Canadian precedent for Royal Assent by Chief Judge when GG not incapacitated.

As far as I know, in Canada federal legislation is passed by the
Commons, then the Senate but it does not become law until it receives
"Royal Assent".  The Royal Assent is a routine sign-off by the
Governor-General.

I know that the "GG" spent a weekend in hospital getting a pacemaker
installed on July 9 and was released home on July 11.  She is not
"incapacitated", like in a coma from a stroke.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2005/07/14/1131879-cp.html



Q)
Since 1982 Constitution,
http://collections.ic.gc.ca/canspeak/english/pet/sp2.htm
has the Chief Justice of the (Canadian) Supreme Court ever before
given "royal assent" to an Act of Parliament when the GG is clearly
*not* incapacitated?

Hello,

It is actually quite common for the governor general to delegate
authority to grant royal descent to the Supreme Court. The GG need not
be "incapacitated," only "unavailable."

Source: Jessica J. Richardson, "Modernisation of Royal Assent in
Canada," Canadian Parliamentary Review, Summer 2004: 32.

Ordinarily, the chief justice allows one of the other judges on the
court to have the honor of signing assent. However, it's not unheardof
for a chief justice to do it himself or herself. Antonio Lamer granted
assent to bills on June 20, 1996. The governor general was certainly
not incapacitated at the time, as he gave speeches on the 13th and
26th of that month.

Sources: Parliament of Canada, Hansard, 20 June 1996, p. 4195,
http://www.parl.gc.ca/francais/hansard/066_96-06-20/066RA1E.html.

Governor General of Canada, "Archived Speeches,"
http://www.gg.ca/governor_general/leblanc/archive_e.asp

I hope this answer meets your needs. If not, please request clarification.

Search strategy:
Canada hansard
://www.google.ca/search?q=Canada+hansard&sourceid=mozilla-search&start=0&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official

thanks mwalcoff, especially for imparting knowledge from the Hansard.
I failed to consider the Hansard.