Whatever the Bloc Québécois, or the majority of Quebecers and Canadians think, Justin Trudeau’s government will officially recognize King Charles III as the “ king of Canada” in his budget bill.
Ten days before the coronation of Charles III, the Bloc Québécois came to denounce that the Liberals had inserted in their bill implementing the last federal budget an article updating the wording of royal titles. The son of the late Queen Elizabeth II will henceforth be formally designated: “Charles the Third, by the grace of God, King of Canada and of its other kingdoms and territories, Head of the Commonwealth”, stipulates the article inserted at 325e page of the voluminous bill.
An “act of monarchical recognition [qui] has no place in a budget bill,” denounced the Bloc Québécois parliamentary leader, Alain Therrien, in a missive addressed to his Liberal counterpart, Mark Holland. The Bloc demanded that the government split this bill, in order to exclude the recognition of King Charles III in order to devote a full debate to it in itself. “And especially to make the voice of Quebecers heard,” argued Mr. Therrien.
Mr. Holland, however, dismissed the Bloc request out of hand. “If we withdraw this article, we are also not recognizing the reality,” replied the government House leader in Duty, Wednesday. “The sun will rise tomorrow, it will set tomorrow. We now have a king who is a man, and no longer a queen who is a woman. It’s just a simple recognition of reality, ”he retorted to the Bloc, accusing them of still wanting ” to provoke a debate on the monarchy ”.
Justin Trudeau’s Quebec lieutenant, Pablo Rodriguez, was more incisive. “Not only is it the only thing [que le Bloc québécois] retains from the budget, but in addition, what it retains from the budget requires that we make a constitutional debate out of it”, criticized Mr. Rodriguez. “Is that the Bloc’s priority? he launched.
A majority of opponents to the king
A poll by Angus Reid revealed on Monday that 60% of Canadians oppose recognizing Charles III as king, whether it be his recognition as head of state, the taking of an oath or the display of his portrait on Canadian currency. Two-thirds of Canadians also do not want to recognize his wife, Camilla, as queen consort.
Moreover, 52% of respondents across Canada and 66% of respondents in Quebec believe that Canada should not “remain a constitutional monarchy for future generations”.
The Bloc leader, Yves-François Blanchet, accused the Trudeau government of having shown “crass hypocrisy” by discreetly inserting this recognition of King Charles in a bill of more than 400 pages.
“As long as there is a change, we might not have a sovereign!” he demanded, in vain. “The government put it in the budget implementation act because it wanted to give the world a quickie, because the world is not in favor of the monarchy,” he said.
In a letter sent in turn to his Bloc counterpart, Mr. Holland stressed that the modification was only administrative and necessary, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. “The measure is simply intended to update the title of Canadian sovereign by removing elements that are no longer considered relevant or desirable in the modern Canadian context,” writes Mr. Holland, cutting the discussion short. Elizabeth II’s royal title also recognized her as “Queen of the United Kingdom” as well as “Defender of the Faith” — two denominations that were removed from King Charles III’s royal title.
Prime Minister Trudeau had refused to engage in a debate on the constitutional monarchy after the death of the queen, or to review the obligation to take the oath to the king. The latter had been officially recognized as head of state by Canada a few days after the death of his mother.
Visibly moved, last year, Mr. Trudeau had canceled all his activities in the days following the death of Elizabeth II. His office announced on Tuesday that he would travel to London on May 6 to attend the coronation ceremony of King Charles III.