Canadians Split on Monarchy, Dump It I Say

[wulfie68]

OK this is admittedly following the tangent but...

Canada has a distinct identity from USA, and I think, two factors are largely responsible for that. Monarchy and Quebec. In a pinch, we could afford to lose one or the other, but no way we are going to lose both.

We really cannot tell about Quebec, when it will separate. All the more reason to keep monarchy alive.

I'll agree that those two things are responsible for a large part of the remaining cultural differences between Canada and the US, but after living down in the US for a year now, I find there to be little real difference but then I come from what many non-Albertans refer to as the "most American province in Canada"...

- our political systems are different but we all hate to pay taxes and most think our politicos are full of crap and wasteful
- there are concerns about the health care system: in Canada its more how can we continue to sustain it and improve services, while in the US its how to make it affordable enough for everyone while keeping the quality high... which are almost two sides of the same coin
- people want whats best for themselves, their families and their friends but don't always want to know about the downsides of some of the decisions they make, individually or as a society

Not so much difference there at all. I really think there are as many, if not more divides in Canada going east to west then there are north and south.

 

[AnnaG]

Canada has a distinct identity from USA, and I think, two factors are largely responsible for that. Monarchy and Quebec. In a pinch, we could afford to lose one or the other, but no way we are going to lose both.

We really cannot tell about Quebec, when it will separate. All the more reason to keep monarchy alive.

Don't forget the fact that we aren't American. lol I think that's the single biggest factor.
As for hanging onto the monarchy as a reason to make us distinct from the USA goes, feeble. There are loads of republics around that no-one mistakes as being American.

Not so much difference there at all. I really think there are as many, if not more divides in Canada going east to west then there are north and south.

Ditto.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

And why would you have heard? Do you expect Her Majesty to send you off a quick e-mail to let you know that she read a newspaper?

Your visceral hatred for not only the monarchy, but the monarch and the Royal Family, is saddening.

The "work" of a monarch is pretty easy these days, read a newspaper, appeal to the masses a bit. She doesn't have to say, someone int he royal family could. Just something to show she's slightly interested in the colonials.

I don't hate the monarchy, but it's obvious it's best days are long behind them and thus a redundancy. Like a useless contraption your grandfather had that no one uses anymore because it's too bulky, expensive and requires specialized knowledge. Maybe like the first cell phone that needed a knapsack. Or like an old comic book that only has value to a small number of people.

I will remain faithful always to the monarchy, for if it wasn't for them, we would all be americans, and have nothing to call our own, no canadian independence, no canada at all.

How many Canadians see being faithful to the monarchy as important to keeping the country together? How is this faith expressed? What practices?

I see keeping Quebec in the country as far more important. A huge gouge dividing the country is a big problem, not to mention the far greater electoral importance of Ontario that would skew our politics.

 

[Mowich]

Nah, I respectfully disagree with you, DTM. I think the Queen is cool. I vote to keep her and the rest of her kin. In the greater scheme of things, we spend little on the Royals. Britain supports the Royal Family, not us. I think having a monarch gives us a certain cachet.:smile:

Many thousands of Canadians, like myself, either watched the Royal Tour on TV or got out to see her in one of the many events she attended. I gotta give the old girl credit, she really gets around for her age.

I fondly remember the year that the Queen and Prince Philip came to Regina. My dad took reel after reel of her visit and managed to catch her waving back to the six of us kids, proudly lined up along the curb right in front where she could see us. She and the Prince were in an open vehicle and we could see what she was wearing and get a good look at her handsome husband. It is a great memory and I have been a fan of hers ever since.

She is no spring chicken and Britain is debating all the time about the redundancy of the monarchy. I would hate to see Canada jump on that band wagon. She has always had a special love for our country, lets let her take that to her grave.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

Nah, I respectfully disagree with you, DTM. I think the Queen is cool. I vote to keep her and the rest of her kin. In the greater scheme of things, we spend little on the Royals. Britain supports the Royal Family, not us. I think having a monarch gives us a certain cachet.:smile:

Many thousands of Canadians, like myself, either watched the Royal Tour on TV or got out to see her in one of the many events she attended. I gotta give the old girl credit, she really gets around for her age.

I fondly remember the year that the Queen and Prince Philip came to Regina. My dad took reel after reel of her visit and managed to catch her waving back to the six of us kids, proudly lined up along the curb right in front where she could see us. She and the Prince were in an open vehicle and we could see what she was wearing and get a good look at her handsome husband. It is a great memory and I have been a fan of hers ever since.

She is no spring chicken and Britain is debating all the time about the redundancy of the monarchy. I would hate to see Canada jump on that band wagon. She has always had a special love for our country, lets let her take that to her grave.

I'm not a totaly killjoy. People like the queen, fine with me. I think we should keep the monarchy until she kicks off, and then the new republic of Canada should be created.

 

[Mowich]

I'm not a totaly killjoy. People like the queen, fine with me. I think we should keep the monarchy until she kicks off, and then the new republic of Canada should be created.

Cool. :smile:

 

[SirJosephPorter]

I'm not a totaly killjoy. People like the queen, fine with me. I think we should keep the monarchy until she kicks off, and then the new republic of Canada should be created.

That will depend upon who the next monarch is and how popular he is. If there is a highly unpopular king, the demand to get rid of the monarchy may well pick up momentum.

At least one thing is fortunate for monarchy, Diana did not have any daughters. If her eldest child was a girl, there would have been a holy row about the succession, since British throne goes to the male child, not to the female child. That may well have spelled the end of monarchy, perhaps even in Britain. To leave out the older girl and to give the monarchy to a younger male would have been an outrage that would not be tolerated today.

I was living in Britain at that time, I remember monarchists breathed a big sigh of relief when Diana gave birth Prince William, the heir to the throne.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

That will depend upon who the next monarch is and how popular he is. If there is a highly unpopular king, the demand to get rid of the monarchy may well pick up momentum.

At least one thing is fortunate for monarchy, Diana did not have any daughters. If her eldest child was a girl, there would have been a holy row about the succession, since British throne goes to the male child, not to the female child. That may well have spelled the end of monarchy, perhaps even in Britain. To leave out the older girl and to give the monarchy to a younger male would have been an outrage that would not be tolerated today.

I was living in Britain at that time, I remember monarchists breathed a big sigh of relief when Diana gave birth Prince William, the heir to the throne.

For many people in Britain, the monarchy is a business and not just anyone can sit on the throne. It is a throne of sexism and religious discrimination because you have to be an Anglican to be king or queen. Another reason to dump it.

 

[Colpy]

For many people in Britain, the monarchy is a business and not just anyone can sit on the throne. It is a throne of sexism and religious discrimination because you have to be an Anglican to be king or queen. Another reason to dump it.

Excuse me?

Your second complaint is the same as protesting the fact that the Pope has to be3 Roman Catholic........

Don't be ridiculous.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

Excuse me?

Your second complaint is the same as protesting the fact that the Pope has to be3 Roman Catholic........

Don't be ridiculous.

Look, we have neither a pope nor queen/king in Canada, so we do not have these problems of religion and gender that relate to both jobs. That's a fact. the monarch of England is defender of the faith, used to be RCC, now its Cof E. What dumb problems to have in this day and age. :canada:

 

[SirJosephPorter]

For many people in Britain, the monarchy is a business and not just anyone can sit on the throne. It is a throne of sexism and religious discrimination because you have to be an Anglican to be king or queen. Another reason to dump it.

I don’t think most Britons have a problem with only an Anglican being able to become the monarch. But if the eldest child had been a girl, it would have split the country right down the middle. Half would have wanted to stick by the tradition and give the monarchy to the younger brother, while the other half would have wanted to give it to the oldest child, the girl.

Britain was saved the gut wrenching argument by the fact that the first born was a boy, and not a girl.

 

[talloola]

.



How many Canadians see being faithful to the monarchy as important to keeping the country together? How is this faith expressed? What practices?

I see keeping Quebec in the country as far more important. A huge gouge dividing the country is a big problem, not to mention the far greater electoral importance of Ontario that would skew our politics.

The english fought for and kept this country from being 'part' of the u.s., so for that reason I will not
turn my back.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

I don’t think most Britons have a problem with only an Anglican being able to become the monarch. But if the eldest child had been a girl, it would have split the country right down the middle. Half would have wanted to stick by the tradition and give the monarchy to the younger brother, while the other half would have wanted to give it to the oldest child, the girl.

Britain was saved the gut wrenching argument by the fact that the first born was a boy, and not a girl.

Imagine, having a gut wrenching debate in a modern state as to whether the useless head of state ought to be a woman or a man. Britan got lucky here.

Secularists obviously have a problem in Britain if laws state that the monarch must be of a particular religion. They might logically suggest, "Let's get a real president and avoid these silly false religious issues once and for all."

 

[AnnaG]

I'm not a totaly killjoy. People like the queen, fine with me. I think we should keep the monarchy until she kicks off, and then the new republic of Canada should be created.

If it happens at all, I'd prefer to wait til it is at least more financially feasible rather than something as fickle as when the queen dies. What if Harpy doubles the debt and triples the deficit just before she dies? You want to waste 10s of millions changing from one form of gov't that works to another that won't work smoothly until after the bugs are worked out?

 

[SirJosephPorter]

Imagine, having a gut wrenching debate in a modern state as to whether the useless head of state ought to be a woman or a man. Britan got lucky here.

Secularists obviously have a problem in Britain if laws state that the monarch must be of a particular religion. They might logically suggest, "Let's get a real president and avoid these silly false religious issues once and for all."

In Britain, tradition counts for a lot. Now, if Britian wanted to chart the monarchy today, no way would they build it along those lines (King must belong to Church of England, the oldest male child becomes the monarch etc.). But since that is the tradition, nobody thinks it worthwhile to change it.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

If it happens at all, I'd prefer to wait til it is at least more financially feasible rather than something as fickle as when the queen dies. What if Harpy doubles the debt and triples the deficit just before she dies? You want to waste 10s of millions changing from one form of gov't that works to another that won't work smoothly until after the bugs are worked out?

Dumping the monarchy is not necessariy expensive. The GG does no work. What is the problem? Waiting for the queen to die is simply convenient, then people will think about the monarchy a bit because it just goes on and on right now with the postcard queen who wears nice hats.

Harper wants to cut the deficit by chopping health and education, while piling money into the police and security apparatus. Such a dinosaur.

 

[SirJosephPorter]

Dumping the monarchy is not necessariy expensive. The GG does no work. What is the problem? Waiting for the queen to die is simply convenient, then people will think about the monarchy a bit because it just goes on and on right now with the postcard queen who wears nice hats.

Harper wants to cut the deficit by chopping health and education, while piling money into the police and security apparatus. Such a dinosaur.

Dumping the monarchy will involve amending the constitution, it has to be ratified by federal government and all the provinces. Also, alternative mechanism will have to be put in place, very few people think that we can get rid of GG and not have anything in its place.

All this will cost money.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

Dumping the monarchy will involve amending the constitution, it has to be ratified by federal government and all the provinces. Also, alternative mechanism will have to be put in place, very few people think that we can get rid of GG and not have anything in its place.

All this will cost money.

Right now it is costing money to for the Commonwealth Games and keeping a monarch and GG that yield precious few results these days.

Amending the constitution will take time but we can pull out of the CW Games much quicker. A gold in the CW Games, how useless. We have debt and deficits, we have to prioritize where we can.

 

[eh1eh]

Time to debate about dumping the monarchy. Let's elect a GG.

Monarchy leaves Canadians deeply split - The Globe and Mail

Tuesday, May 25, 2010 5:31 PM
Monarchy leaves Canadians deeply split

Gloria Galloway

Canadians are divided about whether they want a monarch as head of state, a new poll suggests.

A survey conducted by Angus Reid in advance of next month’s visit by the Queen suggests that 33 per cent of Canadians are happy to have a king or queen while 36 per cent would like an elected head of state. One in five respondents said they don’t care one way or the other.

Still, half of the Canadians surveyed said they support reopening Canada’s constitutional debate to discuss the possibility of replacing the Queen with someone who is elected. One third were opposed.

The poll also suggests that Canadians have three clear favourites in the Royal Family. They are Prince William, who was held in high regard by 70 per cent of respondents the Queen, who was admired by 69 per cent, and Prince Harry, who was given a thumbs up by 63 per cent despite his occasional brushes with controversy.

Prince Philip was given a favourable rating by 48 per cent of those surveyed, Prince Charles was approved by 40 per cent, Kate Middleton by 31 per cent and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, by 24 per cent. Two-in-five Canadians said they hold an unfavourable opinion of both Charles and Camilla.

Sarah Ferguson, who was recently caught in a tabloid sting as she tried to sell access to her ex-husband, Prince Andrew, was not listed in the survey.
When asked who they would prefer as monarch after the Queen, almost two-in-five respondents say they would prefer to have William as king. Prince Charles was picked by just 22 per cent.

The online survey of 1,005 randomly selected Angus Reid Forum panelists that was conducted May 17 to May 18 is expected to accurately reflect the views of all Canadians within 3.1 percentage points.

Move to 'Merica. They don't have no stinkin monarchy. 'B'Bye.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

Move to 'Merica. They don't have no stinkin monarchy. 'B'Bye.

Such an unfelicitious statement. However, I like the monarchy being called stinkin'.:wav:

A good time to bring up the idea we are already are in America, since Christopher Columbus discovered America. CC did not discover the USA y'know. America, they say, is not a place, but a state of mind. Which could explain why weather maps on TV don't show a clear border between Canada and the USA. The two countries, with all the states and provinces have the same black lines. Yet Mexico, being bandit country, is never divided into states.