# Robot Queen **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 15, 2019, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robot-queen/837099 "2019-07-15T01:12:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robot-queen/837099/21 "2019-07-18T22:52:26Z")
If you’re looking for a serious answer, how about this one? “Robot” is not a magic word for a replacement human. A robot is a machine and nothing but a machine. Your question is equivalent to asking whether a refrigerator, a lawnmower, or a vibrator could be Queen of Canada. It’s not clear that such a question has any meaning whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robot-queen/837099/22 "2019-07-18T23:59:21Z")
> [@Ynnad](#): > > Since, by convention, the Queen of Canada only acts (usually by and through her Governor General) on the advice of her ministers, could the Queen be replaced by a robot? As far as I know, the monarch of Canada has not exercised his or her reserve powers in almost one hundred years. In 2008, the Governor-General of Canada, the Queen’s representative, prorogued the Canadian Parliament. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robot-queen/837099/23 "2019-07-19T03:07:35Z")
> [@blue\_infinity](#): > > I have a magic rock. It keeps tigers away. Does it work? You don’t see any tigers around, do you? > > Would you like to buy it? Imagine you have a small town with a speed limit of 30 mph. This town has a police officer who parks his car in the middle of town every day where it’s easily visible. And nobody driving through down ever breaks the speed limit. You could argue that the police officer isn’t doing anything because he never arrests anyone and he isn’t even necessary because nobody ever speeds anyway. So the town could replace him with plastic police officer who just sits there and also does nothing. Do you really think people would drive the same way through town? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robot-queen/837099/24 "2019-07-19T03:32:43Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > In 2008, the Governor-General of Canada, the Queen’s representative, prorogued the Canadian Parliament. On the advice of the Prime Minister, just like other prorogations. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robot-queen/837099/25 "2019-07-19T05:05:18Z")
Two of HM’s Lieutenant Governors had to use their reserve powers recently, after indecisive provincial elections. In 2017, BC voters returned a provincial house balancéd on a knife’s edge. The Premier advised the Lt Gov to call another election. The Lt Gov declined to do so, ,rejecting her first minister’s advice. Last year in New Brunswick, there was a similar minority situation. The Premier who called the election came in second in terms of seats. The leader of the party who came first sought an interview with the Lt Gov and tried to get her to sack the Premier and install him. The Lt Gov refused, saying she would let the Premier have some time to try to reach an agreement with the two smaller parties. However, she also said that there was a time limit: after a certain point, she would insist the Premier advise her to summon the House and prove he had a majority. Implicit in that statement was that if the Premier didn’t make deadline, she might feel compelled to summon the House on her own and require the Premier to show he had a majority. ---
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robot-queen/837099/26 "2019-07-19T14:48:19Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > If you’re looking for a serious answer, how about this one? > > “Robot” is not a magic word for a replacement human. A robot is a machine and nothing but a machine. Your question is equivalent to asking whether a refrigerator, a lawnmower, or a vibrator could be Queen of Canada. It’s not clear that such a question has any meaning whatsoever. The word robot has several definitions. I used the word only in the sense of a device that automatically performs complicated tasks. ---
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robot-queen/837099/27 "2019-07-19T15:00:26Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > I doubt if a robot could do the job, or at least not at the present technological level. We have a living system, not a rigid algorithm. > > There are too many intangibles that would arise out of the opinions of the privy council and the party leaders. > > Quantification of the value of each intangible with respect to other intangibles would be a bitch (have a look at work Atif Kubursi [Atif Kubursi – The Conversation](https://theconversation.com/profiles/atif-kubursi-392522) ). This is the most interesting (to me) response to my original question that I have seen so far. Can anyone give an example, either historical or theoretical, of where the Queen has a choice of taking more than one action and what factors the Queen would evaluate to determine which action is taken? ---
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robot-queen/837099/28 "2019-07-19T17:41:30Z")
> [@Ynnad](#): > > This is the most interesting (to me) response to my original question that I have seen so far. Can anyone give an example, either historical or theoretical, of where the Queen has a choice of taking more than one action and what factors the Queen would evaluate to determine which action is taken? Also, of course, examples where the Queen has a choice of taking one or more actions or taking no action at all. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robot-queen/837099/29 "2019-07-19T17:58:20Z")
The Queen almost always has a choice between taking an action and not taking an action. The fact that she almost always chooses not to take any action doesn’t change the fact that she does have the choice. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robot-queen/837099/30 "2019-07-19T18:26:35Z")
Ynnad, to get an overview, read through with Forsey (linked previously) and also [https://www.canadiancrown.com/uploads/3/8/4/1/3841927/the\_royal\_prerogative.pdf](https://www.canadiancrown.com/uploads/3/8/4/1/3841927/the_royal_prerogative.pdf) and then dig into [Reserve power - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_power#Canada) and [https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/corporate/reports-publications/military-law/crown-prerogative/introduction.html](https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/corporate/reports-publications/military-law/crown-prerogative/introduction.html) You can find further examples from other [commonwealth realms](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_realm), such as [Australia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_power#Australia). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robot-queen/837099/31 "2019-07-19T19:00:07Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Two of HM’s Lieutenant Governors had to use their reserve powers recently, after indecisive provincial elections. > > In 2017, BC voters returned a provincial house balancéd on a knife’s edge… I thought the provincial house was only “balancéd,” if at all, in Quebec. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robot-queen/837099/32 "2019-07-19T19:09:11Z")
And of course read up on the two examples provided by Northern Piper. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2019, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robot-queen/837099/33 "2019-07-21T15:19:51Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I thought the provincial house was only “balancéd,” if at all, in Quebec. My iPhone is erratic in its spell-checker, sometimes substituting French for English, but how “balancéd” got there I have no idea, as it’s misspelt in both of Canada’s official languages. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2019, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robot-queen/837099/34 "2019-07-21T23:01:15Z")
équilibré Balanced by bracketing and by how it rolls off the tongue. A great word. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robot-queen/837099/35 "2019-07-22T00:58:59Z")
The Gov Gen may have her work cut out for her in October. The polls are all over the place, but it’s looking like a hung Parliament. Will Justin be able to hold on? Will Andrew push him aside in the race to Rideau? Where will Jugmeet, Elizabeth and Mario end up in all this? > **[The latest 338Canada projection: Majority or bust for Andrew Scheer? -...](https://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/the-latest-338canada-projection-majority-or-bust-for-andrew-scheer/amp/)** > > Philippe J. Fournier: A regional breakdown of the results across the country this week point to tight race and a minority government scenario ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robot-queen/837099/36 "2019-07-22T03:28:22Z")
A minority Liberal government might lead to toward proportional representation. A good thing IMHO. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robot-queen/837099.md?page=1)