Mourning for a bygone era

If the queen had died a year earlier, Quebec would have been plunged into a turmoil of constitutional battle. Due to a legislative vacuum, the province could have been forced to dissolve the National Assembly and call an election after the last breath of Elizabeth II.

Fortunately, this flaw was closed in 2021. However, luck would have it that Elizabeth II died in the middle of the election campaign. Even if the constitutional controversy was narrowly avoided, the situation remains delicate for the politicians who will have to find the right balance in the process of mourning.

Of course, sinning out of indifference would be frowned upon. Tributes have also rocketed from all sides in the hours that followed the sad news. Prime Minister François Legault even put his campaign on hold.

On the other hand, the overzealous royalists will seem out of touch with the times, when three out of four Quebecers – and even one out of two Canadians – believe that Canada should not remain a constitutional monarchy.

But in reality, the two positions are far from being irreconcilable.

Obviously, Quebecers are attached to the queen who, after seven decades on the throne, can only inspire respect. Elizabeth II has gone through modern history. She marked her with her sense of duty which legitimized the British monarchy, despite the scandals. She tinted it by the stabilizing role she was able to play in a world where everything seems more and more ephemeral.

The queen has transcended her time. In the same way as Winston Churchill who was Prime Minister when he acceded to the throne in 1952 and who has been called the most important man of the XX^e century.

Beyond geopolitics, Quebecers feel sadness for the woman who is dying and who has always been part of their lives, even more so since the series was released. The Crown who unfolded the script of his life in front of millions of viewers.

But despite all the pain surrounding the queen’s disappearance, despite the nostalgia for a bygone era, it is not unseemly to ask constitutional questions at this pivotal moment.

In the United Kingdom, the accession to the throne of Charles III was done instantaneously. But at home, the change of reign is relaunching a great debate: should Canada cut the cord with the monarchy?

It is anachronistic that our country is run by a governor who is the representative of a foreign head of state. But this relic of the colonialist era is not so easy to send to the museum.

It must be said that the Governor General still plays a role that we could not do without, in particular to prorogue Parliament or ascertain the result of the minority election of a government.

However, this role does not necessarily have to be taken on by a representative of the British crown. Except that to change the rules, it would be necessary to revise the Constitution and obtain the agreement of all the provinces. A Pandora’s box that no leader wants to open, lest each province arrive with its list of demands.

That being said, we can review our traditions without upsetting the Constitution.

For example, we could have the choice of the next Governor General approved by Parliament, which would already give a more democratic veneer to his office.

We could also review the importance we give to the monarchy in our daily lives. Should we keep the Queen’s face on our $20 bills? Or replace it with that of the new king who does not enjoy the same popularity rating as his mother? Or by another character symbolizing the roots of our country?

For now, it’s time to mourn. But afterwards, we will have to enter a new era.