Should Canada keep the Monarchy?

[Brandon716]

I voted for keeping it, its a historic tradition and they have no political power over Canada.

 

[Roots_Energize]

I care a hell of alot more about French Canada's place within Canada than English heritage. The British monarchy must go...what an insult to one of our founding people. I was shocked that the Queen of England was on Canada's money when I emigrated to Canada from England.

No wonder there is endless debate in Quebec about whether they should stay. This is NOT an English country. Pay equal hommage to all 3 of the founding people if it is so important. Noting the heritage of the English conquerors of 2 centuries ago is ridiculous. How long do the English have to rub it in the faces of First Nations people and the French that they were conquered?

Canada should have plotted her own way in 1867. I'm neither First Nations or French and consider this an outrage.

I agree, why celebrate smug arragant rich people? they are a smalll elite, the real backbone of a country is the people, the masses,
ask yourself what has come out of poorer areas? Jazz,blues, hiphop, funk n soul, rock n roll, ect. these musical forms came out of areas where people didnt have alot of expensive material things,.
History is written by the victors, so are we to just kiss the ass of rich elite conquorers , and just ignore the history of the working class whites , women, first nations people, Africans, and any other group?
The america's history didnt all of a sudden start when the British came here!
thats sad if you have to find a sense of identy through a small group of rich people that could'nt careless about your life.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

The British monarchy must go...what an insult to one of our founding people.

It's not insulting at all, and I'm speaking as a French Canadian (go back far enough and I'm a Norman and go back even further and maybe I'm a Viking ). Back when Canada was part of France, it was ruled by an absolute monarchy. The monarchy isn't just about tradition, it's a vital part of our identity. The issue would be cloudy if France still had a monarchy, but we couldn't support two monarchies, that'd be silly.

 

[Ummagumma66]

Its funny, people claim keeping the monarchy would be an affront to our founding fathers, but this country was founded by British loyalists. They had every intention of staying close to the crown of England. This is Canada, not the United States, I for one, believe the Monarchy is a good thing for Canada, I think we should keep it, why change something when its not broken?

 

[AnarchoSocialist]

British Loyalist were not founders. There were colonialists and imperialists. They did not come to an uninhabited land, the came to one allready home to a large population of people and then proceeded to slaughter as many of them as they could. They did not work alongside French Canadians as partners. They offered them small tokens, hoping they would stay loyal and inside their little piece of land. Don't forget about the Acadians who were deported from the country. And of course don't forget about the silencing of the french language as the country spread west and the slow eliminination of it from all but Quebec and some parts of New Brunswick and Ontario.

They may have drawn up 'their' vision and plans for the country. But not all peoples agreed to it, and many still don't. Keeping the monarchy is no less offensive to many people in Canada as the confederate flag is to blacks in America. Perhaps a few small gestures are appropriate as it is part of the heritage of the country, but it should be eliminated save those few exceptions.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

the only things we should preserve from the past are materialistic things like nature, architecture, data, etc.

attitudes, ideologies, institutions, etc, always change and should always change for the better.

what does the monarchy do for us? what are the pros and cons?

 

[EnviroTO]

There really are no pros or cons. It costs us nothing to keep it really. The system is probably cheaper than having a head of state with real power. There is no benefit other than keeping a link to the past. Getting rid of official monarchy in Canada would not change the level of respect that the monarchy receives or doesn't receive in Canada.

 

[lordmandeep]

it sort of makes us different from the states and in my opinion its our history and values that separate us as imo artistically and culturally were identical imo.

Also i am a little fan of history and stuff even though the British Empire (one of the greatest empire ever) were tyrants in most of thier colonies.

 

[dowlingm]

Replacing the monarchy would not really cost all that much. Ireland managed separation over the period between 1922 and 1948 with some boilerplate "as you were" legalese and has only in the last decade got around to getting rid of some really dated British legislation going back centuries.

The First Nations may have an issue with getting rid of HM as their treaties were not with "Canada" - they were with the Crown and the two are not regarded by some FNs as the same thing at all I understand.

As for cost - at the moment we pay for a GG. An elected head of state would mean the cost of an election + the cost of a GG. The President would have to work hard to keep the office apolitical, which has led to a couple of crises in Ireland. Might be able to dispense with Lt.Gs if the provinces were okay with it.

 

[Hydrogen]

I don't know. Doing away with the position of GG might be a thing of concern for TV hacks beyond their prime, and for the idle rich who are looking to look good in a job defined by a ceremony or two.

 

[Zephyr]

Perhaps a Queen is necessary for Britain, it is not necessary for Canada. And if Canadians must seek identity through this connection, it is at best a reflective identity not a true one.

 

[adma]

So, should Canada get its own Queen, then?

On birthday grounds, certainly.

 

[Dan416]

I think the issue of the monarchy is really a non-issue in Canada. It doesn't really affect anyone at all. People who get "offended" by it simply have too much time on their hands. I'm not of British decent, I'm Polish, but I like the monarchy and see no reason to get rid of something just for the sake of getting rid of something. Will getting rid of the monarchy make Canada a more progresive place? For the answer to that question, just look south.

off-topic, but I noted this earlier in the thread (i have never read this thread before today) but how has Canada's implementation of the metric system been "piss poor"? As far as I know, everyone uses it. Except maybe in describing oneself on the internet, where, for one reason or another, people always describe themselves as "x feet" and "y pounds".

 

[JasonParis]

off-topic, but I noted this earlier in the thread (i have never read this thread before today) but how has Canada's implementation of the metric system been "piss poor"? As far as I know, everyone uses it. Except maybe in describing oneself on the internet, where, for one reason or another, people always describe themselves as "x feet" and "y pounds".

Not just on the internet, pretty much everywhere. Whether it be one's height, the square footage of their home or even to some degree referring to distance by miles. I really wish we'd finish properly implementing the metric system.

I've actually noticed in some catalogues and websites that the French-Canadian market is given dimensions in metres, yet the English-Canadian market is given the same dimensions in feet!

 

[Dan416]

Height, weight, square footage of homes I'll give you. Miles I won't, since I've never heard anyone use miles in my entire life, which I have lived entirely in Canada (Mississauga, 25 years). Maybe some old people use miles. My dad is 50+ and he doesn't. He may KNOW them, he doesn't use them. He also knows Fahrenheit, no one else in my immediate family does. We may see Fahrenheit on maps in small numbers, but no young person knows it.