two left and then take the one with more votes. Oh, and use secret ballots.

@jacklong1844 4 года назад

JJ did a video on those kind of presidents

@inxendere 4 года назад

I love your profile pic, where is that guy from?

@arx3516 4 года назад

Same thing in Italy, the president took the role of the king after the last king was sent in exile.

@Edmonton-of2ec 4 года назад

The abolition of the Greek monarchy really highlighted this “constitutional fire extinguisher” argument, given the King appoint a military junta to government after a coup in 1967, though on the condition that it was made up of (ideally at least) more liberal civilian ministers, which was granted. The King then packed up his family and the former Prime Minister, went to Northern Greece and tried to stage a counter-coup, but it failed after King Constantine II’s insistence that the coup not turn violent. It’s an interesting example

@philagelio336 4 года назад

Get this: Gibraltar has a Governor, Mayor and a Chief Minister

@jacklong1844 4 года назад

Two of them are merely figureheads

@tobeytransport2802 4 года назад

Memetic Proportions yeah 😂 it acts like a town, country and colony all at once!

@JJMcCullough 4 года назад

They need some libertarians in there

@ezioauditoredafirenze5731 4 года назад

@@JJMcCullough All they need is a platypus with a fedora to serve as all three

@Orokorra-Flantxo 4 года назад

J.J. McCullough I’ll go

@deutschamerikaner 4 года назад

“Isaac Isaacs” A name so nice you have to say it twice.

@eyalrephaeli6833 4 года назад

Big and Chunky

@paulinbrooklyn 4 года назад

Or, if you’re Borat interviewing the UN General Secretary, then ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-C5P9J1wCgNM.html

@SirSX3 4 года назад

Like Galileo Galilei

@krab9479 4 года назад

Fun fact though, the Surgeon General of the United States is actually a uniformed flag officer! They hold the rank of Vice Admiral in the Public Health Service, the equivalent counterpart to a Lieutenant General in the military :)

@boris2421 4 года назад

nice

@gottahurtthealbertosaurus 4 года назад

Why would the Public Health Services use Naval Ranks?

@terribleauthority 4 года назад

@@gottahurtthealbertosaurus They most likely started as a more Naval orientated service, then merged with something else to become a land component but kept their origins. Like other stuff.

@SeanMacadelic 4 года назад

There’s another Uniformed Service that people aren’t really that aware of. Like the Public Health Service; NOAA (national oceanographic and aeronautical administration) has a commissioned officer corps who also utilize US Navy Officer ranks and uniforms. These are the people that collect weather data (flying into storms) and perform other important scientific research and development for the US Government. These officers attend US Coast Guard Officer Candidate School and serve tours of duty on small ships and shore stations.

@jordanulery524 4 года назад

There are 4 uniformed armed forces )military) in the US plus the uniformed services (having commissioned officers-i.e. approved by Congress) of the US Public Health Service (once the provider of medical care to the naval forces), US Coast & Geodetic Survey (which includes NOAA) and the US Coast Guard, which is armed (as the other can be) but is not military being now part of Homeland Security. The ID cards of all now save “Uniformed Service” identification.

@Evange 4 года назад

I don't think that Caribbean GGs are intentionally dressing like the queen. That's just how older, well-to-do ladies dress in the Caribbean.

@declannewton2556 4 года назад

As a person from the Caribbean, that's not true.

@Raddyk12 4 года назад

@Evange your soo right

@kieranwilliams1817 4 года назад

GGs in the Caribbean are corrupted by their biased association to the prime minister political agenda.

@kieranwilliams1817 4 года назад

@@declannewton2556 you know the Caribbean is not a country

@jossanecassar8683 4 года назад

Kieran Williams they know it is not a country, they just don’t want to specify which specific country in the Caribbean they are from.

@corg_9939 4 года назад

In the east end of London there's the guv'nor general too. Everytime she arrests someone, they have to say "I didn't do it guv, honest!"

@abhinav2584 4 года назад

69 likes

@lukejolley8354 4 года назад

Question mark? .....

@ricardoguanipa8275 4 года назад

In Aruba, which is an Autonomous State within the Kingdom of The Netherlands the Term is just "The Governor" which is appointed by "The Crown" to act as the " The crown Representative on the island, mostly ceremonial stuff and when you become a Naturalized Dutch Citizen on the island you have to make the Pledge in front of him. And signing a bill into law or budget when it's already approved by Parliment, however he can 'take his time" to do the signature meaning if there is something the "Raad van advies" has an issue with,

@JMM33RanMA 4 года назад

Without knowing Niederländisch and relying on my native English, I suppose that "Raad van advies" would translate as board of advisors, right?

@jacklong1844 4 года назад

Sort of the same thing with British overseas territories

@sfinnable 4 года назад

Jamaica, ooh I wanna take ya...

@philipmadden7013 4 года назад

Honestly, I wish this how it worked in Canada.

@MustraOrdo 4 года назад

@@JMM33RanMA Correct.

@GH-oi2jf 4 года назад

The plural is “governors general.”

@jaojao1768 4 года назад

Indeed

@JJMcCullough 4 года назад

According to the dictionary both are acceptable.

@Osama-Bon-Jovi-01 4 года назад

portal referance?

@Obscurai 4 года назад

Correct, given that the plural suffix is applied to the noun governor and the word 'general' is an adjective.

@johnlacey3857 4 года назад

J.J. McCullough Maybe so... but the construct is clearly grammatically incorrect, as opposed to being a spelling error. So I would question the ‘authority’ of a dictionary to rule on such an issue. But JJ this was another great piece of research and explanation. Nicely done.

@Tobberz 4 года назад

I find it interesting that de-facto the Governor General is appointed by the Prime Minister, and de-jure the Prime Minister is appointed by the Governor General. A happy little circle of politics. It's also important to note that in every legal sense, it's not the "British Monarch" in the case of the commonwealth realms. The Queen acts as Queen of Canada in Canadian affairs.

@Oldmanplum 4 года назад

JJ is anti monarchy so he often plays up the "britishness" of the crown when it comes to canada or other commonwealth realms. Exclusively either referring to her as the Queen of the UK or "the Queen of England" (🤢)

@robertjarman3703 4 года назад

Canadian law does not in fact specify how the governor general exists nor does Canadian law establish the prime ministership. It recognizes it a couple of times to give them a salary and to give them the right to be on a special national security council, but otherwise the law doesn't mention them at all. And in fact, the governor general in Canadian law, in this case the Constitution Act 1867, is supposed to appoint the privy council, which is a lifetime position and includes people like the chief justice of the supreme court and the leader of the opposition.

@artman7780 4 года назад

@Pimpasaurus Plum I mean, he is right, though. The queen lives in the UK, and rarely visits Canada, Australia and other places. It’s like you calling yourself, say, a “Thai citizen” when you live in your country most of the time and only visits Thailand occasionally during short breaks. No one sees the queen and goes, “hey, that’s the queen of Canada!” If you are pro-monarchy, you could say the queen contributes to the British economy by the tourists who come to see her palaces and the memorabilia sold of her. But, what does she contribute economically to the commonwealth nations? Just some food for thought.

@georgewest3787 4 года назад

The Quebec Court of Appeal upheld (last year) the view that, in fact, the Queen of Canada and the Queen of the United Kingdom are inseparably the same role. There's nothing in Canadian law that indicates the Crown of Canada is anything other than the Crown of the United Kingdom (or a more general Imperial/ Commonwealth crown) in right of Canada.

@Oldmanplum 4 года назад

@@georgewest3787 Do you have a link to that case? I was able to find an article which says this: "In his decision, Justice Claude Bouchard invoked "the rule of symmetry," which means that the person designated king or queen of the United Kingdom is automatically Canada's monarch." which isn't too unusual as some commonwealth realms have laws which says that whoever is the british monarch is also monarch of their country, but the crowns in right of each country as still legally distinct international entities

@jacobinjacobin7867 4 года назад

I'm from St Vincent and the Grenadines. The Governor General position is largely uncontroversial. Just as you said, the person appointed to that position tends to be someone inoffensive and a person with whom not many people have animus. The current GG is a former educator (apart from that and her name I know very little about her which is proof of how truly useless the post is). I personally think we should do away with this colonial relic. I particularly hate the way it elevates some random person to an almost deific social rank, and the way that it basically drains the treasury with no identifiable upside.

@bagodrago 3 года назад

Canadian here and I wholeheartedly agree. There are far better uses for tax-payer money than a pointless symbolic position that glorifies the British monarchy.

@IcecreamMcGuy 2 года назад

I’m american and I have no idea what you guys are saying 👍🏻

@SirSX3 2 года назад

Here's the thing though: getting rid of the Governor General does not solve any of these problems that you have outlined. Let's look at Barbados and it's transition into a Republic. The Governor-General position becomes defunct, but the same person just become the President, with the exact same role and function, and presumably salary. The ceremonial President of a Republic is still gonna be held by someone so inoffensive and uncontroversial that no one would ever have any strong feelings about them in anyway, or know much about them (which you said proves how useless the position is). It also doesn't change the way it "elevates some random person to an almost deific social rank", nor the way that it "basically drains the treasury with no identifiable upside". The only difference is the name of the post, and it's connection to the British crown. If that's what you're against, then that's a view you're entitled to have, but none of the reason you've outlined would be any different if you've got rid of the Governor-General (which really wouldn't be gone, just back with another name, occupied by the same person)

@vulpes7079 Год назад

What do you think about having the British King as your head of state? Looking from outside it seems pretty inoffensive

@sorayacatfriend 4 года назад

The Viceroy of India was also the Governor-General, he got the title because India was the personal posession of the Crown, with the British monarch also being the Emperor/Empress of India, hence making him the "Vice King" of the colony, king=Roy.

@tigalbaby 4 года назад

Explanation much appreciated. Always wondered why India had a viceroy.

@w2class 4 года назад

Viceroy is used as a synonym of Governor-General in Australia (though less commonly than GG).

@starsinthesky593 3 года назад

@@w2class that interesting to know tho

@yannicklemaire5851 3 года назад

Roy is the old writing of Roi which means king in French

@siddharth14347 3 года назад

Also before the first battle of independence of 1857 (aka sepoy mutiny of 1857 in west) india (atleast parts of it) were under the East India Company and ruled by a Governor General who reported to the board of directors of the company. It was only after the failed revolt that the crown personally took india under its wing and GG changed to Viceroy, who was also the GG.

@raustaklass 4 года назад

Great video and all, but.. Nice shirt.

@andrewdonaghy1248 4 года назад

He starts the video with "its the 1980s" *looks at the shirt and hair* Yes it is.

@januarysson5633 4 года назад

This comment is gold. 😅

@Yotopioto 4 года назад

JJ you got it wrong when you said that in Australia, the GG removed the PM without an election. Sure, Fraser immediately became PM but he was then required to hold an election. It happened because the opposition kept blocking the budget, a strategic move since they knew they were polling higher. You're damn right it's contravercial though. Whitlam was a radical left wing politician, perhaps the furthest left Australia's ever had, who had policies like making University free, so you can imagine that his dismissal was seen by some as a highly political move by a supposedly apolitical institution. This issue currently came in the headlines again because the Queen and GG were ordered to release letters they had exchanged at the time, which were thought to question the monarchy's political neutrality. Yes the Queen went to court in Australia.

@jfrm_559 4 года назад

Last time I was this early to a new video, Canada was still called British North America.

@jetwaffle1116 4 года назад

I thought it was weird that I heard about the whole “french adjective after noun” thing twice in a suspiciously small timeframe...

@jaojao1768 4 года назад

Such things sometimes happen, IIRC it is called the "Baader-Meinhof effect"

@Kat-I-am3333 4 года назад

Sir Jaojao i bet you can mansplain anything away 🤔

@johanuuu8448 4 года назад

Same lol

@archdukefranzferdinand567 4 года назад

@@Kat-I-am3333 chill

@tissuepaper9962 4 года назад

@@Katzian the sense of pride and joy I felt while reading this is so profound that there's probably a really long German name for it.

@the8thgemmer467 4 года назад

My great-grandpa was the head chef of the Governor of the Colony of Cyprus. He was also sent to Palestine with the same role. After the Independence of Cyprus he founded a kafeneion (basically a traditional café).

@MissionHomeowner 4 года назад

MMMMMM! Food!

@Edmonton-of2ec 4 года назад

The8th Gemmer Is your great-grandfather Sir Ronald Storrs?

@the8thgemmer467 4 года назад

CanadianPrince No he was just a chef. I’m Cypriot.

@Edmonton-of2ec 4 года назад

The8th Gemmer So do you know Ah I Governor he worked for in particular?

@the8thgemmer467 4 года назад

CanadianPrince My family isn’t sure. He’s my Grandpa’s dad and my Grandpa is also dead. He almost definitely worked for the last ones, before Cyprus gained independence, so if he hadn’t been sent to Palestine at that time he would have worked for Sir Hugh Foot. He would actually cook Palestinian meals for my family!

@jacobh9344 4 года назад

Let us applaud the fact that J.J. Is wearing a Spongebob shirt.

@thepast2138 4 года назад

👏

@TheBrandonDestiny 4 года назад

Jamaican here. The role is frankly ceremonial. I’ll even go as far to say that he (Sir Patrick Allen) and is wife (Lady Allen) have become the subject of ire of neo-republicans who view his position as being a damaging vestige of a racist past (though he & his wife are people of colour). His “aloofness” has become subject to much discussion as recent given that where he lives (King’s House) sits on the most prime real estate in Kingston, the capital city - with land values hitting way past $1 million American greenbacks. I suspect that we will eventually have to come to terms with leaving our colonial inertia behind and look to modernise our system of governance, perhaps when our current breed of MPs are no longer with us. Loved your video JJ & thanks for explaining a very complex question that we find almost impossible to give an answer - especially to those who aren’t familiar with constitutional monarchies.

@MGustave 4 года назад

I think, governors general aside, the parliamentary system is much better than what the Americans have devised. Dont let your president have too much power!

@declannewton2556 4 года назад

Imagine not having a president. This post was made by Trinidad and Tobago gang.

@Rman775 4 года назад

Jamaica could do what Trinidad and Tobago did and replace the useless ceremonial office of the Governor General with the useless ceremonial office of the President.

@ttun100 4 года назад

@@Rman775 Just a change of name is all it is.

@truetory6231 4 года назад

@@Rman775 the only reason for that would be to appease the pro-republican mob and why exactly should be the case?. In Trinidad when they replaced the GG with a president, they gave the former GG preference for the job. My guess is that if Jamaica were do the same then Sir Patrick would again get to be the first pick. Personally I think the whole ceremonial presidencies of Trinidad and Dominica are a complete joke, in those countries, it is the PM who nominates the president and parliament rubber stamps it (just like the Queen does in a GG's appointment) and yet they try to pass that off as a true democratic election? it is a blatant attempt to fool the people. At least with a GG in cases like Jamaica or Barbados the people KNOW for a fact that it's an appointed position not an elected one, but these ceremonial presidents pretend to be elected when they are really appointed, it's grossly disingenuous

@hsmk-zd9hv 4 года назад

long live jj, our supreme leader

@hsmk-zd9hv 4 года назад

this is legit the most likes ive ever gotten on a comment, also first

@argentumoblinit7960 4 года назад

@@hsmk-zd9hv 200k q and a ?

@리주민 4 года назад

JJ for GG

@RealLifeW0rld 4 года назад

@MrPatters 4 года назад

I believe they've information vegetable, animal, and mineral, know the kings of England, and quote the fights historical, from Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical.

@niccolobattistoni6733 4 года назад

I see you are a man of culture as well! I also remember him to be very well acquainted to matters mathematical

@brucealanwilson4121 4 года назад

That's a major-general.

@niccolobattistoni6733 4 года назад

@@brucealanwilson4121 wow genie, who would have thought? isnt the piece namend "The major general"? it is wordplay

@anglobostonian 4 года назад

As an American Anglophile, I was delighted to see this video explaining the history of how Governors General came to be and how they operate today. Other than your incorrectly referring to them as "Governor Generals" (Governors General is the correct plural as is Attorneys General), it was basically accurate and a good reference for British and British Commonwealth history. When New Zealand has her next parliamentary election in September, I hope you complete a video on how the New Zealand Parliament operates, particularly with their Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) electoral system. Keep up the good work!

@n1bbles2k 4 года назад

It's really basic here in New Zealand, in the house of Commons we have roughly 126 chairs, which are given to the political parties based on their vote percentage, though these cost quite alot per seat. Our Governor General is known in New Zealand, but is never considered our Head of State, the Queen will always be the Head of State with the Governor General doing as the Queen commands. Also here in New Zealand the Queen allows the Prime Minister to choose the Governor General, or she may appoint them herself. From what I know the Queen has denied the Governor General office to who the PM chose many times, and required the PM to choose again. Under our Government (and other Commonwealth Realms) the Governor General requires approval from the Queen to fire the PM and veto bills, while the Queen can do such as she pleases, in Australia the Governor General persuaded the Queen to fire and appoint a new PM.

@JJLiu-xc3kg 4 года назад

The dictionary states Governor Generals and Governors General are both correct.

@Hackermonke 4 года назад

DogNamedNibbes actually recently released correspondence between Sir John Kerr (the GG at the time) and the palace indicate that he performed those actions prior to notifying the palace.

@batuhan_a_kocak 4 года назад

www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/governor-general Both plurals are correct. Putting the adjective after the noun is grammatically incorrect for English in the first place. It's natural and almost inevitable for English speakers to treat such an abnormality as a compound and apply inflections to the whole construction instead of its components.

@anglobostonian 4 года назад

@Legion Forester I have. I support it very strongly.

@YusufNasihi 4 года назад

"... the Australian offshoot. New Zealand." *braces for impact*

@jossanecassar8683 4 года назад

*Kiwi Keyboard Warriors immediately start typing*

@jonnyminogue 4 года назад

Who lives in Vancouver, right by the sea? SpongeJ SquareJ!

@jacklong1844 4 года назад

There’s now way Julie Payette humiliating her staff by asking them the number of planets is real

@giovannimontenegro1162 4 года назад

Jack Long also, wasn’t she an astronaut? I think she asked them, not because she didn’t know, but to tease them and humiliate them if they weren’t able to answer correctly.

@giovannimontenegro1162 4 года назад

Mehmet Akif Aydoğdu I think she asked them, not because she didn’t know the number of planets, but to humiliate them if they couldn’t answer correctly.

@clearview5281 4 года назад

Jack Long, I have heard for years some strange stories about this woman and her staff although she had a good performance last Remembrance Day.

@AlexR2648 4 года назад

How would you feel if your boss started asking you trivia questions in front of all your coworkers?

@jossanecassar8683 4 года назад

AlexR2648 the number of planets is not a trivia question, it is general knowledge question.

@EspiritualidadCiencia 4 года назад

It always makes you smile when your favorite RU-vidrs reference each other 👏🏼

@RealLifeW0rld 4 года назад

India used to have a Governor General from 1757 to 1858 under the British East India Company which was abolished by the British Government in 1858 after a rebellion and India became a British Crown Colony known as the British Raj. To distinguish between the periods of the Company's rule and the Crown's Rule, the Governor Generals after 1858 were called Viceroys but the powers and functions remained the same.

@Archive41024 4 года назад

Your hair is starting to look like Trudeau's

@theghostinthemirror8158 4 года назад

That is the WORST insult anyone could’ve possibly devised.

@theghostinthemirror8158 4 года назад

КR4 RΣΧΛNIΘ worst as in being compared to Trudeau is a humiliating blow for any person.

@maltaipads3237 4 года назад

Am I the only one who just doesn’t see it?

@theghostinthemirror8158 4 года назад

КR4 RΣΧΛNIΘ Trudeau’s invoking makes it an insult intended or not

@Deleted67209 4 года назад

@@maltaipads3237 Yes

@TryinaD 4 года назад

Lmao as a citizen of the former Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) the Governor General is a very very familiar position. Enjoyed this a lot tho!

@cel2460 4 года назад

@cleatsianne891 4 года назад

Can you make a video explaining coups and coup attempts please. Love your videos always extremely interesting and informative.

@drobamaphd3301 4 года назад

As an Australian political nerd, I can confirm that we do like to talk people's ears off about the dismissal. This vid makes it sound like Whitlam lost a vonc, but really his budget kept getting blocked in our elected upper house. But still good video, keep up the good work!

@LadyVTavora 4 года назад

Thank you for all your content!

@Trashplat 4 года назад

"my award winning video" *not award winning That NEVER fails to crack me up 😂

@MrViktorolon 4 года назад

Brazil also had a "governor general" (governador geral) to centralize the power in the colony. Well explained in your video!

@britishoverseasterritories4036 4 года назад

Maybe you could look at Governors of the British Overseas Territories next please?

@0nlyThis 4 года назад

The British "Upper" House is made up of Lords Spiritual and Lords Temporal - likewise appointed for life by the Crown.

@insertnamehere3106 4 года назад

But the "Crown" in this case is just however the Prime Minister wants

@seneca983 4 года назад

Not a fair description! A portion of them are not appointed but are entitled to the position through heredity.

@0nlyThis 4 года назад

@@seneca983 Remarkable! They come to power not by merit or royal intent but by the same "random chance" they were conceived.

@seneca983 4 года назад

@@0nlyThis Isn't it!

@natenae8635 4 года назад

0nly This People can receive peerages from working in government ( A Speaker) Or becoming an important Bishop

@mikebobrov3746 4 года назад

As a newcomer to Canada I really appreciate your videos. They are extremely entertaining and educative at the same time. And contain many interesting facts which are hard to find in textbooks and articles. Thank you, J.J.

@HikotsuM 4 года назад

Hai JJ, great video as always. I'm from and currently in Barbados, one of the countries you've mentioned. My only problem with your video is how you said Grenada like "gren-na-da" it's actually pronounced "gre-NAY-da" lol love ya J.J.!! Also! I think eventually the countries with this GG position will eventually get rid of it. Once this generation of legislative leaders are no longer with us, there will be a major shift towards the modernisation of our government systems.

@realmattTCC 4 года назад

Wished you talked about New Brunswicks 2018 election and how the Lt Governor (basically the same thing) stepped in and help stop confusion, prevented another election and gave power to Perimer Higgs who without the late Lt Governor would not have gained power

@matthewmccallion3311 Год назад

Plus the fact that a very similar thing happened in JJ's home province of British Columbia in 2017

@robdevos8405 4 года назад

I found your video to be quite neutral, knowing your opinion. A true professional! Really enjoying your video's! (God Save the Queen - Vive la Reine!😄)

@Anakin1999 4 года назад

I guess it’s basically the same as a constitutional monarchy. Even I as a socialist, approves of the continuation of monarchy here in the UK not because it is a ‘constitutional fire extinguisher’ but because it is culturally valuable to most Brits (not just for white people, my Indian mother loves the royal family). So in conclusion , a constitutional monarchy is better for social cohesion than a ceremonial presidency.

@IkeOkerekeNews 3 года назад

I think a system like Switzerland is much better for social cohesion.

@IkeOkerekeNews 3 года назад

@Charles Gnarley Switzerland is a directorial republic, in which multiple people jointly exercise the powers of an head of state and/or head of government(in Switzerland they do both). This is a form of an horizontal executive, rather than the more vertical forms of constitutional monarchy and single-head republics. This better because ultimately, more people are represented in the executive at a equal level of each other. Also, Switzerland is one of the most decentralized countries in the world.

@mcseedat 4 года назад

I found a new channel. So well researched. Unlike other channels who go to wiki and get their info. This is first class.

@Christopher_TG 4 года назад

The position sounds kind of similar to Germany's Federal President, currently Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The President serves as the head of state and carries out all the ceremonial and ambassadorial duties as the leader while all the real political power of the head of government rests with the Federal Chancellor, currently Angela Merkel. The biggest difference, of course, is that the Federal President is elected via a Federal Convention consisting of the Germany's parliament, the Bundestag, and representatives of all of Germany's state governments. Personally, I always thought it was pointless to have the head of state and head of government be two separate positions, especially in republics. There's no reason one person couldn't do both jobs, especially given how little work is actually involved in the head of state part.

@GHStudios1000 4 года назад

I’m ngl if you get enough comments to make a follow up video about how these figure heads are still viewed that’d be awesome! Or a detailed video of how people living in colonial countries view the monarchy. Big fan always excited to see a new video in my feed!

@justsomeghostwithinterneta7296 4 года назад

When Finland became an autonomus Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire, Finland also got a governor general who was appointed by the tsar. He had a lot of power because he could dissolve the parliament (diet of estates) and he also appointed the head of government (chairman of the Senate (yes Senate was the government not parliament)). In early 20th century the governor general was a guy named Bobrikoff. He acted like a dictator and tried to russophy Finland but he was killed by a Finnish nationalist. In 1917 when Finland declared independence, the post was abolished and Finland decided to become a monarchy. This did not go well because after couple months Finland was thrown into a civil war of monarchist "whites" and communist "reds". After three months of massacres and war crimes, whites won and elected a german prince (Friedrich Charles) as the king but before his coronation Germany lost WWI and Finland decided to become a republic. The senate became the state council and senators became ministers. The post of the king was replaced with "President of the republic" who was given the power of an absolute monarch (as an appeasement for monarchist) but it was an elected post. During cold war one president (Urho Kekkonen) served basically as a dictator for 25 years. After this it was decided to become more parliamentary country and in the new constitution of 2000 the post of the president became the foreign and defence policy leader of Finland with immense symbolical power.

@rtperrett 4 года назад

When it was Ceylon, it had a Governor General from 1948 to 1972, and the country replaced it with a President in 1972 and got a name change to Sri Lanka. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor-General_of_Ceylon

@controversialverdict 4 года назад

The pronunciation grə-NAH-də (as in the video) refers to the Spanish city and province of Granada. The pronunciation of the Caribbean island nation of Grenada should be grə-NAY-də.

@kieranwilliams1817 4 года назад

The worst one is Hillary Clinton video, when she said happy independence day for granada, not Grenada. She didn't read the memo

@wackydan 4 года назад

In primary school they teach us that the Governor General is the Queen's representative, then we proceed to never hear anything about him ever again lol. I'm from Belize btw

@bagodrago 3 года назад

Honestly, I thought you were Canadian at first cause it’s the exact same here

@evilproductionstudios9659 4 года назад

When I hear “governor general” i think a person who governs land and also leads an army.

@marioponce7529 4 года назад

Hey JJ, something that I wanted to mention about creating governments immediately after a no confidence vote is the case of Spain. The Spanish constitution says that if a vote of no confidence is held a replacement candidate for Prime Minister must me included, and this is what led to the ousting of Mariano Rajoy and the appointment of Pedro Sanchez in 2018 (I also thought that this could have been included in your impeachment video).

@tktru 4 года назад

*HALLO FRIENDS!*

@enaj1987 4 года назад

All Saint Lucians love and miss Dame Calliopa Pearlette Louisy or as we all still call her Dame Perlette. Come to think of it. Maybe she should vie for prime Minister.

@zidanehadeed9229 3 года назад

I miss her too.

@natenae8635 4 года назад

Well I’m from The Bahamas 🇧🇸 and most people here really see the GG as political fire extinguishers and figurehead but we keep it because of relations with other realm countries and because replacing them with a president is just seen as a move that has no good effects for our governments efficiency. I think it comprises government efficiency and solidarity if the president becomes a political like figure and opposes the prime minister. It would be better to hold a referendum to have an elected senate (Which we don’t have) than have to replace royal symbols and emblems so we can elect one more politician( Who most people don’t trust) Lastly i think it is because we are accustomed to it that we rather have it. In fact we had a form of this system since (parliament)1729 making ours older than the country of Australia and Canada. So yeah I personal favor it and most people at the moment do to but there is a silent but rising republican movement (30% at best)

@marc21091 4 года назад

Will the Commonwealth of the Bahamas (wonderful title) mark 300 years of the Islands' Parliament in 2029? The photo of it in the Wikipedia entry on the Bahamas shows a fine classical building dating from the early 1800s.

@ttun100 4 года назад

One thing to remember before leaving the Commonwealth, the Bahamas' judicial branch will also be affected. Bahamians or ex-pats wronged by the government can appeal all the way to the Privy Council in London. I believe many freedoms and rights could be lost in the Bahamas if we leaved the Commonwealth. We would only replace the GG with a President who would have the same title, Head of State, and a rubber stamp, while the government of the day during this transition could corrupt the new judiciary that would replace what we have under the Commonwealth system.

@natenae8635 4 года назад

marc21091 Yes we will mark 300 years of having a parliament it is a very exciting feat that I’m proud that we have stuck by democracy this long. Yeah about the buildings age it may have been rebuilt to where it has a style from a different era

@natenae8635 4 года назад

ttun100 Yes I agree that The Bahamas leaving the Commonwealth realm would just see The Bahamas lose many privileges to essentially just have the same system. When it come to the judicial systems however most Bahamians don’t prefer the privy council they feel it to be an obstruction to justice as some pretty serious cases have gone through there and have not ended well.General I believe The Bahamas should reform the judiciary by having our own like Canada or joining the Caribbean court of justice for our highest court.

@marc21091 4 года назад

The beautiful Parliament buildings in Nassau are seen here upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/BahamianParliamentPanorama.jpg The website page on the Parliament's history says that they were built in 1815. See here: www.bahamas.com/vendor/parliament-square The architecture and colour are perfect.

@arbez2042 4 года назад

“As Canada’s governor general, Payette’s role will be largely a symbolic one. Based out of her new home at Rideau Hall, she will earn an annual salary of just over $290,000 and her chief duty will be to ensure a functioning and stable Parliament.” This is a quote from the Global News in 2017 on the new Governor General. Canada pays almost 300,000 dollars (that’s just the salary) for a symbolic figurehead that, much like the Queen, if they exercised any of their technical power there would be backlash because they’re going against the democratically elected government. Canada had this happen with the King-Byng affair of 1926 and what the Governor General was trying to stop happened anyways despite Byng’s actions. So if their actions don’t work, they cost money and all they represent is our former colony status under the UK, why do we have the position? Also, the cherry on top is that technically our Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Forces is the queen who is represented by the Governor General in Canada. Yes, Canada has the real control of government and the military but the big technical asterisk we have on that bugs me so much multiplied by the fact we pay extra money to have that be true. Like...why? What do we actually gain from that?

@genmaicha.lapsang 4 года назад

In 2017 LtG Guchion rejected Cristy Clarks advice and fired Cristy as Premier of British Colombia when she refused to resign after losing the confidence of the house (BC legesalture) There was no protest or backlash and most people were suportive. Also, King had lost his seat in the House and failed to pass a supply motion. Eventually Lord Bynig's actions forced an election which King had subsequently won. There was also the case of the Earl of Aberdeen who refused to appoint ministers recomoneded by PM Charles Tupper after Tupper had lost the confidence of the House. This forced Tupper to resign.

@genmaicha.lapsang 4 года назад

But as too why. Our system is set up to retrict the Head of States power to use only in emergencies. Otherwise it would grant power like in Donald Trumps case.

@IkeOkerekeNews 3 года назад

@@genmaicha.lapsang I disagree.

@GG-hi5if 4 года назад

Video on the Trudeau ethics scandal please JJ! Loving the hair too. Love from the UK

@gohanssj48 4 года назад

He already did. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-SiQr5BnlR34.html

@luismijangos7844 4 года назад

I'm happy to see that JJ makes reference to Knowing Better's videos. I love both channels.

@bobganskow 4 года назад

The idea of having a Governor General sounds purely symbolic to me, an American

@roylestork 4 года назад

Imagine if half of your constitution was uncodified conventions (i.e. The Prime Minister in Australia is not meantioned once in our Constitution). In such a system you need an institution to adjudicate the conventions. That's what the Governor General does. In 1975 Whitlam couldn't pass appropriations bills. Because the Senate and the House were controlled by different parties. There was disagreement over which conventions applied given the unique constitutional problem. So the Governor General made the decision to fire the PM and call fresh elections. I could liken the position of Governor General to your Vice President. Most of the time they just stand around and look pretty, but when shit hits the fan they are the most powerful person in the country.

@The98597thMark 4 года назад

And as an Australian, the idea of directly electing a President with executive order powers sounds terrifying. ;) It's one of those things that might just depend what you're used to. The GG is mostly just a figurehead, yes, but that little bit of check and balance is also why Australia/Canada/etc aren't in a rush to change. Most Australians don't have any particular love for the GG but the 1999 referendum failed because all the republic options were put on the table and everyone was like, "these are actually no good either."

@trednax_7789 4 года назад

Could you please make a video at some point about the language division/problem in Belgium. I think exploring this you'll feel right at home considering Canada's Québec situation.

@adamlewis5765 4 года назад

Your "anime is a mistake" comment from a while ago earned, after watching for a while, my subscription. Keep rocking!

@HelloHello-vk5ob 4 года назад

What vid?

@saigesheen 4 года назад

@@HelloHello-vk5ob I think it was a QnA

@adamlewis5765 4 года назад

Yes, from the Q&A.

@adamlewis5765 4 года назад

Thanks for heart J.J! I have only one request, would you mind opening up subtitles? I'd love to write them, and imagine some other people would want to too.

@HenkdeYouTubesteen 4 года назад

@@adamlewis5765 community subtitles are going away soon if I recall my recent watched RU-vid videos correctly

@maltaipads3237 4 года назад

Happy 200k JJ! Hopefully you will do a quick 200k video tomorrow, so we have bonus content this week.

@sahelusinrojas8214 4 года назад

The Governor General in most regions have become a vestige of the colonial past (and at times, recent past). Its basically the appendix of the current parliamentary system in Canada.

@corincowley1351 4 года назад

In a sense,the 1999 referendum was partially in response to the 1975 constitutional crisis.But,it was mainly because two committed republican PMs were leader in the 80s and early 90s,Hawke and Keating.John Howard worded the referendum carefully to discourage a "yes" vote,and of course that failed.Many Labour leaders since want another referendum,such as Bill Shorten in 2019.

@visuallemonade6119 4 года назад

JJ sounds like that humble and cool history teacher in middle school

@joedembowski3035 4 года назад

Thanks for the explanation about the office of Governor General. Recently found your channel and have been enjoying your videos. If you have some spare time you might research the Australian 1975 constitutional crisis. It is a fascinating tale. Fraser masterfully manipulated Kerr, Whitlam and others. It was a high wire act of political brinkmanship. Machiavelli would have been proud.

@RandomDudeOne 4 года назад

Congratulations to JJ for reaching 200K subs, no small feat considering the wonky nature of his videos.

@larrybxl5406 4 года назад

Finally, a video I can vote thumbs up for. But you didn't mention the King Byng affair in Canada as an example of a GG who overstepped his authority.

@rzeka 4 года назад

Good to see my boy Spongebob finally making an appearance after being snubbed of his "iconic American cartoon character" award

@marc21091 4 года назад

JJ has done what no other RU-vid film-maker could do - make the subject of Governor Generals in the Commonwealth interesting.

@fichthe 4 года назад

In Ireland we have a president that is voted in by the people every seven years

@jaojao1768 4 года назад

Quite similar with Germany I think

@리주민 4 года назад

The irish president serves in a parliamentary facility+. Sending bills to referendum of the people or to supreme court for constitutionality, according to the constitution.

@studiokiselbach 4 года назад

Interesting discussion, well done The lieutenant-governors and high commissioners would be a good follow up topic to this. It would be interesting to note differences between that of the role of Governors in the USA and the role of an elected Premier in Australia/Canada, etc.

@NathanSaor1798 4 года назад

Hong Kong: Am I a joke to you? (in history section)

@cricketman1322 4 года назад

It had a Governor!

@alastairstock118 4 года назад

Chris Patten right? (Now the chancellor of Oxford Uni)

@cricketman1322 4 года назад

@@alastairstock118 yes

@NathanSaor1798 4 года назад

@@cricketman1322 lol peoples first party controls democracy in singapore. Every election they change the constituencies and makes rules that dont apply to them

@NathanSaor1798 4 года назад

@@cricketman1322 sorry just realised you profile pic is sports team lool

@JMM33RanMA 4 года назад

Britain's first AFAIK establishment of a Dominion with a Governor General was for the purpose of stamping out local government and imposing strict British Rule. The Dominion of New England [1686-1689] was terminated in 1689 when the people of Boston [no surprise, eh?] revolted and arrested Governor Andros and his staff. As this dominion included all of the colonies from New Jersey to Maine, and was unpopular everywhere, Leisler's rebellion in New York thereafter deposed the Lt. Governor. Two of the colonies were not restored, Plymouth Colony was merged with Massachusetts and New Haven Colony with Connecticut. So the institution of Royal Governor is long and not particularly well thought of in the places it was originally launched. Thanks for another great JJ Video! Cheers!

@notsoma 4 года назад

Last time I was this early, JJ still had crazy hair

@januarysson5633 4 года назад

I like this hair much better.

@castlewhite1577 4 года назад

I was so early JJ still had a mustache on

@RealLifeW0rld 4 года назад

In my opinion, the Head of State of Canada is HM Queen Elizabeth II as the Prime Minister of Canada takes an oath to serve as her Prime Minister of Canada. Also the Governor General is just a representative of the Queen, technically. Also, it's easier to remember the name of monarchs who each ruled for about 30 years than to remember the name of 6 Governor Generals in the same time period. Eg. British North America because Canada during the Victorian era, Canada's current Constitution was adopted in the Elizabethan era, etc. India used to have a Governor General from 1757 to 1858 under the Honourable East India Company which was abolished by the Government in 1858 after a rebellion and India became a British Crown Colony known as the British Raj. To distinguish between the periods of the Company's rule and the Crown's Rule, the Governor Generals after 1858 where called Viceroys but the powers and functions remained the same.

@Pelley4560 4 года назад

I love Canada's constitutional monarchy. It's not perfect but I wouldn't have it any other way

@hre2044 4 года назад

JJ can you do a video on what a select government position does and the powers it has and does not have? like Prime Minister would conduct foreign diplomacy, pass executive orders or whatever... they would have the power to ban apps like Tik tok, they have the power to declare war, they don't have the power to fire an elected official of the opposition parties... etc etc. Please!!!!

@exobytemonolith5339 4 года назад

"Well may we say god save the queen, because NOTHING will save the governor general"

@principetnomusic 4 года назад

Thanks to Warhammer I used to think that the "Governor-General" is literally a governor and a general. Like, someone who governs a territory while also being a military officer

@AKPhilly 4 года назад

Jesus anything that involves or involved the UK is generally wacky as hell for no reason.

@richienyhus 4 года назад

Fun fact: The Prime Minister of New Zealand is only prime minister of the main set of islands (Aotearoa), the other island chains (Cook islands, Niue & Tokelau) have their own leaders. This means that the Realm of New Zealand is technically ruled by a non-elected Governor-General without a civilian counterpart. It is a bit like if Australia had no Prime Minister and the only civilian leaders were the state Premiers. Although as there is no confederal government for the Realm, the Governor-General still just acts as a rubber stamper for the state and territory governments. In many ways the Realm of New Zealand is four completely different countries that are only pretending to be the same country, like four children dressing up in a trench coat and pretending to be an adult.

@AlexR2648 4 года назад

I keep saying that Prince Harry should be the next Governor General of Canada

@simonkemfors 4 года назад

14:21 In Sweden, it is not the monarch, but the speaker of the riksdag (parliament) who does this. While the state minister (prime minister) is in practice the most powerful person in government, he is officially the third most important after the speaker (who cannot be deposed until the next election) and the monarch, currently Carl XVI Gustaf ( Everyone knows that the order is the other way around and that the monarch holds no power, it's just an archaic law)

@JTLmedia 4 года назад

I like the position of GG I just think the current one should be replaced. (Talking about Canada)

@haojunli917 4 года назад

She's a witch

@JJMcCullough 4 года назад

Who would be better?

@bojomay2952 4 года назад

J.J. McCullough Chris Hadfield

@JTLmedia 4 года назад

@@JJMcCullough Ik its not very creative but sticking with the astronaut theme someone like Chris Hadfield would be good IMO.

@tktru 4 года назад

J.J. McCullough YOU!

@elishasummers9517 4 года назад

I love how he just kinda bounces all through the video. It's such a unique mannerism.

@elephant_mario 4 года назад

What the heck is a “Governor General” is the video name, oh and uh.......also 18th comment yeah.

@ravenlord4 4 года назад

I like the idea of separate heads of state and heads of government. The US has a problem when some people confuse ceremonial non-partisan events where the President presides as head of state with his normal duties as head of government. This is sometimes alleviated when the VP acts as head of state, but it would be better to just make it a separate office. Maybe the Supreme Court could periodically pick someone to fill said office in order to pacify some of the more zealous members of the "loyal" opposition when routine ceremonial matters need attending to.

@JJMcCullough 4 года назад

Just get the First Lady to do it

@robertjarman3703 4 года назад

The Chief Justice would be in a good position to do that, especially if the constitution was updated in many ways to make the hard political questions the supreme court is often forced to address rather than the president and congress making these choices because they don't like to be responsible for their outcomes, and for limiting the politicization of the supreme court (maybe have the majority and minority leaders of both houses appoint two people each, for a term of say 4 years half chosen at the same time, and the American Bar Association elects four members, the district courts elect two members, and the appeals courts elect two members and the chief justice is the chairperson, the president picks one from a list of three names this commission gives, and the Senate and House ratify them by a 2/3 vote, and they have a retirement age of 70 for ordinary judges, and eleven judges chosen for a fixed term of 12 years with 1/6th chosen every two years with the rest of their terms on an appeals court or a university professor).

@SirSX3 2 года назад

The thing about getting rid of the Governor-General is that they're just gonna be replaced with a President who has the exact same role, and is often times filled by the exact same person who was Governor-General. They would be just as useless politically, and the State would still pay them to perform useless ceremonial stuff. The only actual difference between a Governor-General and a ceremonial President of a Republic is their name.

@luqmani 4 года назад

The Gold Coast, later Ghana was not the second non-white British colony to gain independence after India and Pakistan - Sudan was. Sudan was technically a ‘Condominium’ nominally under the British and Egyptian flags - but guess who pulled all the shots? The Governor General, the last of whom was Sir Alexander Knox Helm. Sudan gained its independence on 01/01/1956 and Ghana gained its independence on March 6th 1957.

@lapiswolf2780 3 года назад

From The Bahamas,I think you summed it up pretty well. A lot of things here are just copy-pastes of British traditions, government and law,with the Governor General in place of the Queen.

@eca3101 4 года назад

I was just looking into this, awesome timing!

@yojasvi3021 4 года назад

I remember studying in history class that India had a Governor General before 1857 rebellion after which the position was made the viceroy

@dannysroadshow 4 года назад

🇺🇸 TN- very nice video. I sure learned a lot about this nice obscure little topic 👍

@nerfscape8973 4 года назад

Woohoo! A new JJ video!

@리주민 4 года назад

Personally, I like the idea of a governor- general (GG). Its like having a parliamentary republic but with less chance of coups and stuff...and we still get the Queen and family merchandising. How many teasets and t-shirts has Mugabe sold (even trump can't beat Lizzie in merchandise)? And being a reserve executive (figurehead until 💩 hits the 🌬...or supposed to be) there's a stoppage for prime ministers wanting to combine their powers with the head of state. I think a little tweak would be cool. Forgot where I read, but some dude suggested that the chief justice (who already doubles as stand-in when GG is gone) be the GG. This way, any bill or cabinet order can be proactively judicially reviewed by entire supreme court for constitutionality or legality, respectively, before assent.