A commentary by a resident of Honeymoon Bay.
Victoria Day, 2023. Canada has a new king — in fact we have since the passing of much-loved Queen Elizabeth II. But what does it mean?
Queen Elizabeth was the queen and monarch we all knew, most of us for our entire lives, as a dignified symbol of who we are, whose life-long devotion, service and duty to the people of the Commonwealth is even now close to our hearts.
Even to those of us seduced by the never-ending self-justifications of our justifiably insecure chest-pounding southern neighbour who in their better moments celebrated her reign for her person and in nostalgia for what they have lost.
The Coronation of His Majesty Charles III, our — Canada’s — king and sovereign, gives us an opportunity to renew our understanding of who we are, our history and culture, of who we are becoming, and of the place of our monarchy in our past and future.
Canada is a constitutional monarchy, a Westminster parliamentary democracy, and we enjoy a highly centralized federal principle. The monarchy is key to all of these things.
“There shall be one parliament for Canada, consisting of the Queen, an Upper House styled the Senate, and the House of Commons” are the words of our founding document and written constitution in its original form, Article IV, sec. 17 of The British North America Act, 1867 30-31 Victoria, c.3., now inelegantly referenced as the Constitution Act, 1867.
Each part of parliament, monarch, Senate, and Commons, has its own function.
The monarch is the dignified part of government. The role of the monarch is cultural, political, and constitutional.
The sovereignty of the people, of the people of Canada, lies in the sovereign and so in matters of law and of territorial sovereignty, is defined as Crown Sovereignty.
Cultural: Our monarchy is integral to our cultural inheritance and identity, regardless of the ancestry of those who have become part of 91原创 society as new 91原创s.
This role is essential to cultural and national unity as immigrant cultural diaspora from other places and societies have added their distinctiveness to our own. This is what is meant by multiculturalism.
Political: The King, as monarch, is our sovereign head of state distinguished from the political head of government.
This important distinction is a protection against the frailties of republics and presidencies where ambition and rivalries of party, ideology and movements tear nations apart. The monarchy is the symbol and means of stability in good times and bad.
Constitutional: Canada is one, a sovereign state, federally united into one Dominion under the Crown serving the welfare of the provinces and interests of the nation as the BNA Act/Constitution Act, 1867 provides.
The monarch and monarchy are the keystone of national unity, represented by governors general of Canada and their lieutenant-governors in the provinces.
This living central fact of our existence as a country recognized in international law and according to the principles of the UN Charter defines Canada. Crown sovereignty, the rule of law, and our parliamentary democracy depend on it and protect us against the frailties of lesser states.
What we celebrate in His Majesty’s Coronation, and now that Victoria Day has been proclaimed the Official Birthday Celebration of Our King, is what it means to be 91原创, in all its diversity.
>>> To comment on this article, write a letter to the editor: [email protected]
