The same day that Queen Elizabeth II’s body was carried through the streets of London to her final resting place in Westminster Abbey, Ottawa had its own commemoration activities mirroring those in the old country. A 96-gun salute for every year of her life, an invitation-only remembrance service at Christ Church Cathedral.
I brought my camera to work that morning, wolfed down my lunch at 11:30am, and ran to city hall in the drizzle at noon sharp to capture images of the parade. I ran up Laurier Avenue and chased the parade down Wellington Street to follow it from City Hall to Christ Church Cathedral. The 96-gun salute was barely audible in the background, easily drowned out by the pompous music of the marching band.
While thousands lined the street to watch soldiers march past, I thought about everyone who wasn’t there. An Angus Reid poll April 2022 revealed that only about a quarter of Canadians support the current constitutional monarchy system, but there isn’t momentum for change. Funnily enough, those Quebec are most opposed to the monarchy, at 71% against, even though Quebec became a part of Canada more than two decades before the French Revolution and the province would not have existed if the French monarch didn’t commission Jacques Cartier to sail there.
Slightly over half of all Canadians said the monarchy is no longer relevant to the country in the 21st century and should be removed. However, the monarchy has held no real power since the turn of the 20th century when Queen Victoria died, she was the last monarch to exercise any sort of political power. If Canadians really thought that the monarchy had no use to them why hadn’t they tried to remove the Queen from power over the last four decades since the Constitution Act was signed in 1982?
My guess is a combination of three reasons: there’s general political apathy, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it; there’s an unspoken recognition of the intangible benefits to having a monarchy that people won’t admit to; there’s no consensus on what would replace it, and the unloved system is better than triggering constitutional uncertainty. But even if some Canadians banded together to fight the system, they’re unlikely to succeed within the next few decades. Quebec tried to wrestle independence from the Crown twice by force in the 19th century and twice at the polls in the 20th century only to fail all four times.
It’s reassuring to have our Prime Minister bow to the monarch, put in their place and reminded that they answer to a higher power. It’s comforting to know that the “imperial family” is at our assistance shall we require it at home and abroad. It’s good to know that Canadians have a head of state that shares Canadian virtues of respect for fellow countrymen, hard work for the betterment of society, compassion to those less fortunate, equality and justice under the law, and selfless sacrifice in the face of existential danger.
Some oppose the cost of the monarchy, but the Canadian Crown still nominally costs 20 times less than bilingualism. If we assumed that the Governor General would be turned into a figurehead president of sorts, like in Germany, and that our honours system and historic buildings would still be maintained the monarchy would cost less than fifty cents per Canadian.
Maybe a better way to look at republicanism is to look to our southern neighbour. While we line up to show our respects to our late head of state, our southern friends line up to taste a new fried chicken sandwich. While parliament is capable of forming coalition governments, congress is more divided than ever. While Canadians have the self-discipline to stay at home during the pandemic, Americans irresponsibly spread disease to their most vulnerable. Since the US gained independence from the Crown Americans have seen higher rates of violence, obesity, and infant mortality. None of these probably have anything to do with the monarchy, but I don’t doubt that our good British sensibilities, helped by the fact that we still have a crown, had something to do with becoming a safer, happier, and cleaner place to live.
