Last week's ramp ceremony at CFB Trenton for the return of the six Canadians lost in the Canadian Forces Cyclone helicopter crash off the coast of Greece was notable for many things, including the fact that it was a solemn ceremony conducted with all of the participants wearing black facemasks as a somewhat performative nod to the current global pandemic that preoccupies us. But what should have been notable but was almost entirely unremarked upon was the fact that the Governor General, the person who is the Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Forces, was entirely sidelined in the discourse around the ceremonies, and all of the focus on the prime minister, whose attendance at the event is dubious at best from a protocol perspective. The fact that the news channel commentators completely ignored Julie Payette's presence across three separate networks, and in the dispatches from the Canadian Press pool reporter on the ground should be nothing short of shocking.
As the representative the Sovereign who is in essence the living embodiment of the country and Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, Payette should have been the main representative of the nation, and at the forefront of the state's presence at the ceremony. Whether she was rendered anonymous by the use of her Royal Canadian Air Force uniform along with the face mask, or because her office didn't put out a press release signalling her presence there, the fact that she was completely overlooked is a signal that something is very wrong in how Canadians view the way in we perceive how our country operates, and is indicative of the steady march of the presidentialization of this country in the popular consciousness.
To be clear, this is not solely on Trudeau this kind of sentiment that started to become very apparent during the early years of Stephen Harper's government when he would improperly receive military salutes on Parliament Hill for Canada Day, and during Remembrance Day ceremonies when he would improperly stand on the podium next to the Governor General during the parade that followed the ceremony. This changed after Remembrance Day in 2009, when Prince Charles attended the commemoration ceremony, and for the first time, Harper properly stood to the side of the podium as he was supposed to, and from then on, became a born-again monarchist, aggressively restoring royal designations where previous governments (mostly Liberal) had removed them but in doing it as aggressively as he did, without the buy-in of other parties, he both started to try and politicize the monarchy, and allowed it to be cast in a light of venerating our colonial past rather than our constitutional reality.
Harper also started the Prime Minister's Awards for Teaching Excellence, which is hugely problematic because in our system, the Queen is the font of honours, and by keeping them with the Crown, they are kept apolitical. When an award comes from the Prime Minister rather than the Crown, it too becomes politicized and many teachers were unsure of accepting nominations or awards because they felt like it looked like they were tacit supporters of that prime minister, and this has continued under Trudeau without skipping a beat (and if anyone says that it makes more sense for Trudeau because he used to be a teacher, you'd be missing the point).
When it comes to ramp ceremonies, these are events that are supposed to be for the military family, which is why the Minister of Defence may show up in a less prominent capacity, but by keeping the Governor General front and centre as the Commander-in-Chief, it keeps it within the military family. This started to change in 2002, when we had our first casualties in the burgeoning war in Afghanistan, where then-prime minister Jean Chrétien took it upon himself to show up at ramp ceremonies with opposition leaders if possible. This was in and of itself a highly political move, designed to show the cross-party support for the mission, and ergo, to reduce any kind of blame or blowback on his government. This carried on under Paul Martin's government, but ended under Harper, when he stopped going to ramp ceremonies as they grew more frequent, and likewise stopped half-masting the flag on the Peace Tower with every casualty, restoring the established practice of major occasions only. Where Harper then over-reached was in banning the media from ramp ceremonies as well, because it led to accusations that he was trying to hide the true cost of the war from Canadians. Nevertheless, the GG was front and centre at these ceremonies, as she (and later he) should have been.
One of the hallmarks of our system of government is that it separates the head of government from the head of state functions and roles as a way of keeping them in check. The prime minister wields power that is borrowed from the Sovereign, so there remains a tension in what they can and cannot do. When it comes to the military, because the GG is the Commander-in-Chief, it keeps them from closely identifying with the government of the day, much like the permanent civil service does in swearing to the Queen. This prevents a prime minister from draping themselves in military glory, which intruding on ramp ceremonies has the danger of doing.
Where Trudeau bears some particular fault in this kind of creeping presidentialization is in how he perceives his role to be, which was exemplified in then-Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson's Trudeau Report on his vacation with the Aga Khan.
He said his role in any meeting is to further develop a relationship between the individual and Canada. Mr. Trudeau views his involvement with the Aga Khan and his Canadian institutions as ceremonial in nature, similar to interactions he would have with any global leader or distinguished global citizen.
Why this characterization of a ceremonial involvement matters is because it certainly looks like Trudeau is trying to appropriate the head of state roles, which is a problem for the functioning of our system of government. I get that Trudeau was trying to play empathizer-in-chief at this ramp ceremony, and playing to the sentiments of Canadians who wanted to see him there, but it was not his place especially because his presence completely sidelined Payette. Trudeau should have instead made remarks in the House of Commons (which was sitting that day), and led a moment of silence there, as is appropriate for the head of government. He should not be usurping a role that is not his.
Photo Credit: Canada.com
