“It is so very good to be home.” With those words, Her Majesty began her nine-day royal tour of Canada in Halifax, starting with a Mi’kmaq cultural event. Her Excellency met Her Majesty for the arrival ceremonies before she was bundled onto a plane bound for China, but I did quite enjoy seeing the two of them together, chatting while on stage. And talk about the competition of fabulous hats!
Now, as per usual whenever we get a royal visit, there’s a poll that comes out that shows that, oh, we’re just so tired of the monarchy and x number of Canadians think it’s a “colonial relic” and the likes. Except that those x number of Canadians don’t have a clue what they’re talking about, and probably couldn’t name all the parts of our system of government, let alone explain just how the Crown operates as an intricate part of that system. Or explain just how they plan to extricate that role in order to invest it in some mythical “made in Canada” head of state. Or how that would actually work in real life, rather than some abstract model they’ve not actually thought through, likely because they haven’t a clue as to how the bloody system works in the first place. Because seriously – it’s actually complicated business. I’d suggest taking a look at the article “Who will wear the crown in Canada” in the current issue of Maclean’s (it’s unfortunately not online yet), as it’s a good primer on just how impossible it will be to replace the monarchy in Canada with something that is deemed less “colonial.”
Oh, and as for our next Governor General – expect someone to be a big booster for the monarchy, say sources close to the centre.
(Incidentally, it was pointed out to me by a fabulous monarchist MP to look at all of the strong democracies in Europe – and they’re all countries that still have a monarchy. It says something about the system of government that we’ve adopted).
And if you’re at all curious, here’s a little more about the newly renovated Government House in Halifax, where Her Majesty will be staying.
What’s that? Possible problems with passing the “Karla Homolka Act” to limit pardons without much scrutiny? Likely consequences of creating a moral panic? You don’t say!
It looks like the government is going to try to force a vote on C-9, the budget implementation omnibus bill, by July 8th, so that it can finish passage and get Royal Assent shortly thereafter. Because you know, we couldn’t have the Senate actually scrutinizing the legislation that the Commons neglected to.
And congratulations, Canada – your population is now more than 34 million!
Up today – Her Majesty will be doing a fleet review as part of both the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Navy and International Fleet Week in Halifax.
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