Should Canada wear the Crown?

By: Catherine Abes 

With news of Toronto-based Meghan Markle’s engagement to Prince Harry dominating headlines, the conversation around Canada’s relationship with the monarchy has been renewed.

Canada could separate from the monarchy as a legal entity, but it might have trouble separating symbolically, said a constitutional expert.

“The monarchy plays a more important role on a symbolic level,” said David Schneidermann, a professor of law and political science at the University of Toronto. “It’s an important part of our Canadian legacy, but that doesn’t mean it can’t evolve.”

An Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News indicated that half of Canadians believe that Canada should end its ties to the monarchy when the Queen’s reign ends.

The poll, which was an online survey of 1,004 Canadians conducted between May 19 and 23, 2017 is accurate within plus or minus 3.6 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

A future without the Queen

The Monarchy is “at the apex of our constitutional order”, said Schneiderman.

“The crown is entrenched in the constitution and though the Queen of Canada does very little here, everything that’s done by government is done in her name.”

The few reserve powers that the Crown does hold, however, are huge.

The Crown acts as an “impartial decision maker”, says Schneiderman, with the power to prorogue and dissolve parliament.

Schneiderman says that if Canada no longer fell under the constitutional monarchy, a mechanism needs to be put in place to make these decisions in the interest of the public, not a particular politician.

Citizens for Canadian Republic advocates for the head of state to be replaced with a Canadian citizen, rather than systemic reform.

“We don’t want the Crown to discontinue in Canada, we want the monarchy to discontinue,” said Tom Freda, director of the group.

Results from a poll conducted by Forum Research in 2015 indicated that 73 per cent of Canadians agreed that the Head of State of Canada should be Canadian and live in Canada.

The amending formula for the constitution is strict. It requires that all 10 provinces, the House of Commons and the Senate unanimously agree to change the constitution.

Freda, however, said that there could be a way to get around the amending formula.

In 2013, the Harper government changed the way the head of state is interpreted in implementing the Succession to the Throne Bill (C-53). The former prime minister implemented it without using the amendment.

“[The harper government] created a precedent for changing who is Canada’s head of state,” said Freda.  “This opens the door to having a future government decide who is our head of state without using the amending formula.”

“It’s a part of the Canadian identity”

(Infographic by: Cierra Badhwar and Mark Nathan)

Schneiderman said that he’s confident that Canada could imagine ways around the legal implications of separating from the monarchy. The main issue, he said, is Canada overcoming its symbolic relationship with the monarchy.

“It’s a part of Canadian identity,” said Schneiderman. “Canadians like it when the Princes come and visit. [Canadians] are fascinated by the House of Windsor. This recent engagement announcement attracts a lot of media attention and there’s reasons not to care, but people do.”

Canada’s relationship with the Crown is especially important to Indigenous peoples, said Schneiderman. First Nations made agreements with the Crown on a nation-to-nation basis and their rights and land ownership are recognized by the Crown.

Freda said that moving away from the monarchy would be more symbolic of Canada’s national identity.

“An important part of our national identity is evolving out of colonialism,” said Freda. “It is one step in our long list of steps that we have taken to assert our independence.”