On May 6, Charles III will officially be crowned king of the United Kingdom in a coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey.
As king, Charles is also the head of state of 14 other Commonwealth countries, including Canada. The coronation raises an important question for Canada and the other countries: Should we retain a British monarch as our official head of state?
Several Commonwealth countries have already removed the British monarch as their head of state, opting to become republics. Others are considering making a similar change.
In 2021, Barbados became the latest Commonwealth country to cut ties with the British royal family, opting to make Sandra Mason, the country’s governor-general, its first president.
Australia recently announced that King Charles will not be appearing on their $5 banknote. This may prove the opening gambit in what could lead to a second Australian referendum on whether to become a republic. Australia’s current Labor government has announced its intention to hold such a referendum if it is re-elected to a second term.
Canada and the Crown
Canadians of a certain age will remember the heated debate back in 1965 when the Pearson government moved to replace the Red Ensign, with its Union Jack in the corner, with the Maple Leaf flag.
John Diefenbaker and other Tories huffed and puffed about the terrible break with tradition this would represent. But who in Canada today would want to return to the Red Ensign?
The Crown has had an important place in Canadian history. It was a symbol of the British connection and of the country’s tie to the British Empire at the time of Confederation and for many decades thereafter.
It is also worth noting that, demographically speaking, a clear majority of the country’s English-speaking population was of British origin for much of the country’s history.
But this has been much less the case since World War II. Immigrants from around the world have made Canada a much more diverse country. Nor do those Canadians with British ancestry necessarily identify with Great Britain as the mother country in the way previous generations might have done.
A borrowed crown
Constitutional monarchy is a perfectly legitimate option for liberal democracies. It has worked well in Scandinavia and the Benelux countries, and reasonably well in the UK, Spain and Japan.
The problem for countries like Canada or Australia is that ours is a borrowed crown. The royal family is British and no attempt to Canadianize the Crown can disguise the fact that our head of state is not and cannot be a Canadian, as long as this last vestige of the colonial tie is retained.
We need to have a proper debate in this country about the monarchy, now that the queen who reigned for 70 years has passed away. The House of Windsor has had its share of problems, and the current royals do not enjoy the same level of popularity that Queen Elizabeth may have had. Nor is it clear why the Canada of today would want to retain its ties with an institution steeped in aristocratic and feudal privilege.
It would be helpful if our political parties, beginning with the New Democratic Party and the Liberal Party, were prepared to open a debate on the subject. But it needs to go well beyond their ranks and include society at large. What is at stake is the symbolism associated with having a British monarch as our head of state a century and a half after confederation.
Some might argue that replacing King Charles would open up a constitutional can of worms. A key question is how a future Canadian head of state might be designated. Clearly, we would not be replacing a parliamentary system with a presidential system of the American or French variety.
If we were to become a republic, it’s important to agree on a mechanism by which a president might be chosen. This was a problem that dogged the republicans in Australia at the time of their 1999 referendum.
A possible path forward
One model that comes to mind for a federal state like Canada is Germany. Their president is elected to a five-year term (renewable once) by a Federal Convention made up of all the members of the Bundestag (the lower house of parliament), and an equal number, proportionate to their respective populations, elected by the legislatures of the 16 Länder (provinces).
The system has functioned well until now, with the figures who have occupied the presidency being well-suited to the role. Germany, like Canada, remains a parliamentary democracy. Effective political power rests with the chancellor, as it does with the prime minister in this country.
Were Canada to go the republican route, we would need to do so through a long constitutional process. The Canadian constitution states that there must be unanimity of the provinces for changing the head of state. In addition, treaties between First Nations and the Crown would have to be carried forward into a Canadian republic.
However, where there is a will there is a way. And Canadians should no longer shirk the question: does the British monarchy reflect how we see ourselves in the 21st century?
Philip Resnick is Professor Emeritus, Political Science, University of British Columbia.
The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.
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27 Comments
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Moonraker
Funny that. In Britain they are often regarded as German interlopers who had to change their name because of it. The English have had Scottish royals imposed on them too, in the 1600s, and the whole stinking edifice was Viking French in the beginning and didn't even speak English for centuries. Only the most ardently brainwashed imagines they are "one of us". The real question is whether Britain should become a republic. Canada is welcome to them all in their entirety, if they need them to be Canadian.
wallace
It can only be decided by Canadians in a referendum.
Aly Rustom
Should Canada become a republic?
No. It shouldn't.
It should form a Supranational Union (CANZUK) with OZ, NZ, and the UK.
Closer ties to the Commonwealth is a better idea than republicanism.
1glenn
The real absolute monarchs are Kim, Xi, and Putin. Britain's monarchs are just for show.
Eastman
good questions.
maybe good idea to ask canadian citizens in referendum?
Jimizo
Would they be better off as a republic? Would this affect Canada joining your Canzuk idea?
What do the polls say ( I’m not familiar with the biases of pollsters in Canada) . Are people that arsed about it that it’s worth calling a referendum?
This is a problem I see with the people calling for the abolition of the monarchy in the UK. It’s easy to attack the ridiculousness of having a hereditary head of state ( even supporters of the monarchy are forced to admit this ) but it’s more difficult to propose an alternative. In the UK, the go to line is ‘So you want President Tony Blair?’ for some reason. Very strange but perhaps a symptom of those against not making a clear and practical enough argument.
Spend more time explaining the nuts and bolts of the alternative rather than just shooting fish in a barrel
Aly Rustom
That is a good question. I doubt it.
I think so. If Canada is no longer part of the Commonwealth but the other 3 are. But if the UK gets rid of the monarchy and all 4 become republics then it is still possible. Or they could all be absorbed by the US. Anything is possible.
Last time i was in Canada was 2019. I don't know if the ascension of Charles makes a difference, but the impression I get from Canadians is they really want to distinguish themselves from the US, which is why I'm guessing they are not really that interested in becoming a republic.. Just my impression..
Yrral
Wallace,you was born under the crown, Canadian were colonist who fled colonial America to live under the crown
Awa no Gaijin
I doubt the Canadian native tribes hold the same sentiment !
Awa no Gaijin
Allow the people to decide that .
Canada is a great country however Britain is ghastly.
And what about French Canada ?
wallace
Awa no Gaijin
how long did you live in the UK?
wallace
I want elected leaders in all positions with instant recalls when they forget the people they represent.
Ego Sum Lux Mundi
Never mind Canada, Britain itself should be a republic.
Moonraker
How about we could always choose a random citizen to be president for a year or two, like with juries. Of course, they would have no power to interfere in government on their own behalf, like the present monarchs can. Might even be able to choose most politicians like that too.
master
My word. Someone get this fella a history book, stat.
Anonymous
Well, there are United Empire Loyalists who like to trace their ancestry back to “loyal” pre-(Revolutionary)war America…
Then, there were my ancestors who, although once residents south of the border, simply wanted cheap farm land …
Lord Dartmouth
Canada would not be Canada without the monarchy and the British connections. If Canadians really want to be like Barbados - another boring republic, with a 'head of state' who no one has heard of, go for it, but I'm sure they'll stay on board.
Moonraker
As Engels writes: “The English bourgeoisie are, up to the present day, so deeply penetrated by a sense of their social inferiority that they keep up, at their own expense and that of the nation, an ornamental caste of drones to represent the nation worthily at all state functions; and they consider themselves highly honoured whenever one of themselves is found worthy of admission into this select and priviledged body, manufactured, after all, by themselves."
TrevorPeace
@Aly Rustom, thanks for visiting. And yes, we most of us don't like being thought of as 'Americans' even though we share the continent. I used to like visiting the US, but for the past 20 years as I've watched their society disintegrate I've avoided it like the plague.
ushosh123
What is the difference anyways. I think Canada has more pressing issues.
Simon Foston
Ego Sum Lux MundiToday 02:15 pm JST
To all intents and purposes Britain is a republic already. The King might be there as the symbolic head of state but actual power rests with the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority, i.e. the prime minister.
ClippetyClop
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, if you had to choose who to be colonized and conquered by, you'd choose Britain or France, maybe the Dutch. You certainly wouldn't choose the religious plunderers of Spain or Portugal.
The British allowed colonists set up governments and policies they felt were most beneficial to them.
The 56 member Commonwealth of Nations, of which Canada is a part of, still exists because the institutions set up by the British are still in use by those countries. No other imperial power has ever been able to do deconstruct its empire and maintain relations in such a way.
Could you imagine Czechs debating having pictures of Russian leaders on their banknotes in 2080?
Desert Tortoise
If Russia manages to conquer Ukraine that scenario could be realistic. Just saying .....
Desert Tortoise
Still living in the past ....
Aly Rustom
Trevor-
The pleasure is all ours! One day, we hope to be able to move there!
I went to college in the US, and every time I am in Canada, my frat brothers ask me to drive down to hang out and party with them, but I always reply that they are welcome to visit me up north.
Awa no Gaijin
So you admit it is possible Russia could conquer Ukraine ?
Hmm....interesting !
Awa no Gaijin
That's hilarious and frightening lol.
Would make a great movie tho.
Purely fictional of course