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The Governor General of Canada, in French: Gouverneur général du Canada (masculine), or Gouverneure générale du Canada (feminine) is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen, on the advice of the Canadian Prime Minister, appoints the Governor General to carry out her constitutional and ceremonial duties. The commission serves "at Her Majesties Pleasure" for and unfixed time, though normally is held for 5 years. Since 1959, the tradition is to rotate between anglophone and francophone incumbents.
The office is the oldest continuous institution in Canada, with 16th and 17th century colonial governors of New France and British North America. The present position emerged with the Canadian Confederation and the British North America Act in 1867. The office still represented the British Kingdom government until passage in 1931 of the Statute of Westminster, at which time the Governor General became the direct, personal representative of the uniquely Canadian soverign, or the monarch in his Canadian council.
The Governor General of Canada was granted permission to use the title of "Commander in Chief of the Canadian Militia" in the name of the sovereign and the actual Commander-in-Chief. An indented lines, were Administrators of the Government, who were acting governors appointed as the result of the death or prolonged absence of the sitting viceroy, or for any other reason. The exact reason will be listed at the end of the line.