Roundup: Neglecting our Canadian Sovereign

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It was Victoria Day yesterday, which is a uniquely Canadian holiday that both celebrates the “mother” of Confederation, Queen Victoria, as well as acts as the official birthday of the Canadian monarch (no matter when their natural person’s birthday is). You might find it strange to find that in his message for Victoria Day, the Governor General didn’t reference the Queen of Canada at all, but rather the forthcoming Sapphire Jubilee and her being the first British monarch to achieve it.

Why does this matter? Because the Queen of Canada is a separate legal entity from the Queen of the United Kingdom, and because the holiday celebrated the Queen of Canada’s official birthday. Now, there were quibbles with my tweet pointing out the fact that the GG made the omission, but I maintain that the bigger point stands.

https://twitter.com/pmlagasse/status/866668446980984833

And Lagassé is correct in that – the emphasis is curious, and part of a troubling trend from the Canadian government, which has only exacerbated since the Liberals came to power.

While the Conservatives did a lot to bring some of the focus back to the Canadian monarchy after a couple of decades of neglect and the conscious effort to “Canadianize” a number of institutions by dropping their Royal monikers (like the Royal Canadian Navy being changed into “Maritime Command” for example, until the Conservatives restored its original name), they too did their own damage to the institution, primarily when they made the utterly boneheaded decision to pass legislation that when it came to changing the line of succession to include female heirs and those who are Catholics, they merely assented to British legislation rather than amending it in Canada. In other words, they turned what was control over our own Crown and Sovereign, and undid all of the progress we’ve made since the Statute of Westminster in 1931, when the Canadian Crown became separate from the UK Crown, and turned us essentially into Tuvalu when it comes to our relationship with the Crown, and thus far, the Courts have sided with the government when it comes to the challenges of this legislation, because the appreciation of the distinction and the role of the Canadian Crown remains largely ignorant to the vast majority of Canadian society, the judiciary included. (Incidentally, that was another bill that the Commons passed at all stages with no debate, and while it was debated in the Senate rather than veto it and tell the government that the proper way to change the law of succession is by way of constitutional amendment).

Meanwhile, the current government hasn’t named a new Canadian Secretary to the Queen since the last one retired, and has been letting the republican bureaucrats in the Department of Canadian Heritage run roughshod over the relationship with the Royal Family. And because the vast majority of Canadians don’t know any better, we’re slowly killing our distinct Crown and turning ourselves back into a mere colony. So yeah, it does matter that the GG couldn’t get this very basic thing right, and we should be upset about it.

https://twitter.com/pmlagasse/status/866633514518753280

Good reads:

  • This week, the prime minister is off to both NATO and G7 summits, during with managing the Trumpocalypse seems to be top of mind.
  • Chrystia Freeland is planning a major foreign policy speech trumpeting tolerance and diversity, but says it’s not about shouting at the Trumpocalypse.
  • Canada and ten other countries are looking at moving ahead with some kind of TPP-sans-US trade agreement.
  • The RCMP and China’s Ministry of Public Safety have come to an intelligence sharing agreement aimed at stopping the flow of fentanyl and other opioids.
  • The board charged with regulating immigration consultants is apparently in a state of internal disarray.
  • The losing bidder for the fixed-wing search-and-rescue planes had their case tossed by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal. Now onto the Federal Court!
  • A CRA employee has been fired after he was found snooping in taxpayer files.
  • Rona Ambrose said that she planned to resign all along after she threw her hat in the ring for interim leader, but still wants to encourage more women to run.
  • Pierre Lemieux insists that the social conservative arm of the party isn’t going anywhere.
  • Stephanie Carvin notes that Canada is unprepared to counter violent extremism.

Odds and ends:

The Royal Canadian Mint miscalculated with their silver collectable coins with characters like Superman and Bugs Bunny, and it’s costing them money.

At a commencement speech at Brandeis University near Boston, SCC Justice Rosalie Abella spoke about her worries around narcissistic populism.

One thought on “Roundup: Neglecting our Canadian Sovereign”

  1. Well yes it is true that most Canadians and foreigners visiting Canada think of us as a Colony of Britain like the Bahamas just bigger. Boisvert in LaPresse pointed out that his kids thought the concept of Monarchy laughable in Canada. I understand that, it is forever downplayed at all levels. Peter Mansbridge on the news calls her the Queen of Britain. So the Monarchy is a disappearing in the sunset because few care. As for the GG is his well past his retirement date and same for some LG but the Trudeau government does not seem to care one bit. It is all about re-election and PM selfie. As for Ms Joly in Heritage, she is not terribly well educated and being from Quebec, one can understand her laissez faire attitude.

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