CHAP. 1V] THE GOVERNOR AS HEAD 233 
the justice of the censure. They proved that by their votes 
in the Legislature ; but had they not voted at all, or even 
if their opinion had been averse to that arrived at by Parlia- 
ment, it seems clear that they are bound to respect that 
decision and to act upon it as they have done by advising the 
removal. It has been argued that while by the 58th clause 
of the Act, Lieutenant-Governors are to be appointed by the 
Governor-General in Council by instrument under the Great 
Seal, the 59th clause provides that he shall hold office during 
the pleasure of the Governor-General, and that therefore 
while the appointment must be under the advice of a 
Responsible Ministry, the removal may be made by his 
Excellency without reference to his Council, and the 12th 
clause of the Act is quoted in support of that view. That 
clause provides as to what powers, authorities, and functions 
are to be vested in the Governor-General with the advice of 
his Privy Council, and what in the Governor-General himself. 
The argument is not, however, tenable. Long before Con- 
federation the principle of what is known as Responsible 
Government had been conceded to the Colonies now united 
in the Dominion. This principle established that in all 
matters of internal concern the representative of the Crown 
should act according to the advice of Ministers enjoying the 
confidence of Parliament. The concession was not with- 
drawn by the Confederation Act. On the contrary, it begins 
by a preamble stating the desire of the Provinces to be united 
into one Dominion with a constitution similar in principle to 
that of the United Kingdom ; and this has been carried out 
in" theory and practice in the Dominion of Canada from the 
commencement of its existence. The principle forms part 
of our constitution now as it did in those of the several 
Provinces before the Union. It is a part of the lex non 
scripta of the constitution, and any express enactment of the 
principle was wisely avoided. 
_ A comparison between the elasticity of the British constitu- 
tion and its gradual development under an unwritten law 
with the rigidity of a written constitution as existing in the 
United States has shown the superiority of the former system. 
Whether, therefore, in any case power is given to the Gover- 
nor-General to act individually or with the aid of his Council 
the act as one within the scope of the Canadian Constitution 
must be on the advice of a Responsible Minister. The 
distinction drawn in the Statute between an act of the 
Governor and an act of the Governor in Council is a technical 
one, and arose from the fact that in Canada for a long period