It’s not every day that The duty has the signal honor of pronouncing on the coronation of the Canadian Head of State. The last time was in 1953, during the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, tireless monarch and mascot of the monarchy, who reigned for 70 years. His great qualities of restraint, self-sacrifice and devotion to the monarchical institution have almost made one forget the obscenity and archaism of preserving the Crown in democratic lands.
“Republican Meditation on the Coronation”, headlined the editorial of the Duty from 1er June 1953, signed by the hand of Pierre Vigeant. What hopes we carried! Canada’s slow march towards progress should lead it to free itself from its last constitutional shackles and achieve complete independence… “before the next coronation”, wrote the editorialist. What a tasty history lesson!
If there is a constant in the history of Canada, it is that it is moved by the urgency to wait. The unilateral patriation of the Constitution in 1982 did not rid us of the monarchy, an institution that costs approximately $58 million annually and an inestimable fortune in loss of credibility for a country that prides itself on respect for individual rights and its adherence to democratic ideals, two virtues absent from the heavy history of the monarchy and its twin, colonialism.
While large, proud “little” nations like Barbados have already succeeded in freeing themselves from the monarchy, and New Zealand, Australia, Belize and Jamaica are considering doing the same, Canada swallows gulps the Blue Blood Kool-Aid. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will participate in the carefully staged theater of the coronation, which King Charles III wanted to be more modest, with vegetarian quiche and invitations sent on recycled paper, among other gestures of voluntary simplicity. Big deal ! As if there could remain an ounce of modesty in this pompous ceremony at the end of which a man will be declared sovereign and head of the Anglican Church by the sole grace of blood ties.
At the concert of nations, Canada will come dead last in the race to finish the work of decolonization and get rid of the constitutional monarchy. Neither the Liberal Party nor the Conservative Party is prepared to complete Canada’s evolution into a republic. Too complicated to open the Constitution and find the formula to replace the king with a president with symbolic authority as head of state. Better to warn. Suddenly, Quebec and the First Nations would take advantage of this to demand a broader debate on their place and their autonomy in Confederation. Only the NDP, a party that turned its back on Quebec difference under Jagmeet Singh, and the Bloc Québécois, whose loyalty to Quebecers is undeniable, are willing to abolish the monarchy. The first party is losing credibility as an alternative to the current government, while the second has no chance of taking power. The urgency to wait is undeniable.
And yet, the context has never been so conducive to a divorce from the monarchy. The movement of Commonwealth countries to become republics should serve as an inspiration and give courage to Canada. Surveys provide a comfort zone for action. According to Leger’s latest sounding, the Canadians are largely indifferent to King Charles III. Half of them think that the coronation would be a good opportunity for Canada to reconsider its ties with the monarchy. It is in Quebec that the backlash is the strongest, with 71% support for the break. In all of Canada, barely 13% of respondents feel a personal attachment to the monarchy, that says it all.
Breaking with the monarchy is a relatively uncomplicated matter as long as the political elites accept a frank and open constitutional debate. The king would not send the British army to burn the cottages on both banks of the St. Lawrence, as at the time of the Conquest and the uprisings of the patriots. He would not deport the culprits as he did with the Acadians, victims of ruthless ethnic cleansing. No, the Crown is a modern institution. She looks to the future and contemplates herself with admiration in the British tabloids, while knowingly avoiding doing her soul-searching for the past centuries of colonialism, slavery, spoliation on the five continents of yesteryear.
On this May 6, coronation day, let’s dare to look beyond the bling-bling, the Crown Jewels and the golden carriages. Let us give ourselves the democratic institutions of a truly modern nation within which democratically elected men and women will assume the highest functions of the State. Demand proof from Canada that the Constitution is reformable and that it can be adapted to the contemporary aspirations of nations.