have already received either of those honours). The incumbent will generally serve for at least five years, though this is only a developed convention, and the governor general acts at Majesty's pleasure (or the Royal Pleasure). The prime minister may therefore recommend to the that the viceroy remain in service for a longer period of time, sometimes upwards of more than seven years. A governor general may also resign, and two have died in office. In such a circumstance, or if the governor general leaves the country for longer than one month, the chief justice of Canada (or, if that position is vacant or unavailable, the senior puisne justice of the Supreme Court) serves as the administrator of the Government of Canada and exercises all powers of the governor general. Selection In a speech on the subject of Confederation, made in 1866 to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, John A. Macdonald said of the planned governor: "We place no restriction on Her Majesty's prerogative in the selection of her representative ... The sovereign has unrestricted freedom of choice ... We leave that to Her Majesty in all confidence." However, between 1867 and 1931, governors general were appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British Cabinet. Thereafter, in accordance with the Statute of Westminster 1931, the appointment was made by the sovereign with the direction of their Canadian ministers only. Until 1952, all governors general were also either peers or sons of peers, and were born beyond Canada's borders. These viceroys spent a relatively limited time in Canada, but their travel schedules were so extensive that they could "learn more about Canada in five years than many Canadians in a lifetime". Still, though all Canadian nationals were as equally British subjects as their British counterparts prior to the implementation of the Canadian Citizenship Act in 1947, the idea of Canadian-born persons being appointed governor general was raised as early as 1919, when, at the Paris Peace Conference, Sir Robert Borden, prime minister of Canada, consulted with Louis Botha, prime minister of South Africa, and the two agreed that the viceregal appointees should be long-term residents of their respective dominions. Calls for just such an individual to be made viceroy came again in the late 1930s, but it was not until Vincent Massey's appointment by King George VI in 1952 that the position was filled by a