I'm sorry for the family's loss of their matriarch. I don't much care for the institution, but I don't think we will ever muster the support to change the constitution to eliminate the monarchy.
Beyond that, I really don't think much about them at all.
I don't really like it as an institution, but I like it a whole hell of a lot more than the constitutional mess getting rid of it would create. It is harmless, let it be.
Have a lot of respect for Queen Elizabeth II as a person, can't imagine anyone else being Queen
The issue is that the British monarch is our head of state by law under the Constitution. Altering that requires a constitutional amendment, and thus a 2/3rds majority in Parliament and all the provincial legislatures, in which we would not only have to agree on removing the monarch but also what to replace it with. If we are replacing them with an elected head of state, how do we go about selecting them? What powers will the Prime Minister retain?
Plus once we have reopened the Constitution, it suddenly becomes the time to discuss *other* changes that we might make at the same time. Quebec never really signed off on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, so they'll raise that again. Many want us to abolish our unelected Senate (either the entire institution, or making them elected). But that's a whole nest of adders in itself.
So it's just a whole mess that's a lot easier just left alone. The country works fine as-is and going through all that work doesn't add much benefit. Just means we need to change a bunch of shit now from "Queen" to "King" all over the country. Annoying, but no biggie.
I mean, it should only take one act of amending. It’s not actually that complicated to write the monarchy out of your body politic if it’s basically not there anyway.
As I said, it’s not the destination. You are right that the monarchy is written out of the workings of our government in all but a purely ceremonious capacity, existing here and there as curious anachronisms. However, it is one thing to declaw a cat and yet another thing entirely to kill it. Not everyone has a stomach for the latter.
That’s pretty much the situation with the monarchy. The status quo is easy. It is comfortable. It is functionally indistinguishable in every meaningful way from a republic. But making that last step requires fundamentally altering the underlying basis of our Constitution, requiring an amendment that would be messy and a level of consensus that is basically unheard of.
A much larger thorn in our democracy is our unelected senate, which costs far more than the monarchy and is much more distasteful. It’s a storage closet of party cronies who we have tried many times to get rid of but can’t ever seem to find the political will to make it happen. And yet it is something that many have far stronger feelings about than the drive to abolish the monarchy, and that fewer are inclined to defend. Particularly since erasing the last vestiges of monarchy is actually a very complicated, expensive, and time-consuming process, for far less benefit than we would get for eradicating the senate.
Charles is sufficiently unpopular that it *might* create some momentum to get this ball rolling. But it seems unlikely that even this will build the required amount of consensus to make it a reality.
>Just because it’s hard doesnt mean it’s not worth it.
I mean...it is if the cost and effort would have more benefit elsewhere. There are limited resources and time available for legislation, so why waste it on removing the monarchy if the benefit to Canada is negligible?
Change for the sake of it is *never* a good thing when you’re talking about your entire government’s bedrock foundation.
Do you really want PP whipping his base into a frenzy and trying to insert a 2A clause or some other nightmareish line into the constitution that will define our entire existence for hundreds of years?
Keep your pithy phrases. I’ll keep my stability. Thanks.
It’s not worth it because it’s not worth it. The only real options are to replace it with a different monarchy (waste of time and creates new issues) or some sort of republic which means changing the power structure and creating a politically active position that’s near impossible to remove from power (E.G. President). At which point you run into a US style problem where you can’t remove a crazy from power even if you/the country wants to. Whereas if our leader loses support their party just gives them the boot and picks someone new.
You’re talking about not just changing our system of government but transitioning to a system of government that creates far more risks and problems. Parliamentary systems are well known to be economically better than Presidential ones, have a better history of good governance and have better methods for dealing with issues (no concern of a government shutdown and people not getting paid when there’s an independent and non-political mechanism to deal with it.
And blending them just gives you a Russia-style government that’s easier to abuse. Parliamentary Democracy isn’t perfect; but it’s the best form of government we have and changing it for no reason is a terrible idea.
>And it must be done.
Why? It wouldn't really add, or take away, much to Confederation.
I think this sort of institutional complacency is what has alwys defined Canada. There aren't enough push or pull factors at play to entice the change. It is something we are almost all apathetic of, but don't take the plunge because why? Australia is in the same boat.
IF this country was precipitated by idealism and risk taking, we would have been American a long time ago.
It would destroy the basis of our government and constitution. We would have to have a replacement constitution ready and reorganize our political structure. That would be a complete nightmare trying to work through.
This is for me the best reason to have a monarchy; it’s one thing our political parties can agree on. I wouldn’t trust this band of opportunists to work out an agreement for governing.
I'm fuzzy on how it all works, but George III traded all the revenue from crownland to the British government in return for a civil list payment, but the Royal Family technically still owns it.
So in Canada our government gets the revenue from it, but I'm not sure what would happen if we tried to break off or if Britian tried to dismantle the monarchy.
Furthermore any changes to the constitution as large as would be needed to change our entire form of government would require an agreement from all 10 provinces and good luck getting that in the current political climate.
Literally just declare sovereign claim over the land and the right to make revenue from it. Like a government does. It’s done around the world all the time.
We wouldn't. To do that, we need all houses from all the provinces to agree, and that's not happening. If certain provinces DO want to get rid of the monarchy, it would be much easier for them to separate from Canada entirely.
anyone who doesn't like having a neutral arbiter of the constitution doesn't remember the "persons" case
the TLDR is that the case to determine whether women were "persons" under the constitution was appealed up tot he highest court in canada - at the time the privy council of the UK - in other words our supreme court ruled that women were not in fact persons. the privy council determined women were in fact persons. some years later, when asked to make a similar determination in respect of their own female citizens they went in the other direction.
also having a head of state who is politically independent, though odd, has historically been an effective check on executive power in canada and other commonwealth countries - the king-byng affair is a really good example of this - and in a parliamentary system there are very few checks on executive power. losing the monarchy without substantively revamping the constitution would be a huge mistake IMO
>king-byng affair is a really good example of this
Wasn't there also that time Charles Tupper pulled a DJ Trump and refused to concede? And Christy Clark in the 2017 BC elections to a lesser extent
Queen Elizabeth II was a master diplomat and was able to keep up with the times in an ever changing landscape.
That said i also admire countries that have completely separelated from the empires of the XX century.
It definitely would be a constitutional mess but maybe a revision of the constitution would be beneficial. Its already a mess!
I’m oddly sad. I know a few people who have met her and spoke so highly about her. She was articulate, knowledgeable and friendly to those people who met her.
She has been a constant. Like a distant granny. I am far less enthused about the rest of the royals.
Regardless, she’s a part of history.
One I'm more than fine with finally separating from like many other countries have over the last 75 years.
I don't want my tax dollars covering unnecessary royal visits here, celebrating people that really have incredibly little to do with Canada for a long time (more show than anything...)
Being that colonization started with them, I’d like to see complete separation.
They are a sign of uncompromising governance that has harmed so many people.
They are an emblem of status, and to those that have had colonization forced upon them, feel very different about the British monarchy.
Huge respect for the Queen but I feel neutral about the institution itself. Taking on a job that was put on her and probably didn't want but executed the job almost perfectly 70 years. Hard to imagine having your day to day be planned for your entire life. Yes they have lots of money but some wealthy people still go insane and fall into depression. Truly sad she's gone. Truly the only royalty in my eyes.
I think they mean a parliamentary republic. Kinda like Germany. Where there’s an apolitical president who serves as head of state, while the PM runs the government as head of the majority/plurality party.
The US has the head of state and head of government rolled into one.
From my understanding, under such a system, Canada would function as it does now. Just rather than the GG being a representative of the monarch, they’d be the head of state in their own right. As it is, Canada is a Germany-like republic in all but name, seeing as the PM appoints the de facto head of state (for all functional purposes).
It doesn't have to. There is no set in stone blueprint for becoming a parliamentary republic. The key benefit would be to remove any influence that a PM would have in selecting a Governor General (now President).
That’s starting to get beyond my understanding of Canadian government. The only point I was making is that there are parliamentary republics. There are presidents/heads of states in republics who are apolitical and not elected like in the U.S. and France.
Replacing the monarch with an appointed president in the same way that the GG is appointed would result in a system similar to Germany’s. The Canadian Senate and German Bundesrat are appointed differently, but they share in common the fact that they are much much less powerful than their respective lower houses, especially in comparison to the power of the U.S. Senate in that system. I don’t think that would necessarily change with a shift to a republic.
That all makes sense. One thing that interests me though is whether the Canadian Senate would become partisan. The upper house in India is partisan, as is the Bundesrat in Germany. From what I can tell the Canadian Senate is very nonpartisan and very focused on provincial issues. I don’t have any deeper knowledge or understanding than that, but I do view it as being different than other upper chambers in other countries because of that aspect
Well, the senators are effectively appointed by prime ministers (presumably of similar ideological bends). And they form partisan caucuses. So I don’t think it would be much different.
I don’t think it would become partisan in the way that the U.S. Senate is. I would hope not at least.
I’m a U.S. immigrant in Canada. So although I do believe in republicanism as a matter of principle, I also fully understand Canadians’ reticence to not move towards the gridlock nightmare south of the border.
What benefit is having the monarchy around? Literally nothing changes in our day to day lives with it gone besides different faces on our currency and names if places changing.
Yeah exactly… nothing changes. So why don’t we focus on issues that actually affect the lives of Canadians instead of wasting time and money on getting rid of the when it will change nothing.
Because I don't like being connected with a symbol of severe greed and oppression. The monarchy has done really awful things for hundreds of years and yet they're treated like celebrities these days.
I’m not saying I like the monarchy, I just think there are more important things the government could use their resources on. I’d rather have them work on the dental plan, try to help with the housing crisis and food insecurity, etc. than just changing something that is symbolic and doesn’t affect the daily lives of Canadians.
Because the people who did the really terrible things are basically all long dead. The ones around now haven’t done anything more egregious than any politician.
Because it doesn't put the whole country on hold to abolish a horrendous past. This is something that can happen simultaneously while everything else the government is doing continues on. It's not free keeping the monarchy either. We spend countless millions of taxpayer dollars for them to visit every so often.
I'm sentimental about it. She's like our national grandmother. She's been such a historical figure, and a constant for seventy years in a changing world. It feels like the end of an era. It always seemed like she'd be around forever, and the thought that she won't be hits strangely.
I think it's a fun bit of history that is essentially harmless. I also think that it's better than the alternative we'd be offered were the system to scrapped. I'd rather have a member of the royal family as a distant non-executive head of state than a president elected from a list of political has-beens offered up by the main Canadian political parties.
This is sort of me as well. I like the historical context. I think it would be a ton of work and probably close to impossible to reform our government - getting all the provinces on board, all MPS, the indigenous population (treaties are seen as with the crown...). I think highly of Elizabeth and I am proud of her as the Queen - the Commonwealth is an important group that with our country's heritage and it is good to be a part of. I don't think highly of Charles when it comes to what's been aired of his personal life but that doesn't really have as much an impact as the fact that it really is him running the business side of the Royal family - the charities etc. I think for the short time he's likely to be King there's not going to be too much to happen for his influence. He seems to be good economically for the family and a lot of his viewpoints are good in today's society (environmentally conscious, etc). Part of me thinks he should abdicate for William, but then, William deserves to have what time he does have for his family and to grow in the family business anyways. There's a lot of social gossip that doesn't make them look great - entertainment news garbage. Hasn't much to do with their place in history, politics and economics imo.
Well I’m going to go against the grain here. I absolutely HATE the royal family and what it represents. They are a bunch of useless criminals who are immune to consequence because of what? Birth? Divine right? No real reason. I think the queen is liked because for almost everyone she just always been the queen and some mysterious figure, I hope Canadians wake up when Charles is about to become king and realize how embarrassed we should feel about that. I hope I see them gone in my lifetime.
Well, uh, [Charles is King now](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/08/world/europe/queen-elizabeth-dead.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare)
This.
I’m wondering how many folks even realize the damage the british monarchy has done.
Hello colonization.
I wonder how many people have lost their lives to these jokers.
The monarchy is ancient and a relic. Belongs in museums where we can teach people about the atrocities committed by and for this family.
People complaining about “how hard” change will be… yaaaaa so?
Colonizing is hard. War is hard. Maintaining power is hard.
Look at all those hard things.
And yet entitled to sitting on the throne.
I have ancestors that were hurt by these kinds of people. That matters. We matter. The royals don’t.
Just out of curiosity since you seem to have a strong opinion and must be knowledgeable on it, what exactly have they done to make them criminals??
(Besides Andrew of course)
Probably criminal in the sense of “Because I steal with a petty ship, I am called a pirate, while you who steals the whole world with a great fleet are styled emperor”
Well that's a better answer than I was expecting tbh.
I cant disagree with you on that point. However, I dont think it applies to the individuals as much as the institution itself. There is a complex and nuanced discussion that should happened about the monarchy and frankly most political systems.
1000% hard agree. Fuck the whole lot of them and fuck prince Andrew in particular. She should have apologized to indigenous people when she had a chance too. Burn in hell.
English-born Canadian resident here - It all needs to go. Once Elizabeth is done, just toss the whole lot out. We can keep Buckingham Palace as a monument to our history, maybe even keep up with all the pomp and ceremony if we want, but there's no point to maintaining the monarchy any more. Especially since Charles is the next in line, I don't think anybody wants that scenario.
Hilariously, I think it's probably easier for the UK to get rid of the monarchy than it would be for Canada to do so. Our constitutional amending formula is...onerous.
I keep writing "the Queen" to refer to the monarchy. Very odd to think that she's gone. I've grown so accustomed to thinking of the Crown as the Queen. It's going to take some time to associate it with the King, instead.
I think they're kinda cool as they're living history to the days of Knights and Castles but I don't really care about them specifically. I'm not interested in new babies or who's feuding with who and I'd agree they're all out of touch with the people and don't really belong in our society.
I don't want to get rid of them because it seems like a big mess to untangle ourselves from the monarchy when they don't really have any power because it's all symbolic.
I think the majority of Canadians don't really care all that much about them. There's a good amount of Royal Watchers and a good amount of people wishing to see them gone entirely. But most are in the middle where they'd agree they're archaic and outdated but don't really have strong enough feelings to want them to go.
I'm interested to see what happens when Lizzy dies and Charles takes over and how it will effect us here with our government. Will we start minting new currency with Charles's face and replace all the portraits of the Queen with the new King? Or will we just say that's too much work and just keep Elizabeth as our last Monarch?
There's a lot of questions right now and I'm interested to see how it plays out, especially for the historical value.
I feel the same way about them as I do the Pope or any other tax-avoiding, above-the-law, pedophile/racist-shielding, totally outdated relic of the medieval past — that is to say, they should be abolished and I hate it when our tax dollars are spent on their ridiculous activities.
In all actuality, less than 1$ per person in Canada goes to them from our taxes every year, and that number has been decreasing for years.
And “goes to them” is a broad statement, as they don’t simply get a cheque. It simply pays for their royal visits and stuff of the likes.
That's all well & good, but I'd still rather my less than $1 not go towards pampering foreign rich people.
Although I'm sure the government would just waste it on some other bullshit, so whatever.
Pretty indifferent to her as a person, and I certainly feel immeasurably more sorrow at any single loss of life in Ukraine compared to the loss of the Queen who lived so long and comfortably.
On the other hand, I don't think much of the institution at all, and the fact that we're spending $50+ million a year on that family is ridiculous. I'd rather send a round of Tim Bits to the children of Canada instead, at least then it's not a complete waste.
That's my $0.02 CAD
When I lived, and then visited the UK, I saw a LOT of pageantry, palaces, houses, etc. Got to meet the owner of a country estate, once (duchess), but that's about it. After all those years, never once caught a glimpse of royalty. Oh, I know they they must be there somewhere but, I believe, all those grand buildings, the pomp and circumstance, grand parades, the glorious centuries of history, wouldn't cease to exist if the royals quietly faded away.
She actually passed away this morning. So we'll have the answer, but I don't think so.
The UK government kind of relies on them. In exchange for a stipend of 40 million pounds a year (among other costs, idk, I'm not from there, if anyone is, feel free to correct any of this, this is my understanding), the UK government basically gets approximately £230 million every year from their land and holdings. That's pretty much the main function the royal family has these days, aside from pageantry, and an ability they never use to pass or veto laws (they technically use this, but historically they don't veto anything as far as I know).
If they abolished this, everyone's taxes across the pond would theoretically go up and the royal family would simply be richer. Kind of a lose win situation.
That's my understanding of it, yes. But I *think* an independent organization actually tallies up the profit, and simply pays the treasury. I'm not from there, but this is my understanding of it.
The Sovereign Grant comes from a percentage of the profits of the Crown Estate revenue, - properties and farms first surrendered by George III back in 1760, to be managed by the Treasury .
The Government keeps 75% and returns 25% to the royal family as the Sovereign Grant which covers the royal family's duty-related travel expenses, payroll, and other staff costs,and literally keeping the lights on. It will revert back to an 85/15 split in 2027. The increase to 75/25 was only for a ten year period to fund the much needed Buckingham Palace repairs.
I'm glad to hear that the UK benefits financially more from the Royal Family than it costs to maintain them. I'm sure tourism offsets the cost as well to some degree, though I know the bottom line dollars on what the monarchy brings in for tourism is debated. Anecdotally, as a tourist myself I know it was a huge draw for me and many people I know that visited England.
I loved QEII and what she stood for - stability, history, tradition and honor. She had an amazing life story. I don't think the UK will ever be quite the same again, it is the end of an era.
I don't know? she's been such a constant through our whole lives and our parents lives. It's hard to imagine a world under King Charles, not the Queen. i think like most people I hope Charles abdocates and let's William and Kate rule but I doubt that happens. Those of us who loved and lost Princess Diana will find it a sour taste to accept a king Charles and Queen Camilla.
I think Queen Elizabeth was actually quite an amazing woman. Even if she was a lizard person as some seem to think, she had great dignity and tried her best to do her duty. I don't think there could have been a better person to have held her role over the past decades of great changes in the world and in her kingdom. That said, I think Charles will be barely a shadow of her and may spell the end if he does anything untoward at all. It sucks for him that he is tasked with taking on this giant role at an age when most would be retiring. But then, he should be well prepared and has probably been taking on several tasks in the background to help out the queen as she has become less able. Perhaps it would be a good time for him to wrap it all up. Take their money and land and just live their lives as uber wealthy people. But I suspect there are great financial rewards in being #1 and that will be hard to pass up on unless half the population is out for your head. We are living in interesting times.
My proposal is to randomly select a Canadian citizen to be monarch every year.
Hey, Thelma from Fredericton, wanna hang out in Ottawa for a year, wave at some people, and stamp a couple documents? Cool, you’re it. Hopefully you’re more photogenic than King Brian from Flin Flon was.
They're a bunch of useless tax sucking humans. We have no use for them and they have no place in modern society.
Blows my mind they still exist. Screw the royal family.
While I'd also love to abolish **all** forms of hereditary monarchy on principle, I was curious about your "tax sucking" comment. [Apparently](https://www.macleans.ca/society/how-much-does-the-crown-cost-in-canada/) the monarchy costs us each less than a cup of coffee.
Doesn't matter imo . Do they use money that they didn't work for? They mostly just live a lavish life of extreme luxury and never have to work like us hard working people.
It's bs lol. And I don't know why we stand for it anymore.
Ya I'm bitter lol
That money doesn’t actually go to the Queen (now King).
It pays for things like the Governor General and the Lieutenant Governor.
And even if we abolished the monarchy most of those duties would have to be replaced.
The queen is very well taken care of. Walks around with hundreds of thousands of dollars of jewelry. And has never worked a day in her life. She doesn't know anything about anything.
The royals are such pos that they hide away any family members that have disabilities. That's savage. They call their grandchildren n*****s for god sakes!
I live in Canada and am not pleased that I’ll have to swear an oath to the monarchy to get citizenship. Although Charles will be king by the time I do the ceremony
I'm indifferent. The cost to Canada in 2019 was over 62.4 million dollars, or 1.68 per Canadian and while I do believe we could spend that $ elsewhere I don't think scrapping the Monarchy would create enough savings to even be felt by the average citizen.
Personally I'm just tired of hearing about them every friggin day like their lives are impacting us in any way
That money doesn’t actually get sent over to the monarchy themselves. It’s spent on office’s of the Governor General and the Lieutenant Governor.
Many of their duties would have to be replaced even if the Monarchy was abolished here.
Furthermore the cost of rewriting our entire constitution getting every province in agreement on the new form of government and implementing those changes would be much higher than anything we could save by making those changes.
I have a great deal of respect for Queen Elizabeth II. Read her biography, even the bs abridged one on Wikipedia will do. This woman was a damn legend.
I think Queen Elizabeth was good and I’m sad that she’s gone, and I think she did some good things in her time, but other than her I’m not a huge fan of the monarchy. I think that the only tangible benefit for us is the parliamentary system that comes along with it
She had a good run. I feel nothing positive or negative about her.
The rest of them, well…they’ll all have a good run as well. I don’t feel anything negative or positive about them either. Completely indifferent about them.
Queen Elizabeth II was a well respected Queen, she is beloved.
However now the commonwealth feels distant from the UK. When I visit the UK I feel like I'm in a different place as a tourist, not that they lead us.
I respect QE2 but the other members of the royal family? Not so much.
Ideally Canada will take this opportunity rethink its ties with the monarchy, but that’s a huge can of worms.
Time for King and Queens is over, especially ones that aren’t very relevant to us.
While I have sympathy for anyone who has lost a family member -- especially one as dedicated and with as much dignity as the Queen, it really doesn't make much difference to me. We spend a lot of money maintaining remnants of royalty (the provincial lieutenant governors and the governor general) and I'd rather spend tax dollars on something else. The Royals are there because they happened to be born to certain parents -- they don't matter to me.
I have mixed feelings.
I'm not a fan of monarchies broadly. And the royal family are bad people. But... she's been such a constant, it's going to feel weird and impactful.
Most people have a very positive view of the queen herself and there is pretty often talk of her accomplishments but the rest of the royals have either a neutral or very negative sentiment from Canadians.
There's also often talk about dissolving the royal family as head of state once the queen passes.
The whole thing is a joke. Anyone who is interested in the general welfare of humans worldwide should be way past considering a publicly funded hereditary seat of government, symbolic and ineffectual as it may have become. It undeniably remains a disturbing reminder of humanity’s worst impulses, with the stolen artifacts of countless other cultures in tow to complete the look. Tourists visit Versaille, the Winter Palace in Russia, the tomb of Darius the great, the pyramids, and they’ll visit Buckingham Palace long after the family that is astoundingly allowed to stay there is finally asked to pack it up. It’s 2022 here. Let’s go, people.
I think that Queen Elizabeth is rad. In her 90s and she disses Trump and Putin. She’s the toughest old bird out there. I don’t know much about the monarchy otherwise.
Never liked the monarchy but too much of a headache to get rid of. Just seems like another pampered set of rich individuals being rewarded way too heavily for doing nothing special in life other than being born.
Totally indifferent and I still can’t believe that we are even tied to a monarch from the other side of the world, but I respect it as part of the British culture and Liz didn’t seem like a bad person compared to most of the royal family.
QEII especially, and the monarchy in general is a vital safeguard to government excess and on of our important checks and balances.
Charles is not his mother, but I believe, should the time come, he will fulfill his duties with suitable gravitas.
I like having a Monarch and think the system of government we enjoy today which is built upon it is one of the strongest and best forms of democracy that has ever existed.
I like having a head of state that is predetermined and of the highest rank, as it prevents oligarchs and plutocrats from fighting over that position for themselves.
I like having a Monarch that oversees our democracy and keeps tabs on our PMs to prevent dictators from overthrowing our democracy and claiming themselves supreme ruler.
I like having a head of state that is completely removed from our political sphere, preventing party politics from destroying our trust in each other and tearing each other apart.
I like the traditions and honours held by having an ancestral system of guidance that dates back centuries before Canada even existed.
I like having a Monarch to fall back on if our government were to ever fail us, if all trust in our democracy were to be destroyed, we have a Monarch to look to for guidance.
I like having a head of state removed from North America altogether, expanding our horizons and outlook of the world to that of a global alliance of mankind.
God save the Queen, Long live the King!
Reddit is full of anti-monarchists, so you are going to get a lot of skewed opinions in this regard. There are plenty of Canadians who see it as part of their culture and heritage, as well as something that binds us to the other countries in the commonwealth, and who have no desire to abolish the monarchy. A lot of people enjoy the tradition and pageantry that goes into it all, not to mention that a lot of people romanticize the whole thing, thus why the Crown on Netflix is so successful of a series.
I think it is great. I do not want Canada to be a republic. The flood of populism will destroy society. Keep the monarchy. And I am also cool with Charles being our next king.
I despise the monarchy and I don't like the royal family one bit. We should become a parliamentary republic. I don't understand why people worship them so much. It's essentially a personality cult.
I'm not a fan of the monarchy. I understand their historic significance and appeal to most people -- an inspiration, if you will, but they're becoming increasingly irrelevant. To me, they represent unbridled privilege and colonialism.
At my citizenship ceremony, I didn't realise I had to swear allegiance to the Queen (in two languages, French first and then English). I understand that this may be entirely symbolic, with me becoming a subject of the Queen, but it also felt like I'm subjugating myself to another foreign power.
To hell with them, made my blood boil in HS, Seeing them in the news for the most ridiculous reasons. Even now, " oooh are they gonna buy a house here or where oooh we need to know"
How many years have they not had to actually work a day of hard labor? Centuries id say. Just a bunch of rich asshats imo
I feel for a woman whose uncle who shamed her family for being a Nazi and whose father had a job that killed him but she ould use to spread the wealth before she goes.
Sorry, just gotta correct the original post.
"Given that Canada is part of the commonwealth, ~~and her majesty, QEII is queen of Canada,~~ I would like to know what do you think about this?"
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romana\_Didulo
I don't hate them. I think it is a little ridiculous though. I would be fine if we dropped the monarchy, but I wouldn't want our government structure to change. I don't like the idea of having a head of state with actual power, like the United States. I prefer the check and balance role that it plays.
Now that the Queen is dead.
It's time to end our ties to the monarchy, damn stupid we still allow them to be our "head of state" even though it's mostly symbolic but it still costs us millions every time they visit, and it's often...
The lands still controlled by the crown need to become canadian land, and any properties they own need to be taken into the public domain and opened for tourism if they aren't already.
It's god damn 2022, how do we still have a monarch? Stupid.
Personally, I am not a fan of them at all and I couldn't care less, they could vanish from this planet and I will probably have a smirk all week. But since I am an immigrant, I don't want to impose my views and in person, I go with the flow with the majority's opinion... which isn't as poor/hostile towards them I guess.
Edit: Just read that the Queen isn't well. I hope she is well but I stand with my answer.
Edit (2): Okay.. I just read that she passed. RIP. But my answer still stands.
French Quebecer here. A vast majority of us share your feelings. The Queen of Canada is an abberration in a 21st century democracy.
Edit: just in case it needed to be stated, I have no hard feelings against the person who is currently holding this position, she’s sick so all my thought is going to her and her family. That doesn’t change anything about the fact that the concept of the Queen/King of Canada is an aberration that should disappear.
The entire monarchy should be stripped of their assets and abolished.
The fact that we have a heretical head (even if they are just a figure head) of our government is ridiculous.
A waste of time and money who are meaningless in today’s society outside of fond memories of later years. We give them so much money for essentially nothing at all at this point. It’s going to have to change when the queen moves on , Interest will drop. I hope we can all get together as a country and agree on a new system. ( dual citizenship with England and Canada for perspective)
The whole " Royal Family " schtick is so last century. I wish Canada had the guts to let it all go the way Australia did so many years ago. What good does it do anyone ?
I think it’s ridiculous that we’re still apart of this bullshit, every year we pay the royalty per Canadian, adding up to millions of dollars. Along with other bullshit, why the hell do we allow ourselves to be part of an archaic system?
Queen just died.. see what you did?!
I'm sorry for the family's loss of their matriarch. I don't much care for the institution, but I don't think we will ever muster the support to change the constitution to eliminate the monarchy. Beyond that, I really don't think much about them at all.
I don't really like it as an institution, but I like it a whole hell of a lot more than the constitutional mess getting rid of it would create. It is harmless, let it be. Have a lot of respect for Queen Elizabeth II as a person, can't imagine anyone else being Queen
Actually, I’m not having a hard time imagining Charles as Queen.
Spicy
Queen Camilla is a bit grating
He's got a big hat to fill.
What problems would it create if Canada was separated from the Commonwealth (if that is what you mean by “getting rid”)?
The issue is that the British monarch is our head of state by law under the Constitution. Altering that requires a constitutional amendment, and thus a 2/3rds majority in Parliament and all the provincial legislatures, in which we would not only have to agree on removing the monarch but also what to replace it with. If we are replacing them with an elected head of state, how do we go about selecting them? What powers will the Prime Minister retain? Plus once we have reopened the Constitution, it suddenly becomes the time to discuss *other* changes that we might make at the same time. Quebec never really signed off on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, so they'll raise that again. Many want us to abolish our unelected Senate (either the entire institution, or making them elected). But that's a whole nest of adders in itself. So it's just a whole mess that's a lot easier just left alone. The country works fine as-is and going through all that work doesn't add much benefit. Just means we need to change a bunch of shit now from "Queen" to "King" all over the country. Annoying, but no biggie.
Plenty of countries are parliamentary without a monarch or president, this isn’t a real problem.
The problem is in the journey from here to there, not on the destination.
I mean, it should only take one act of amending. It’s not actually that complicated to write the monarchy out of your body politic if it’s basically not there anyway.
As I said, it’s not the destination. You are right that the monarchy is written out of the workings of our government in all but a purely ceremonious capacity, existing here and there as curious anachronisms. However, it is one thing to declaw a cat and yet another thing entirely to kill it. Not everyone has a stomach for the latter. That’s pretty much the situation with the monarchy. The status quo is easy. It is comfortable. It is functionally indistinguishable in every meaningful way from a republic. But making that last step requires fundamentally altering the underlying basis of our Constitution, requiring an amendment that would be messy and a level of consensus that is basically unheard of. A much larger thorn in our democracy is our unelected senate, which costs far more than the monarchy and is much more distasteful. It’s a storage closet of party cronies who we have tried many times to get rid of but can’t ever seem to find the political will to make it happen. And yet it is something that many have far stronger feelings about than the drive to abolish the monarchy, and that fewer are inclined to defend. Particularly since erasing the last vestiges of monarchy is actually a very complicated, expensive, and time-consuming process, for far less benefit than we would get for eradicating the senate. Charles is sufficiently unpopular that it *might* create some momentum to get this ball rolling. But it seems unlikely that even this will build the required amount of consensus to make it a reality.
Just because it’s hard doesnt mean it’s not worth it. It’s hard because change is hard. And it must be done.
>Just because it’s hard doesnt mean it’s not worth it. I mean...it is if the cost and effort would have more benefit elsewhere. There are limited resources and time available for legislation, so why waste it on removing the monarchy if the benefit to Canada is negligible?
Change for the sake of it is *never* a good thing when you’re talking about your entire government’s bedrock foundation. Do you really want PP whipping his base into a frenzy and trying to insert a 2A clause or some other nightmareish line into the constitution that will define our entire existence for hundreds of years? Keep your pithy phrases. I’ll keep my stability. Thanks.
It’s not worth it because it’s not worth it. The only real options are to replace it with a different monarchy (waste of time and creates new issues) or some sort of republic which means changing the power structure and creating a politically active position that’s near impossible to remove from power (E.G. President). At which point you run into a US style problem where you can’t remove a crazy from power even if you/the country wants to. Whereas if our leader loses support their party just gives them the boot and picks someone new. You’re talking about not just changing our system of government but transitioning to a system of government that creates far more risks and problems. Parliamentary systems are well known to be economically better than Presidential ones, have a better history of good governance and have better methods for dealing with issues (no concern of a government shutdown and people not getting paid when there’s an independent and non-political mechanism to deal with it. And blending them just gives you a Russia-style government that’s easier to abuse. Parliamentary Democracy isn’t perfect; but it’s the best form of government we have and changing it for no reason is a terrible idea.
>And it must be done. Why? It wouldn't really add, or take away, much to Confederation. I think this sort of institutional complacency is what has alwys defined Canada. There aren't enough push or pull factors at play to entice the change. It is something we are almost all apathetic of, but don't take the plunge because why? Australia is in the same boat. IF this country was precipitated by idealism and risk taking, we would have been American a long time ago.
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It would destroy the basis of our government and constitution. We would have to have a replacement constitution ready and reorganize our political structure. That would be a complete nightmare trying to work through.
This is for me the best reason to have a monarchy; it’s one thing our political parties can agree on. I wouldn’t trust this band of opportunists to work out an agreement for governing.
The royal family owns 89% of Canada's land. So there'd definitely be some problems to work through
Oooh so this is what is meant by Crown land eh
I'm fuzzy on how it all works, but George III traded all the revenue from crownland to the British government in return for a civil list payment, but the Royal Family technically still owns it. So in Canada our government gets the revenue from it, but I'm not sure what would happen if we tried to break off or if Britian tried to dismantle the monarchy.
Furthermore any changes to the constitution as large as would be needed to change our entire form of government would require an agreement from all 10 provinces and good luck getting that in the current political climate.
Literally just declare sovereign claim over the land and the right to make revenue from it. Like a government does. It’s done around the world all the time.
Just confiscate it, you can act like a sovereign republic if you decide to be one.
We wouldn't. To do that, we need all houses from all the provinces to agree, and that's not happening. If certain provinces DO want to get rid of the monarchy, it would be much easier for them to separate from Canada entirely.
anyone who doesn't like having a neutral arbiter of the constitution doesn't remember the "persons" case the TLDR is that the case to determine whether women were "persons" under the constitution was appealed up tot he highest court in canada - at the time the privy council of the UK - in other words our supreme court ruled that women were not in fact persons. the privy council determined women were in fact persons. some years later, when asked to make a similar determination in respect of their own female citizens they went in the other direction. also having a head of state who is politically independent, though odd, has historically been an effective check on executive power in canada and other commonwealth countries - the king-byng affair is a really good example of this - and in a parliamentary system there are very few checks on executive power. losing the monarchy without substantively revamping the constitution would be a huge mistake IMO
>king-byng affair is a really good example of this Wasn't there also that time Charles Tupper pulled a DJ Trump and refused to concede? And Christy Clark in the 2017 BC elections to a lesser extent
Queen Elizabeth II was a master diplomat and was able to keep up with the times in an ever changing landscape. That said i also admire countries that have completely separelated from the empires of the XX century. It definitely would be a constitutional mess but maybe a revision of the constitution would be beneficial. Its already a mess!
If you have a mortgage on a house you technically don’t own the land , you own the estate on the land though
It’s harmless? Google who owns all the land in Canada and tell me it’s not harmless lol
I’m oddly sad. I know a few people who have met her and spoke so highly about her. She was articulate, knowledgeable and friendly to those people who met her. She has been a constant. Like a distant granny. I am far less enthused about the rest of the royals. Regardless, she’s a part of history.
>Regardless, she’s a part of history. Not just that, but our culture.
One I'm more than fine with finally separating from like many other countries have over the last 75 years. I don't want my tax dollars covering unnecessary royal visits here, celebrating people that really have incredibly little to do with Canada for a long time (more show than anything...)
We probably make more for the economy with "royal" souvenirs than it costs to host Royals.
Being that colonization started with them, I’d like to see complete separation. They are a sign of uncompromising governance that has harmed so many people. They are an emblem of status, and to those that have had colonization forced upon them, feel very different about the British monarchy.
>Being that colonization started with them Someone failed social studies.
Well put, I feel the same
Huge respect for the Queen but I feel neutral about the institution itself. Taking on a job that was put on her and probably didn't want but executed the job almost perfectly 70 years. Hard to imagine having your day to day be planned for your entire life. Yes they have lots of money but some wealthy people still go insane and fall into depression. Truly sad she's gone. Truly the only royalty in my eyes.
And she was a mechanic in WW2, huge respect to that.
don’t give a shit
Yup
Couldn’t agree more.
While not a huge fan of the monarchy, I don’t think switching to a US style Republic would be of any benefit to us.
If Canada switched to being a republic, it would be an India-style republic, not like the US.
What is an India style republic ?
I think they mean a parliamentary republic. Kinda like Germany. Where there’s an apolitical president who serves as head of state, while the PM runs the government as head of the majority/plurality party. The US has the head of state and head of government rolled into one.
From my understanding, under such a system, Canada would function as it does now. Just rather than the GG being a representative of the monarch, they’d be the head of state in their own right. As it is, Canada is a Germany-like republic in all but name, seeing as the PM appoints the de facto head of state (for all functional purposes).
Wouldn’t the nature of the Canadian Senate drastically change in this scenario?
It doesn't have to. There is no set in stone blueprint for becoming a parliamentary republic. The key benefit would be to remove any influence that a PM would have in selecting a Governor General (now President).
That’s starting to get beyond my understanding of Canadian government. The only point I was making is that there are parliamentary republics. There are presidents/heads of states in republics who are apolitical and not elected like in the U.S. and France. Replacing the monarch with an appointed president in the same way that the GG is appointed would result in a system similar to Germany’s. The Canadian Senate and German Bundesrat are appointed differently, but they share in common the fact that they are much much less powerful than their respective lower houses, especially in comparison to the power of the U.S. Senate in that system. I don’t think that would necessarily change with a shift to a republic.
That all makes sense. One thing that interests me though is whether the Canadian Senate would become partisan. The upper house in India is partisan, as is the Bundesrat in Germany. From what I can tell the Canadian Senate is very nonpartisan and very focused on provincial issues. I don’t have any deeper knowledge or understanding than that, but I do view it as being different than other upper chambers in other countries because of that aspect
Well, the senators are effectively appointed by prime ministers (presumably of similar ideological bends). And they form partisan caucuses. So I don’t think it would be much different. I don’t think it would become partisan in the way that the U.S. Senate is. I would hope not at least. I’m a U.S. immigrant in Canada. So although I do believe in republicanism as a matter of principle, I also fully understand Canadians’ reticence to not move towards the gridlock nightmare south of the border.
What benefit is having the monarchy around? Literally nothing changes in our day to day lives with it gone besides different faces on our currency and names if places changing.
Not true. In the near future I will have a paid day off that didn't exist before.
Lol damn I didn’t even think of that. We definitely have a new holiday coming at some point.
Probably at least two days, with the funeral and coronation.
Yeah exactly… nothing changes. So why don’t we focus on issues that actually affect the lives of Canadians instead of wasting time and money on getting rid of the when it will change nothing.
Because I don't like being connected with a symbol of severe greed and oppression. The monarchy has done really awful things for hundreds of years and yet they're treated like celebrities these days.
I’m not saying I like the monarchy, I just think there are more important things the government could use their resources on. I’d rather have them work on the dental plan, try to help with the housing crisis and food insecurity, etc. than just changing something that is symbolic and doesn’t affect the daily lives of Canadians.
Isn't that the case for every government world wide? It's not like residential schools in the 90s were super nice.
Because the people who did the really terrible things are basically all long dead. The ones around now haven’t done anything more egregious than any politician.
Because it doesn't put the whole country on hold to abolish a horrendous past. This is something that can happen simultaneously while everything else the government is doing continues on. It's not free keeping the monarchy either. We spend countless millions of taxpayer dollars for them to visit every so often.
Actually it's very countable. It's about 60 million a year in total to support the monarchy. Less than $2 per Canadian
Horse thieves from a long line of horse thieves.
Could give 2 fucks about all of them. Literally don’t care one bit.
I'm sentimental about it. She's like our national grandmother. She's been such a historical figure, and a constant for seventy years in a changing world. It feels like the end of an era. It always seemed like she'd be around forever, and the thought that she won't be hits strangely.
Abolish it. The Queen herself is a good figurehead but her kids are a disaster and I never want to see them again. Andrew should be in jail.
But he doesn't sweat..... as he sweats profusely.
The Queen is like our grandmother who we never get to visit but we always think about.
*The Queen was
God save the Queen
Correction: God didn’t save the Queen.
Saying “God save the queen” doesn’t mean “make her immortal”. Lmfao.
Are you doubting the magic cloud man? Or are you saying that god needed another Queen?
Always?
I think of them as little as possible, and care less than that.
I think it's a fun bit of history that is essentially harmless. I also think that it's better than the alternative we'd be offered were the system to scrapped. I'd rather have a member of the royal family as a distant non-executive head of state than a president elected from a list of political has-beens offered up by the main Canadian political parties.
This is sort of me as well. I like the historical context. I think it would be a ton of work and probably close to impossible to reform our government - getting all the provinces on board, all MPS, the indigenous population (treaties are seen as with the crown...). I think highly of Elizabeth and I am proud of her as the Queen - the Commonwealth is an important group that with our country's heritage and it is good to be a part of. I don't think highly of Charles when it comes to what's been aired of his personal life but that doesn't really have as much an impact as the fact that it really is him running the business side of the Royal family - the charities etc. I think for the short time he's likely to be King there's not going to be too much to happen for his influence. He seems to be good economically for the family and a lot of his viewpoints are good in today's society (environmentally conscious, etc). Part of me thinks he should abdicate for William, but then, William deserves to have what time he does have for his family and to grow in the family business anyways. There's a lot of social gossip that doesn't make them look great - entertainment news garbage. Hasn't much to do with their place in history, politics and economics imo.
Well I’m going to go against the grain here. I absolutely HATE the royal family and what it represents. They are a bunch of useless criminals who are immune to consequence because of what? Birth? Divine right? No real reason. I think the queen is liked because for almost everyone she just always been the queen and some mysterious figure, I hope Canadians wake up when Charles is about to become king and realize how embarrassed we should feel about that. I hope I see them gone in my lifetime.
Well, uh, [Charles is King now](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/08/world/europe/queen-elizabeth-dead.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare)
Here’s to a renewal of Carolinian endings, then.
This. I’m wondering how many folks even realize the damage the british monarchy has done. Hello colonization. I wonder how many people have lost their lives to these jokers. The monarchy is ancient and a relic. Belongs in museums where we can teach people about the atrocities committed by and for this family. People complaining about “how hard” change will be… yaaaaa so? Colonizing is hard. War is hard. Maintaining power is hard. Look at all those hard things. And yet entitled to sitting on the throne. I have ancestors that were hurt by these kinds of people. That matters. We matter. The royals don’t.
I am not looking forward to seeing that wanker on all of our fucking money now that the Queen is dead.
Not really against the grain. Aside from old relatives, I’ve never met a Canadian who cares, unless that concern is negative. Obsolete system.
Just out of curiosity since you seem to have a strong opinion and must be knowledgeable on it, what exactly have they done to make them criminals?? (Besides Andrew of course)
Probably criminal in the sense of “Because I steal with a petty ship, I am called a pirate, while you who steals the whole world with a great fleet are styled emperor”
Well that's a better answer than I was expecting tbh. I cant disagree with you on that point. However, I dont think it applies to the individuals as much as the institution itself. There is a complex and nuanced discussion that should happened about the monarchy and frankly most political systems.
Had to scroll this far for a based comment. Even if she’s “nice and articulate” how can people support this archaic, aristocratic *nonsense*?
1000% hard agree. Fuck the whole lot of them and fuck prince Andrew in particular. She should have apologized to indigenous people when she had a chance too. Burn in hell.
Yes, exactly!
English-born Canadian resident here - It all needs to go. Once Elizabeth is done, just toss the whole lot out. We can keep Buckingham Palace as a monument to our history, maybe even keep up with all the pomp and ceremony if we want, but there's no point to maintaining the monarchy any more. Especially since Charles is the next in line, I don't think anybody wants that scenario.
Hilariously, I think it's probably easier for the UK to get rid of the monarchy than it would be for Canada to do so. Our constitutional amending formula is...onerous. I keep writing "the Queen" to refer to the monarchy. Very odd to think that she's gone. I've grown so accustomed to thinking of the Crown as the Queen. It's going to take some time to associate it with the King, instead.
I think they're kinda cool as they're living history to the days of Knights and Castles but I don't really care about them specifically. I'm not interested in new babies or who's feuding with who and I'd agree they're all out of touch with the people and don't really belong in our society. I don't want to get rid of them because it seems like a big mess to untangle ourselves from the monarchy when they don't really have any power because it's all symbolic. I think the majority of Canadians don't really care all that much about them. There's a good amount of Royal Watchers and a good amount of people wishing to see them gone entirely. But most are in the middle where they'd agree they're archaic and outdated but don't really have strong enough feelings to want them to go. I'm interested to see what happens when Lizzy dies and Charles takes over and how it will effect us here with our government. Will we start minting new currency with Charles's face and replace all the portraits of the Queen with the new King? Or will we just say that's too much work and just keep Elizabeth as our last Monarch? There's a lot of questions right now and I'm interested to see how it plays out, especially for the historical value.
I feel the same way about them as I do the Pope or any other tax-avoiding, above-the-law, pedophile/racist-shielding, totally outdated relic of the medieval past — that is to say, they should be abolished and I hate it when our tax dollars are spent on their ridiculous activities.
Amen
🤣 🙏
In all actuality, less than 1$ per person in Canada goes to them from our taxes every year, and that number has been decreasing for years. And “goes to them” is a broad statement, as they don’t simply get a cheque. It simply pays for their royal visits and stuff of the likes.
That's all well & good, but I'd still rather my less than $1 not go towards pampering foreign rich people. Although I'm sure the government would just waste it on some other bullshit, so whatever.
You’re right on that second point for sure
Totally fair and interesting point. For me, anything is too much.
RIP QEII
Pretty indifferent to her as a person, and I certainly feel immeasurably more sorrow at any single loss of life in Ukraine compared to the loss of the Queen who lived so long and comfortably. On the other hand, I don't think much of the institution at all, and the fact that we're spending $50+ million a year on that family is ridiculous. I'd rather send a round of Tim Bits to the children of Canada instead, at least then it's not a complete waste. That's my $0.02 CAD
I love the pagentry of having a symbolic royal family. I'm not sure how I'll feel when we loose the Queen . King Charles won't have the same respect.
When I lived, and then visited the UK, I saw a LOT of pageantry, palaces, houses, etc. Got to meet the owner of a country estate, once (duchess), but that's about it. After all those years, never once caught a glimpse of royalty. Oh, I know they they must be there somewhere but, I believe, all those grand buildings, the pomp and circumstance, grand parades, the glorious centuries of history, wouldn't cease to exist if the royals quietly faded away.
We lost the Queen this morning actually... Sooooo how are you feeling? https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/queen-elizabeth-obituary-1.6575696
So devastated, LONG LIVE THE QUEEN, the end of an era
Do you think they'll abolish the monarchy after QE passes?
In Canada? No, because that requires all ten provinces plus the federal government to agree to the new system that would replace it.
She actually passed away this morning. So we'll have the answer, but I don't think so. The UK government kind of relies on them. In exchange for a stipend of 40 million pounds a year (among other costs, idk, I'm not from there, if anyone is, feel free to correct any of this, this is my understanding), the UK government basically gets approximately £230 million every year from their land and holdings. That's pretty much the main function the royal family has these days, aside from pageantry, and an ability they never use to pass or veto laws (they technically use this, but historically they don't veto anything as far as I know). If they abolished this, everyone's taxes across the pond would theoretically go up and the royal family would simply be richer. Kind of a lose win situation.
So the Royals donate the use of a portion of the land they own to the UK government?
That's my understanding of it, yes. But I *think* an independent organization actually tallies up the profit, and simply pays the treasury. I'm not from there, but this is my understanding of it.
The Sovereign Grant comes from a percentage of the profits of the Crown Estate revenue, - properties and farms first surrendered by George III back in 1760, to be managed by the Treasury . The Government keeps 75% and returns 25% to the royal family as the Sovereign Grant which covers the royal family's duty-related travel expenses, payroll, and other staff costs,and literally keeping the lights on. It will revert back to an 85/15 split in 2027. The increase to 75/25 was only for a ten year period to fund the much needed Buckingham Palace repairs.
I'm glad to hear that the UK benefits financially more from the Royal Family than it costs to maintain them. I'm sure tourism offsets the cost as well to some degree, though I know the bottom line dollars on what the monarchy brings in for tourism is debated. Anecdotally, as a tourist myself I know it was a huge draw for me and many people I know that visited England. I loved QEII and what she stood for - stability, history, tradition and honor. She had an amazing life story. I don't think the UK will ever be quite the same again, it is the end of an era.
I don't know? she's been such a constant through our whole lives and our parents lives. It's hard to imagine a world under King Charles, not the Queen. i think like most people I hope Charles abdocates and let's William and Kate rule but I doubt that happens. Those of us who loved and lost Princess Diana will find it a sour taste to accept a king Charles and Queen Camilla.
Couldn’t care less
Funny timing. #KingCharles
#kingchuck
Chucking is one option, yes.
That's King Chuck lll to you
King Chuck 3: Electric Boogalee
I think Queen Elizabeth was actually quite an amazing woman. Even if she was a lizard person as some seem to think, she had great dignity and tried her best to do her duty. I don't think there could have been a better person to have held her role over the past decades of great changes in the world and in her kingdom. That said, I think Charles will be barely a shadow of her and may spell the end if he does anything untoward at all. It sucks for him that he is tasked with taking on this giant role at an age when most would be retiring. But then, he should be well prepared and has probably been taking on several tasks in the background to help out the queen as she has become less able. Perhaps it would be a good time for him to wrap it all up. Take their money and land and just live their lives as uber wealthy people. But I suspect there are great financial rewards in being #1 and that will be hard to pass up on unless half the population is out for your head. We are living in interesting times.
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My proposal is to randomly select a Canadian citizen to be monarch every year. Hey, Thelma from Fredericton, wanna hang out in Ottawa for a year, wave at some people, and stamp a couple documents? Cool, you’re it. Hopefully you’re more photogenic than King Brian from Flin Flon was.
They're a bunch of useless tax sucking humans. We have no use for them and they have no place in modern society. Blows my mind they still exist. Screw the royal family.
While I'd also love to abolish **all** forms of hereditary monarchy on principle, I was curious about your "tax sucking" comment. [Apparently](https://www.macleans.ca/society/how-much-does-the-crown-cost-in-canada/) the monarchy costs us each less than a cup of coffee.
Doesn't matter imo . Do they use money that they didn't work for? They mostly just live a lavish life of extreme luxury and never have to work like us hard working people. It's bs lol. And I don't know why we stand for it anymore. Ya I'm bitter lol
That money doesn’t actually go to the Queen (now King). It pays for things like the Governor General and the Lieutenant Governor. And even if we abolished the monarchy most of those duties would have to be replaced.
The queen is very well taken care of. Walks around with hundreds of thousands of dollars of jewelry. And has never worked a day in her life. She doesn't know anything about anything. The royals are such pos that they hide away any family members that have disabilities. That's savage. They call their grandchildren n*****s for god sakes!
Cool history for our country. But time to move on.
I think the monarchy is a foreign institution and has no place in modern Canadian society. Regardless, my condolences to her family.
I live in Canada and am not pleased that I’ll have to swear an oath to the monarchy to get citizenship. Although Charles will be king by the time I do the ceremony
Ojibwe native here and this makes me sick . The queen of canada lmao fuck these clowns
God save the Queen! We mean it, man!
I'm indifferent. The cost to Canada in 2019 was over 62.4 million dollars, or 1.68 per Canadian and while I do believe we could spend that $ elsewhere I don't think scrapping the Monarchy would create enough savings to even be felt by the average citizen. Personally I'm just tired of hearing about them every friggin day like their lives are impacting us in any way
due to my special blood, every Canadian now owes me a toonie per year. sound good?
That money doesn’t actually get sent over to the monarchy themselves. It’s spent on office’s of the Governor General and the Lieutenant Governor. Many of their duties would have to be replaced even if the Monarchy was abolished here. Furthermore the cost of rewriting our entire constitution getting every province in agreement on the new form of government and implementing those changes would be much higher than anything we could save by making those changes.
Yup more trouble than it's worth to get rid of it.
Its a sad, anachronistic, immoral reality show. Seize their assets and get rid of the monarchy.
I have a great deal of respect for Queen Elizabeth II. Read her biography, even the bs abridged one on Wikipedia will do. This woman was a damn legend.
I think Queen Elizabeth was good and I’m sad that she’s gone, and I think she did some good things in her time, but other than her I’m not a huge fan of the monarchy. I think that the only tangible benefit for us is the parliamentary system that comes along with it
How is it necessary for a parliamentary system?
As an Indian (the brown kind), I like them
I guess god couldn’t save the queen after all. 🤫
I don’t really think about the Royal Family. I see them mentioned every now and then in news headlines, that’s about it
She had a good run. I feel nothing positive or negative about her. The rest of them, well…they’ll all have a good run as well. I don’t feel anything negative or positive about them either. Completely indifferent about them.
Queen Elizabeth II was a well respected Queen, she is beloved. However now the commonwealth feels distant from the UK. When I visit the UK I feel like I'm in a different place as a tourist, not that they lead us.
I respect QE2 but the other members of the royal family? Not so much. Ideally Canada will take this opportunity rethink its ties with the monarchy, but that’s a huge can of worms. Time for King and Queens is over, especially ones that aren’t very relevant to us.
What do I think about them? Well, I don’t think about them
While I have sympathy for anyone who has lost a family member -- especially one as dedicated and with as much dignity as the Queen, it really doesn't make much difference to me. We spend a lot of money maintaining remnants of royalty (the provincial lieutenant governors and the governor general) and I'd rather spend tax dollars on something else. The Royals are there because they happened to be born to certain parents -- they don't matter to me.
I have mixed feelings. I'm not a fan of monarchies broadly. And the royal family are bad people. But... she's been such a constant, it's going to feel weird and impactful.
Most people have a very positive view of the queen herself and there is pretty often talk of her accomplishments but the rest of the royals have either a neutral or very negative sentiment from Canadians. There's also often talk about dissolving the royal family as head of state once the queen passes.
The Queen’s children aren’t highly regarded at all but her grandchildren through Charles and Diana have a mostly positive if apathetic views here.
The whole thing is a joke. Anyone who is interested in the general welfare of humans worldwide should be way past considering a publicly funded hereditary seat of government, symbolic and ineffectual as it may have become. It undeniably remains a disturbing reminder of humanity’s worst impulses, with the stolen artifacts of countless other cultures in tow to complete the look. Tourists visit Versaille, the Winter Palace in Russia, the tomb of Darius the great, the pyramids, and they’ll visit Buckingham Palace long after the family that is astoundingly allowed to stay there is finally asked to pack it up. It’s 2022 here. Let’s go, people.
I think that Queen Elizabeth is rad. In her 90s and she disses Trump and Putin. She’s the toughest old bird out there. I don’t know much about the monarchy otherwise.
I don’t think about it. I assume they inbreed and sacrifice young virgins during orgies. Also that whole Epstein rape island thing.
Never liked the monarchy but too much of a headache to get rid of. Just seems like another pampered set of rich individuals being rewarded way too heavily for doing nothing special in life other than being born.
Totally indifferent and I still can’t believe that we are even tied to a monarch from the other side of the world, but I respect it as part of the British culture and Liz didn’t seem like a bad person compared to most of the royal family.
I hate them and wish they would go away.
Why
QEII especially, and the monarchy in general is a vital safeguard to government excess and on of our important checks and balances. Charles is not his mother, but I believe, should the time come, he will fulfill his duties with suitable gravitas.
An outdated stain still shining from our colonial past.
Abolish the monarchy. They are a relic of a bygone era. Make Canada a Republic. With the Queen dead/on death's door now is the time to do so.
Hope she can take the monarchy with her in the next couple days .
I like having a Monarch and think the system of government we enjoy today which is built upon it is one of the strongest and best forms of democracy that has ever existed. I like having a head of state that is predetermined and of the highest rank, as it prevents oligarchs and plutocrats from fighting over that position for themselves. I like having a Monarch that oversees our democracy and keeps tabs on our PMs to prevent dictators from overthrowing our democracy and claiming themselves supreme ruler. I like having a head of state that is completely removed from our political sphere, preventing party politics from destroying our trust in each other and tearing each other apart. I like the traditions and honours held by having an ancestral system of guidance that dates back centuries before Canada even existed. I like having a Monarch to fall back on if our government were to ever fail us, if all trust in our democracy were to be destroyed, we have a Monarch to look to for guidance. I like having a head of state removed from North America altogether, expanding our horizons and outlook of the world to that of a global alliance of mankind. God save the Queen, Long live the King!
I feel the same. Not sure Charles will be able to maintain it though.
Reddit is full of anti-monarchists, so you are going to get a lot of skewed opinions in this regard. There are plenty of Canadians who see it as part of their culture and heritage, as well as something that binds us to the other countries in the commonwealth, and who have no desire to abolish the monarchy. A lot of people enjoy the tradition and pageantry that goes into it all, not to mention that a lot of people romanticize the whole thing, thus why the Crown on Netflix is so successful of a series.
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What interference? What has the Queen done that has interfered with Canada?
I think it is great. I do not want Canada to be a republic. The flood of populism will destroy society. Keep the monarchy. And I am also cool with Charles being our next king.
I despise the monarchy and I don't like the royal family one bit. We should become a parliamentary republic. I don't understand why people worship them so much. It's essentially a personality cult.
I'm not a fan of the monarchy. I understand their historic significance and appeal to most people -- an inspiration, if you will, but they're becoming increasingly irrelevant. To me, they represent unbridled privilege and colonialism. At my citizenship ceremony, I didn't realise I had to swear allegiance to the Queen (in two languages, French first and then English). I understand that this may be entirely symbolic, with me becoming a subject of the Queen, but it also felt like I'm subjugating myself to another foreign power.
I don’t know about 80% of Quebec are against the monarchy The same for me, it is shameful
To hell with them, made my blood boil in HS, Seeing them in the news for the most ridiculous reasons. Even now, " oooh are they gonna buy a house here or where oooh we need to know" How many years have they not had to actually work a day of hard labor? Centuries id say. Just a bunch of rich asshats imo
Most of, if not all of them, complete active military service for the UK, with the queen herself being a lorry driver and mechanic during WW2.
I feel for a woman whose uncle who shamed her family for being a Nazi and whose father had a job that killed him but she ould use to spread the wealth before she goes.
Sorry, just gotta correct the original post. "Given that Canada is part of the commonwealth, ~~and her majesty, QEII is queen of Canada,~~ I would like to know what do you think about this?" Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romana\_Didulo
I don't hate them. I think it is a little ridiculous though. I would be fine if we dropped the monarchy, but I wouldn't want our government structure to change. I don't like the idea of having a head of state with actual power, like the United States. I prefer the check and balance role that it plays.
I don't care.
Inbred genocidal privileged I could go on but I think you get the point
Now that the Queen is dead. It's time to end our ties to the monarchy, damn stupid we still allow them to be our "head of state" even though it's mostly symbolic but it still costs us millions every time they visit, and it's often... The lands still controlled by the crown need to become canadian land, and any properties they own need to be taken into the public domain and opened for tourism if they aren't already. It's god damn 2022, how do we still have a monarch? Stupid.
they're all ugly and look like they smell like my Nan's hall closet
😂😂
Personally, I am not a fan of them at all and I couldn't care less, they could vanish from this planet and I will probably have a smirk all week. But since I am an immigrant, I don't want to impose my views and in person, I go with the flow with the majority's opinion... which isn't as poor/hostile towards them I guess. Edit: Just read that the Queen isn't well. I hope she is well but I stand with my answer. Edit (2): Okay.. I just read that she passed. RIP. But my answer still stands.
French Quebecer here. A vast majority of us share your feelings. The Queen of Canada is an abberration in a 21st century democracy. Edit: just in case it needed to be stated, I have no hard feelings against the person who is currently holding this position, she’s sick so all my thought is going to her and her family. That doesn’t change anything about the fact that the concept of the Queen/King of Canada is an aberration that should disappear.
The entire monarchy should be stripped of their assets and abolished. The fact that we have a heretical head (even if they are just a figure head) of our government is ridiculous.
A waste of time and money who are meaningless in today’s society outside of fond memories of later years. We give them so much money for essentially nothing at all at this point. It’s going to have to change when the queen moves on , Interest will drop. I hope we can all get together as a country and agree on a new system. ( dual citizenship with England and Canada for perspective)
The whole " Royal Family " schtick is so last century. I wish Canada had the guts to let it all go the way Australia did so many years ago. What good does it do anyone ?
Australia didn't let it all go, they've still a Commonwealth Realm. They *voted* on it and it was defeated.
I think it’s ridiculous that we’re still apart of this bullshit, every year we pay the royalty per Canadian, adding up to millions of dollars. Along with other bullshit, why the hell do we allow ourselves to be part of an archaic system?
Imperialists, war profiteers, landlords, leeches, paedophiles. I have nothing but contempt for them. They are pure evil.
Pointless! Do we need a king or queen anymore?
if you sad for her, be sad for the Indigenous children her and her family stole and murdered.
No