334 THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNMENT [PART IT 
plete means of keeping a Governor informed of the important 
acts of his Ministry. A Governor should always be present 
at such meetings if it is at all possible. 
In the case of Newfoundland also the same practice is 
followed, and in all these instances no matter is expected 
to be brought before the Governor, of other than formal 
moment, with which he has not been made aware before- 
hand, in order that he may have an opportunity of consider- 
ing whether or not the question is one in which his consent 
should be withheld. The withholding of consent is, of course, 
governed by the principle stated on March 13, 191 1, in the 
House of Commons that except on legal or on Imperial grounds 
the refusal of assent means that the Governor is prepared to 
obtain other ministers to replace those which he has atthe time, 
if they insist, as may be the case, on resigning their offices. 
In the case of the Dominion of Canada the presence in 
Council! of the Governor-General is now practically unknown, 
except on formal occasions, such as the Proclamation of the 
Royal Accession or other cases of high ceremonial, but the 
same control is assured by the practice of transacting all the 
important business of the Government in Council, and of 
requiring that each Order in Council should be submitted 
for the Governor-General’s sanction before it can take effect. 
The chief occasion on which sanction to such Orders in 
Council has been refused is, of course, that with regard to 
the appointments proposed to be made by Sir Charles Tupper 
after his defeat at the general election of 1896, before he 
actually left office. But the practice secures to the Governor- 
General an adequate means both of knowing what is being 
transacted and of asserting his control over it ; thus, for 
example, it would be impossible for the Dominion Govern- 
ment to dismiss an official without the Governor-General’s 
' So also in the provinces, which likewise adopt the practice of the 
Lieutenant-Governor signing the Orders in Council. See Canada Sess. 
Pap., 1877, No. 13, p. 8. The Governor once sat with ministers even in 
Cabinet ; see Walrond, Letters and Journals of Lord Elgin, p. 116. 
* Canada Sess, Pap., 1896, Sess. 2, No. 7. In 1908 the appointments 
proposed by the Provincial Government of New Brunswick were likcwise 
refused ; above pp. 220, 329, note 3.