Constitutional Monarchy and Canada

Given that there seems to be increased debate as of late about whether Canada should resolve itself into a republic and remove itself from a constitutional monarchy, I wouldn't mind hearing what forum members think about this issue.

I'm personally in support of maintaining Canada as a constitutional monarchy. At present, I think that the monarchy serves as an emblem of national unity and identity. For example, symbolically, the monarch appears on currency and symbolizes its legality; publically owned corporations are referred to as "Crown Land" and "Crown Corporations". The monarch unites us and gives us something in common with other commonwealth countries around the world. In addition, in the face of Americanization, the commonwealth provides a way to be globally different.

My main objections to the monarchy in Canada is that the governor general is not elected, the senate is not elected, and also the monarchy is affiliated with religion (such as the queen being protector of religion, constitution being under god). However, all of these can be changed. We can still maintain a constitutional monarchy but have an elected governor general as head of state, we can still reform the senate to be elected, and there is no reason why god cannot be replaced in the constitution. So with that being said, I do not see why Canada would need to become an independent republic when really we're already there, all we would need is to change the head of state from a GG to perhaps a president. Meanwhile if we formally became a republic, we would close our ties with the commonwealth and no longer be a part of a global network of countries and lose our unique identity.

So I maintain that Canada should remain a part of the commonwealth and under a constitutional monarchy. It is part of our heritage and unites us with others around the world. It provides an alternative to Americanization and helps Canada to maintain a seperate identity.

Not being a poloitico or even amateur political science student, I am all for staying in the commonwealth. We have a fairly well oiled
machine for a democratic elected government.

Although I might support a republic that included break away states bordering the Pacific, British COlumbia and Yukon.
I cannot recall what this was going to be called but there was a movement waay back when.

I would support the commonwealth but remove the power of the Governor General to effect government directly, giving her or him the role of a guide ONLY.

Originally Posted by Penguin

As long as the monarchy of Canada is vested in the same person as the monarchy of Britain, no Canadian lawmaker could ever detach our monarchy from its religious affiliation (and its religious prohibitions. Fun fact: it's still illegal for a Catholic to be crowned monarch of Great Britain, and by extension monarch of Canada as well).

It was my understanding that the only reason they don't bother with the whole catholic/protestant head of monarch issue is because it hasn't been a problem since there isn't any Catholics in the royal family that are set to rule. Are you also saying that it is illegal for a catholic to be GG as well?

Technically I think if Canadians wanted to remove god from the monarch, they could. In the modern commonwealth, the queen is not queen of Britain first and then Canada, she is actually now equally Queen of Canada just as much as all other realms. Therefore, although this would probably never happen, there may be room for special circumstance to modernize and remove 'defender of the faith'. The monarchy has hugely adapted to Canadian needs over the past century, I'm willing to bet that if the majority of parliament wanted god out of the Canadian monarchy, it would happen.

Originally Posted by choSenfroZen

Although I might support a republic that included break away states bordering the Pacific, British COlumbia and Yukon.
I cannot recall what this was going to be called but there was a movement waay back when.

Are you a separatist of the western Canadian sort?

The Monarchy is an outdated and unneeded joke. Canada has become of nation of many diverse cultures and heritages with no connection what so ever to the Monarchy and even those of English descent (myself included) have little to no patriotic sentiment towards Great Britain or the Monarchy. I'm a firm believer that the entire system of government in Canada, from the way we vote to what we vote for, needs to be discarded and modernized and the Monarchy should head out as well. Furthermore I often here about the Commonwealth being a protection against Americanization, but I personally feel that a political and economic union (perhaps similar to the EU if not stronger) between the US and Canada is inevitable in my lifetime, so why bother stalling it?

Originally Posted by Kiefer

The Monarchy is an outdated and unneeded joke. Canada has become of nation of many diverse cultures and heritages with no connection what so ever to the Monarchy and even those of English descent (myself included) have little to no patriotic sentiment towards Great Britain or the Monarchy.

You may not but I do, especially after traveling to England and seeing our huge embassy right outside the National Gallery beside Trafalgar Square. Outside of Buckingham Palace is a large tribute to Canada, containing statues and monuments with all of our provinces names carved in large text into each. I was very shocked and never thought I would ever capture a picture of the Canadian flag flying tall with Big Ben so close in the background.

The commonwealth actually mirrors Canadian diversity. With a 51 state international body, there is a large diversity within the Commonwealth. From India, Pakistan to, Malyasia, Mozambique, and Nambia. From Nigeria to New Zealand, many countries all around the globe are part of the commonwealth, thus marking a very diverse set of countries, races, and cultures. I feel proud to be able to share something in common with all of these.

To be a part of the commonwealth, a country must ensure it will carry the values which the commonwealth hold. These values are true democracy, rule of law, justice, and equality among all races, genders, and creeds. If a country breaks these, they are kicked out. That doesn't sound so bad to me.

Originally Posted by Kiefer

I'm a firm believer that the entire system of government in Canada, from the way we vote to what we vote for, needs to be discarded and modernized and the Monarchy should head out as well.

The way we organize our vote has absolutely nothing to do with the monarchy and commonwealth (unless you rig it and if that was the case, if it was a continuing problem we would be kicked out of the commonwealth). It would be foolish to 'discard' the 'entire system of government' when all that is needed is modification to the way we vote, perhaps senate reform, but not an entirely new system of government. If we can move to a proportional voting system rather than single member plurality, that may begin to resolve the gap between popular vote and seat distribution. Having elected members of the senate may help senators to become more accountable. However, this again has nothing to do with the monarchy. It is the government of the day that picks the senate, and the people still decide on how we vote, and who is elected.

Originally Posted by Kiefer

Furthermore I often here about the Commonwealth being a protection against Americanization, but I personally feel that a political and economic union (perhaps similar to the EU if not stronger) between the US and Canada is inevitable in my lifetime, so why bother stalling it?

Funny enough, I was talking to my friend at Schulich Business School about this yesterday and we agreed with the text she was reading insofar that we may never see a North American union in our lifetimes based on the fact that the systems of governance and entire financial sectors are completely different. The European Union works because their systems of government are similar and also their countries are smaller. In comparison, Canada vs the US have two completely different value systems and markets. Our values are liberal, theirs are conservative, our market is regulated, theirs is not. We cannot have a common currency or a union because there would be an overall clash of values.

I always have been attatched to our government style. When Trudeau wrote the constitution we in effect severed our
political ties with the monarchy. Although the GG is in effect our head of state, the powers are symbol;ic, it would be
interesting if she didn't sign one of Harper's bills.

A republic is by deffinition not efficient to act as brakes on either state or feds. I see no point in more devolving to the
provinces/territories. We have a real shallow pool to get our politicians from. 30,000 people to draw from, our premier is
a convicted (expunged record) heroin dealer, who loves to follow Harpers lead. Please no republic that would give this
arse more powers.

Why do you think she keeps signing Harper's request to prorogue?

He requested the parliament be prorogued until after the olympics. He's under fire as some of the bills being pushed into the house by private members are specifically designed to hold Harper accountable for Canada's role in sending prisoners of war into the hands of foreign police forces that they knew were torturing them.

Additionally, the parliament was on the verge of passing a series of bills to increase punishment on both sex offenders and people who attack police officers.

What pisses me off is that of all of these bills, included was a bill to remove the ability of banks to charge ATM fees for withdrawing money via ATM. I wanted that to pass.
In fact it was waiting for royal ascent when the governor general signed Harper's request to prorogue.