‘Primarily ceremonial’

Dear Editor:

It costs around $60 million per year to fund the governor general and lieutenant governors’ role in Canada. 

Surely there are significant savings to be had for these primarily ceremonial positions. The rare  constitutional issues that arise can be handled by the chief justice of the Supreme Court who assumed the role temporarily when Julie Payette resigned. 

It is a significant ceremonial role but surely it could function on a lesser budget. Perhaps with some meaningful reduction in this area (and some control over the prime minister’s vacation and travel costs) there might be enough left over to repair or replace the national embarrassment known as 24 Sussex Drive without running up our seemingly unlimited national credit card debt.

Craig Sullivan,
Fergus