Memo to Trudeau prods Liberals to look at reviving vice-regal appointments board

OTTAWA — Senior officials advising Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have pressed him gently to rethink how the Liberals have been making vice-regal appointments.

Under the Conservatives, there had been an advisory committee to offer up names for the governor general and provincial lieutenant-governors.

The list wasn’t binding, but former prime minister Stephen Harper used this process to pick David Johnston to represent the Queen in 2010.

A memo provided to Trudeau shortly after the Liberals won re-election last fall notes the advisory committee hasn’t met since 2015.