No cannon shots. No drums. No rides. Praise be to God, there will be no celebrations in Quebec to mark the coronation of Charles III.
Not to break the party, but this pivotal moment in British royal history should be an opportunity to question the archaic role of the crown at home.
It’s time to cut the cord with the monarchy. Or, at the very least, to start a real discussion in this direction.
It is anachronistic that our country is led by a Governor General (GG) representing a foreign head of state. That new citizens and elected officials must take an oath to the king, except in Quebec where this obligation was consigned to oblivion after the last elections.
After 156 years of Confederation, there is no doubt that Canada has come of age. The country is ready to free itself from this obsolete symbol of its colonial past.
No, it’s not an impossible mission.
After all, during Elizabeth II’s 70-year reign, 17 states kindly excused her from her services. And the Earth kept spinning.
After Barbados, the last country to be emancipated in 2021, discussions are underway in several Caribbean countries: Jamaica, Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda…
Same thing “Down Under” where the Prime Minister of New Zealand said he was in favor of abandoning the king as head of state, while Australia decided to replace the face of the Queen with an image depicting Indigenous culture on its banknotes, an idea that Canada could easily emulate.
After all, will Canada be the last country to dust itself off?
We have to be realistic: we cannot simply abolish the positions of GG and lieutenant-governor of the provinces, because they play an essential role in our parliamentary system, particularly when the time comes to indicate the exit to a minority government, when opposition parties band together to take power, as we saw in British Columbia in 2017.
Except that the GG and his lieutenants don’t need to be representatives of the king.
They could just as easily be appointed by the legislative assemblies, with the approval of two-thirds of the elected members, in the manner of the Auditor General or the Chief Electoral Officer.
Obviously, this would require changes to the Constitution, which requires the agreement of the 10 provinces as well as the House of Commons, a political tour de force never achieved. Since the failed attempts of the Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords, the Constitution has been seen as a Pandora’s box that risks dividing the country.
But it is not utopian to believe that we can break with the monarchy, without turning Canada upside down, because it is a relatively consensual issue. A recent Angus Reid poll shows that the majority of Canadians (60%) do not want to recognize King Charles III as our head of state.
The monarchy’s decline in popularity is easy to explain when you think of Prince Andrew’s ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein or Prince Harry’s accusations of racism.
Representatives of the crown in Canada have also had their share of setbacks, whether it’s the harshness of former GG Julie Payette or the fraud of former Quebec lieutenant-governor Lise Thibault.
So how do you thank the King of England?
We must aim for a targeted amendment, instead of embarking on major constitutional negotiations where each province will brandish its list of demands and where Ottawa will seek to expand its jurisdiction.
The route to follow is rather that used by certain provinces which managed to amend the Constitution by having their legislative assembly adopt a motion which was then approved by elected officials in Ottawa. Saskatchewan did it in 2022. Quebec also in 1997 to deconfessionalize its school boards.
Obviously, a change involving the 10 provinces would be more delicate than a bilateral amendment affecting a single province. But the game is worth the candle.
Quebec could also take the initiative by putting an initial resolution on the table. The other provinces would then have a moral duty to engage in discussions, as the Supreme Court said in a reference.
All this is not constitutional science fiction, even if success is not guaranteed. But if successful, we would have proof that it is no longer taboo to modify the Constitution.
It would be a significant legacy for Justin Trudeau who would leave his mark as the prime minister who cut the cord with London, the same way his father made history for repatriating the Constitution in 1982.
But for now, Justin doesn’t want to hear anything. To be sure of stifling the debate, the Liberals have also slipped the recognition of Charles III into the bill on the adoption of the budget.
Sooner or later, you’ll have to get your head out of the sand. Our cautious elected officials will not be able to remain forever out of step with the population, which is ready for a new era. The queen is dead, long live Canada!