The Great Seal of Canada "signifies the power and authority of the Crown flowing from the sovereign to parliamentary government" and is applied to state documents such as royal proclamations and letters patent commissioning cabinet ministers, senators, judges, and other senior government officials. The "lending" of royal authority to the Cabinet is illustrated by the great seal being entrusted by the governor general, the official keeper of the seal, to the Minister of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development, who is "ex officio" the Registrar General of Canada. Upon a change of government, the seal is temporarily returned to the governor general and then "lent" to the next incoming registrar general.