If asked, most Canadians would vote to cut ties with the monarchy.
But this country’s constitutional relationship with the Windsors isn’t likely to change any time soon, for one simple reason: too few Canadians care enough about the monarchy to make putting the question to them worth all the trouble.
From time to time, something erupts in the news that reminds Canadians of the existence of the British Royal Family — an institution that polls suggest most people in this country see as irrelevant to their lives. When that happens — because a governor general resigns, for example, or because of bombshell new allegations in a TV interview — it inevitably leads to questions about why Canada is still a constitutional monarchy.
In poll after poll, support for the monarchy in Canada doesn’t register very highly.
A survey published this week by Léger for the Association for Canadian Studies and the Canadian Press found that a majority of respondents (53 per cent) agreed with the statement that “the monarchy is out of date and no longer has its place in the 21st century,” and that it should be done away with.
A plurality of respondents in every region of the country and in all age groups agreed with that statement, while just 33 per cent said that “the monarchy is part of our history [and] we must preserve this heritage.”
According to a recent poll by Research Co., 45 per cent of Canadians support the idea of an elected head of state while just 24 per cent prefer to retain the Queen. Again, a plurality in all regions, age groups and political persuasions said they prefer an elected head of state over the current arrangement.
So there’s really no debate: support for the monarchy is a minority viewpoint in Canada.
There is less consensus on preferred alternatives, however — undoubtedly in part because few Canadians have spent much time thinking about it.
Queen, president or prime minister?
Polls suggest that Canadians generally don’t want a fundamental change to their political system — indicating that the tie to the monarchy itself, and not our parliamentary democracy, is the sticking point.
After being given a list of options by Léger, 36 per cent of Canadians said they would prefer a system with no governor general, monarchical representative or president. They’d just like to see Parliament function as it currently does, with the prime minister as the head of state.
Technically, that’s not how Canada’s government works — but to many Canadians, that’s how it works in practice. And they don’t want that to change.
The next most popular option, at just 16 per cent, is for Canada to become a republic with an elected president. A number of other alternatives received meagre support, though 20 per cent said they’d keep things as-is.
Other polls have found similar results. The Angus Reid Institute found that 29 per cent of Canadians want the prime minister to be the head of state, while 19 per cent still want that role to fall to the governor general, without the ties to the Royal Family. Just 20 per cent said they want an elected president.
This suggests that Canadians are not diehard republicans at heart. The parliamentary form of government suits them just fine, but the divine right of kings and queens strikes them as a little old-fashioned.
Polls show little support and lots of indifference
That doesn’t mean Canadians don’t like the Queen. When Abacus polled Canadians in the fall, it found that nearly half of respondents (44 per cent) had a positive impression of Queen Elizabeth II. An almost equal share (37 per cent) held a neutral view, suggesting a degree of indifference.
That’s a common thread in polling on the monarchy. When asked whether Canada should continue to have a monarch as its head of state, the Abacus poll found that just 18 per cent said it “definitely” should. Only 24 per cent said it definitely should not.
That left 39 per cent of Canadians “leaning” in one direction or the other and another 19 per cent who said they “don’t care either way.” Put those together and you have a solid 58 per cent of respondents taking the entire issue with a collective shrug.
In countries with historic ties to Britain, allegations by Prince Harry and Meghan about racism within the Royal Family have raised questions about whether those nations want to be closely connected to Britain any longer. (Kirsty Wigglesworth / Asssociated Press)
A more recent survey by Ipsos found something similar: just 40 per cent said they felt “strongly” about whether Canada should break ties with the Royal Family after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The other 60 per cent only “somewhat” agreed or disagreed with breaking ties.
The Research Co. poll found that about 32 per cent of respondents either didn’t care or didn’t know whether Canada should continue as a monarchy.
In most of these surveys, the majority of respondents either want to keep things as they are — or don’t really care. That makes it a majority for the status quo.
Long to reign over us?
The fact that making a change to the Constitution would be no simple matter is another point for the status quo. Such a change would require a vote in Parliament and the unanimous agreement of all provinces. Given this country’s history of high-stakes attempts to re-write the Constitution that failed, it’s not surprising that Canadians would be wary of trying again.
Defenders of Canada’s constitutional monarchy often contrast the successes of other countries under similar systems of government to the failures of those with different systems, such as the United States. The example of a country like Germany — which has both an elected (and largely ceremonial) head of state and boring politics — is not nearly as evocative.
But it is possible to believe both that there is great value in the apolitical role played by the Crown in Canada’s system of government — and that it’s an unjustifiable anachronism.
Polls suggest Canadians do not feel strongly about the monarchy one way or the other — but if they were forced to choose, more Canadians would prefer having a different head of state. (Steve Parsons/The Associated Press)
That may be why few politicians are willing to spend much political capital on defending the family’s role or attempting to change it.
Despite the the fact that, for many Canadians, the British Crown represents a legacy of colonialism, racism, violent conquest and mass deportation, politicians — even those who have no great love for the Windsors — are mostly willing to go no further than to point out that their priorities lie elsewhere. That’s what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did last week.
In the end, these leaders know that Canadians will move on to other things. The fallout from Meghan Markle’s interview with Oprah Winfrey has not been good for the monarchy — Léger found that support for eliminating the monarchy has increased seven points since early February — but it’s not likely to create a critical mass that would lead to change.
Or so the Royal Family might hope. As damning as Markle’s comments were, the biggest risk to the Windsors’ continued reign in Canada might be the prospect of Canadians starting to ask themselves the sort of questions Buckingham Palace would prefer to leave unanswered.
Montreal Alouettes wide receiver Tyson Philpot has announced he will be out for the rest of the CFL season.
The Delta, B.C., native posted the news on his Instagram page Thursday.
“To Be Continued. Shoutout my team, the fans of the CFL and the whole city of Montreal! I can’t wait to be back healthy and write this next chapter in 2025,” the statement read.
Philpot, 24, injured his foot in a 33-23 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Aug. 10 and was placed on the six-game injured list the next week.
The six-foot-one, 195-pound receiver had 58 receptions, 779 yards and five touchdowns in nine games for the league-leading Alouettes in his third season.
Philpot scored the game-winning touchdown in Montreal’s Grey Cup win last season to punctuate a six-reception, 63-yard performance.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa sustained a concussion for the third time in his NFL career, leaving his team’s game Thursday night against Buffalo after running into defensive back Damar Hamlin and hitting the back of his head against the turf.
Tagovailoa remained down for about two minutes before getting to his feet and walking to the sideline after the play in the third quarter. He made his way to the tunnel not long afterward, looking into the stands before smiling and departing toward the locker room.
The Dolphins needed almost no time before announcing it was a concussion. The team said he had two during the 2022 season, and Tagovailoa was diagnosed with another concussion when he was a college player at Alabama.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Tagovailoa would get “proper procedural evaluation” and “appropriate care” on Friday.
“The furthest thing from my mind is, ‘What is the timeline?’ We just need to evaluate and just worry about my teammate, like the rest of the guys are,” McDaniel said. “We’ll get more information tomorrow and take it day by day from here.”
Some players saw Tagovailoa in the locker room after the game and said they were encouraged. Tagovailoa spoke with some players and then went home after the game, McDaniel said.
“I have a lot of love for Tua, built a great relationship with him,” said quarterback Skylar Thompson, who replaced Tagovailoa after the injury. “You care about the person more than the player and everybody in the organization would say the same thing. Just really praying for Tua and hopefully everything will come out all right.”
Tagovailoa signed a four-year, $212 million extension before this season — a deal that makes him one of the highest-paid players in the NFL — and was the NFL’s leading passer in Week 1 this season. Tagovailoa left with the Dolphins trailing 31-10, and that was the final score.
“If you know Tua outside of football, you can’t help but feel for him,” Bills quarterback Josh Allen said on Amazon following the game. “He’s a great football player but he’s an even greater human being. He’s one of the best humans on the planet. I’ve got a lot of love for him and I’m just praying for him and his family, hoping everything’s OK. But it’s tough, man. This game of football that we play, it’s got its highs and it’s got its lows — and this is one of the lows.”
Tagovailoa’s college years and first three NFL seasons were marred by injury, though he positioned himself for a big pay bump with an injury-free and productive 2023 as he led the Dolphins into the playoffs. He threw for 29 touchdowns and a league-best 4,624 yards last year.
When, or if, he can come back this season is anyone’s guess. Tagovailoa said in April 2023 that the concussions he had in the 2022 season left him contemplating his playing future. “I think I considered it for a time,” he said then, when asked if he considered stepping away from the game to protect himself.
McDaniel said it’s not his place to say if Tagovailoa should return to football. “He’ll be evaluated and we’ll have conversations and progress as appropriate,” McDaniel said.
Tagovailoa was hurt Thursday on a fourth-down keeper with about 4:30 left in the third. He went straight ahead into Hamlin and did not slide, leading with his right shoulder instead.
Hamlin was the player who suffered a cardiac arrest after making a tackle during a Monday night game in January 2023 at Cincinnati, causing the NFL to suspend a pivotal game that quickly lost significance in the aftermath of a scary scene that unfolded in front of a national television audience.
Tagovailoa wound up on his back, both his hands in the air and Bills players immediately pointed at him as if to suggest there was an injury. Dolphins center Aaron Brewer quickly did the same, waving to the sideline.
Tagovailoa appeared to be making a fist with his right hand as he lay on the ground. It was movement consistent with something that is referred to as the “fencing response,” which can be common after a traumatic brain injury.
Tagovailoa eventually got to his feet. McDaniel grabbed the side of his quarterback’s head and gave him a kiss on the cheek as Tagovailoa departed. Thompson came into the game to take Tagovailoa’s spot.
“I love Tua on and off the football field,” Bills edge Von Miller said. “I’m a huge fan of him. I can empathize and sympathize with him because I’ve been there. I wish him the best.”
Tagovailoa’s history with concussions — and how he has since worked to avoid them — is a huge part of the story of his career, and now comes to the forefront once again.
He had at least two concussions during the 2022 season. He was hurt in a Week 3 game against Buffalo and cleared concussion protocol, though he appeared disoriented on that play but returned to the game.
The NFL later changed its concussion protocol to mandate that if a player shows possible concussion symptoms — including a lack of balance or stability — he must sit out the rest of the game.
Less than a week later, in a Thursday night game at Cincinnati, Tagovailoa was concussed on a scary hit that briefly knocked him unconscious and led to him being taken off the field on a stretcher.
His second known concussion of that season came in a December game against Green Bay, and he didn’t play for the rest of the 2022 season. After that, Tagovailoa began studying ways where he may be able to fall more safely and protect himself against further injury — including studying jiu-jitsu.
“I’m not worried about anything that’s out of my hands,” McDaniel said. “I’m just worried about the human being.”
NEW YORK (AP) — When her husband turns on the television to hear news about the upcoming presidential election, that’s often a signal for Lori Johnson Malveaux to leave the room.
It can get to be too much. Often, she’ll go to a TV in another room to watch a movie on the Hallmark Channel or BET. She craves something comforting and entertaining. And in that, she has company.
While about half of Americans say they are following political news “extremely” or “very” closely, about 6 in 10 say they need to limit how much information they consume about the government and politics to avoid feeling overloaded or fatigued, according to a new survey from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and USAFacts.
Make no mistake: Malveaux plans to vote. She always does. “I just get to the point where I don’t want to hear the rhetoric,” she said.
The 54-year-old Democrat said she’s most bothered when she hears people on the news telling her that something she saw with her own eyes — like the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol — didn’t really happen.
“I feel like I’m being gaslit. That’s the way to put it,” she said.
Sometimes it feels like ‘a bombardment’
Caleb Pack, 23, a Republican from Ardmore, Oklahoma, who works in IT, tries to keep informed through the news feeds on his phone, which is stocked with a variety of sources, including CNN, Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press.
Yet sometimes, Pack says, it seems like a bombardment.
“It’s good to know what’s going on, but both sides are pulling a little bit extreme,” he said. “It just feels like it’s a conversation piece everywhere, and it’s hard to escape it.”
Media fatigue isn’t a new phenomenon. A Pew Research Center survey conducted in late 2019 found roughly two in three Americans felt worn out by the amount of news there is, about the same as in a poll taken in early 2018. During the 2016 presidential campaign, about 6 in 10 people felt overloaded by campaign news.
But it can be particularly acute with news related to politics. The AP-NORC/USAFacts poll found that half of Americans feel a need to limit their consumption of information related to crime or overseas conflicts, while only about 4 in 10 are limiting news about the economy and jobs.
It’s easy to understand, with television outlets like CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC full of political talk and a wide array of political news online, sometimes complicated by disinformation.
“There’s a glut of information,” said Richard Coffin, director of research and advocacy for USAFacts, “and people are having a hard time figuring out what is true or not.”
Women are more likely to feel they need to limit media
In the AP-NORC poll, about 6 in 10 men said they follow news about elections and politics at least “very” closely, compared to about half of women. For all types of news, not just politics, women are more likely than men to report the need to limit their media consumption, the survey found.
White adults are also more likely than Black or Hispanic adults to say they need to limit media consumption on politics, the poll found.
Kaleb Aravzo, 19, a Democrat, gets a baseline of news by listening to National Public Radio in the morning at home in Logan, Utah. Too much politics, particularly when he’s on social media sites like TikTok and Instagram, can trigger anxiety and depression.
“If it pops up on my page when I’m on social media,” he said, “I’ll just scroll past it.”
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Sanders reported from Washington. David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder.
The AP poll of 1,019 adults was conducted July 29-August 8, 2024, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.0 percentage points.
