The United Empire

[Blackleaf]

waving and getting flowers is not working for canada. what exactly has she done in our parliament? what actual one thing has she done for the people of canada? i dont care about england, im not english so i dont care what shes does for them or if they keep her forever. im talking about canada. i think we need to get rid of the monarchy here. its embaressing for me personally to still have this old fashioned royal family around here.

The Queen's duties (bear in mind she does all these things, and others, and she's 80 years old) -

Her Majesty carries out hundreds of official engagements every year - but it's all in a day's work for the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. In 1998, for example, the Queen had a total of 440 engagements on native soil and 55 overseas visits. A lot of visits around the country and overseas give Elizabeth the chance to meet people from various backgrounds.

The Queen also attends many meetings with the government, including government ministers in the Privy Council and the Prime Minister, and gives audiences to foreign and British ambassadors.

Elizabeth contends with truckloads of paperwork, consisting of letters from supporters of monarchy, government officials, and the top secret papers in the "red boxes" - Government and Commonwealth policy documents and other State papers - which arrive every day of the year, wherever she is. She even "does the boxes" at her holiday residence of Balmoral (working while on vacation - now that's dedicated!)

The Queen CANNOT just rule arbitrarily (we chopped off Charles I's head to make sure of that). She conducts weekly meetings with the Prime Minister - usually on Tuesdays - to see what is happening in the government and the general political goings on. She, on almost all matters, acts on the advice of the government of the day. Her Majesty is only a constitutional monarch, meaning she does NOT have absolute rule over her country. She must take Parliament's and other members of government's views into consideration.

http://www.mandysroyalty.org/Queen.html

 

[AndyF]

I just feel it's time for all Canadians to be part of the United Empire and not just a Loyalist of the past.

I feel differently.

It's time we mature with courage. We call ourselves a (oxymoronic) Parliamentary/Democracy, the phrase itself an antinomy. Parliament is synonymous to non-democratic Monarchy, and in a democracy people govern themselves. In a monarchy, (and this is hard for some to swallow), every citizen is a possession of the Monarch, and that includes everything he claims to own, even his children. So the reality is the Canadian is a subject of and to the Queen of England. To see this play out in reality you would need to be exposed to the Justice system, or high governmental system, or in part to the military,etc. Our day to day life brings us more exposure to the American life style and less to our reality, and the system that has benefited them, has flowed over to benefit us.

This is driven home when we are confronted with the Queen's reps. For instance when one is tried, the individual may mix up democratic privledges of the US with Canadian and wish to defend himself, and of course this is refused most of the times. The Queen has her right as prosecution to also be the defence counsel, something unthink of in a true democracy.

There has been a move in the past decades to reap the advantages and to emulate real democracies. Canadians wanted their own constitution which in reality resides with the Queen, as it is always her will that will be done in a Monarchist system. But in her benevolent majesty and realizing the subjects needs, she allowed this pacifier to satisfy them, first ensuring the wording that gives it true power is prefixed in every clause, so it is peppered with the phrase "not withstanding".

I feel the ideal would be a hybrid of the American system. The American system to some is a failed system, and I agree to it being deficient, but the problem really lies in the commitment of the American people, in that they fail to give full trust in their own constitution, which in substance is pretty sound, but not brought to true reality by fears or predjudice in some form. In a constitution given real substance, Presidents will get impeached, races will not be predjudiced,etc,etc. It is up to the American people to take on their responsibilty and give their constitution real life, a real heart.

We Canadians can chuck the system and clear the table and redesign it if we have the courage to do it. In doing so we save a nation, as this is the real movement that Quebec wishes to see subconsciously. Announce this, and the Bloc disappears instantly and there would be such a cry of solidarity coming out of that province Canada has not heard before, a nation "by the people for the people", not "for the people by the Queen". ccasion7:

AndyF

 

[Finder]

How about just declaring ourselves a Republic.

 

[cortex]

Thats a no brainer.

The problem with the british monarchy is two-fold

number one ---its british

number two---its a monarchy

Apart from the technical reasons described above--ie the furthering of democratic growth here--we would also symbolically cut ourseelves free from the sickening shame of being historically linked with one of the most brutal, savage, hypocritical ,war mongering, racist and destructive empires in human history.

 

[darkbeaver]

Thats a no brainer.

The problem with the british monarchy is two-fold

number one ---its british

number two---its a monarchy

Apart from the technical reasons described above--ie the furthering of democratic growth here--we would also symbolically cut ourseelves free from the sickening shame of being historically linked with one of the most brutal, savage, hypocritical ,war mongering, racist and destructive empires in human history.

I wish I had your command of the Canadian language comrade Cortex.

 

[cortex]

I wish I had your command of the Canadian language comrade Cortex.

Your first wish has already been granted..and then some