Roundup: The edgy reporting on the state of the monarchy

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It wasn’t unexpected, but Canadian media has decided to go full-on concern trolling for the republican cause while the world mourns the passing of the Queen. There is no end to the polls about Canadians’ feelings about the “British” monarchy (oblivious to the fact that we are under the Canadian monarchy, which is separate and distinct), or stories about Indigenous people and their relationship with the Crown, but they seem to entirely lack the nuances of the treaty relationship and the failure of the Queen’s Canadian government to properly uphold those treaties, and instead putting forward a narrative that the Crown was directly responsible for the cultural genocide of residential schools. There are stories aplenty of some of the Realms who are considering abandoning the monarchy in favour of republicanism, as Barbados just did, but some can’t seem to distinguish between the Commonwealth (a voluntary organisation mostly made up of former British colonial holdings, but has since expanded to include countries with no such colonial ties) and the Realms (the fifteen countries for whom the Queen served as monarch), and it makes the questions very awkward if they really don’t know what they’re asking (looking at you, Power & Politics). And then there are the stories, largely American, which can’t get the basics right about the funding of the monarchy, or that taxpayer dollars are paying for the Queen’s funeral (as though American taxpayer dollars don’t pay for their presidents’ state funerals, or for their presidential libraries/personality shines).

It’s predictable, and it’s utterly provincial. I’m sure plenty of them think they’re being edgy, or getting to the real hard news of the day, but it’s mostly coming off as ill-informed, devoid of proper context, and in some cases, without much in the way of constitutional reality. I wish I could say we should expect better, but sadly, it’s about exactly what we can expect form our media outlets.

Ukraine Dispatch, Day 203:

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ventured out of Kyiv yesterday, visiting the strategic city of Izyum now that it has been liberated from the Russians. On the way back to Kyiv, however, his motorcade was involved a collision, though his injuries were said to be minor. One of the towns recently freed was Hrakove, which was largely levelled by Russians, and its original population of 1000 is now about 30. Meanwhile, nearly 5000 Ukrainian recruits have completed basic training in the UK from allied trainers, including Canadians. Ukraine is also seeking a more formalised treaty with Western partners to ensure its protection from future Russian invasion.

Good reads:

  • Here are the plans for the memorial for the Queen in Ottawa on Monday.
  • An audit suggests that Veterans Affairs has lost control of the programme to reimburse veterans for medical marijuana, and that it has become too permissive.
  • Here is an explainer of the enhanced GST credit as part of the affordability measures announced earlier in the week.
  • The government’s delayed statutory review of legalised cannabis is reportedly set to begin, nearly a year overdue.
  • The Privacy Commissioner told senators that the broadcasting bill could require some personal information to verify is streamers count as Canadian.
  • Because Poilievre didn’t rely on social conservatives to play “kingmaker” this leadership, there are questions if he will be as tolerant of them as others.
  • Having left the Conservative caucus, Alain Rayes was flooded with demands to resign after an automated text message went out to Conservatives in the riding.
  • There are concerns about the rise in intimidation and threats of violence against political candidates in the Quebec election, particularly from anti-vaxxers.
  • Andrew Coyne points out that because the vast majority of Conservative memberships were taking out for Poilievre, the party is now his to control.
  • Paul Wells considers the opening moves of the Trudeau/Poilievre dance.

Odds and ends:

For Xtra, I look into activists’ calls for Canada to pay their “fair share” of $1.2 billion at the coming Global Fund replenishment conference.

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