Support for the monarchy is at its lowest point in a generation as Canadians continue to digest the passing last September of the long-reigning Queen Elizabeth and weigh the institution’s future with King Charles on the throne.
But the sizable Canadian contingent at the King’s coronation in London on Saturday suggests there are still many faithful followers of the thousand year-old institution.
Some Canadian revellers camped out for days to catch a glimpse of the country’s new head of state and Queen Camilla.
Daniel Guenther of Winnipeg was part of a “coronation tour” with 30 other Canadian monarchists. The group travelled throughout the U.K. over the past week, with the coronation the most important stop.
“I just felt it was a wonderful opportunity to come over here and represent Canada on the ground. It was so heart-warming to see so many Canadians — it was a large contingent, walking around, exchanging pins, sharing a moment,” he said.
“Anecdotally, I would say this was the largest contingent outside the U.K. There were just a ton of Canadian flags out there,” Guenther said.
Asked why he made the trek and paid handsomely for the travel, Guenther said he wanted to support the King — a man who most Canadians don’t know well, he said.
Guenther said Charles’s comparatively poor poll numbers can turn around in time.
“There’s been some discussion about the future of the monarchy, but just seeing the number of Canadians here who were engaged — and looking at supportive messages from people back home — I think it’s been understated just how excited people are for this,” he said.
“It’s going to take time for Canadians to get to know King Charles, and when they do, I think they’ll be pleasantly surprised.”
King Charles’s deep ties to Canada
Britain’s new monarch King Charles has deep ties to Canada, forging connections with some Canadians through his charitable work and outreach during his many visits to the country.
‘Once-in-a-generation thing to do’
The Canadian presence was particularly strong in the viewing areas in Hyde Park — an overflow area to accommodate the crushing crowds who couldn’t find a spot along the coronation procession route.
Those Canadians who were lucky enough to witness the gilded carriage as it rolled through central London saw dozens of Canadian Armed Forces personnel and the RCMP Musical Ride usher King Charles and Queen Camilla from their investiture at Westminster Abbey.
The RCMP recently gave the King a mare, Noble. He’ll ride the horse during Trooping the Colour, an annual celebration to mark the monarch’s birthday — continuing a long-standing tradition of Canadian equine gifts to the sovereign.
Jessica and Andrew Matthews of Toronto were among those who braved the wet London weather on Saturday to witness history.
“Our little guy is six months old. We’re going to be able to tell him and future generations that we were here — that’s just amazing,” Jessica said.
“And when I saw the Mounties, I just burst out into cheers and clapped.”
Andrew said it’s a “once-in-a-generation thing to do,” and they wouldn’t think about missing the event. The couple said they didn’t expect to see so many fellow Canadians in the crowd.
Canada’s military contingent was notably smaller than what was on display at the Queen’s coronation 70 years ago, when 700 Canadian service members were present.
But Canada’s military display this time was still one of the largest among the Commonwealth realms in Charles’s purposely scaled-down version of the event.
Canadian flag prominent in London
The prime spot to view Charles and Camilla, as they stood on the balcony at Buckingham Palace after the ceremony, was appropriately named Canada Gate.
The flags along The Mall — the street that leads to that storied residence — also reveal Canada’s prime position in the Commonwealth. The maple leaf flies second only to the Union Jack — a testament to the country’s long-standing ties to the Crown.
The Canadian flag also held a prominent position in Westminster Abbey — directly across from Charles in the church nave as he took his oath to serve.
Canada is a senior member of the Commonwealth — the group of mostly former British colonies that was first led by a Canadian, Arnold Smith — and it’s also a country where the republican movement is comparatively quiet.
Unlike in Australia, for example — where there’s already been a failed referendum on the royals, and the prime minister is an avowed anti-monarchist — Canada has so far avoided a serious conversation about a future without the monarchy.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, an admirer of the late Queen who is ideologically in sync with the climate-focused King, has repeatedly said he’s unwilling to engage in protracted constitutional talks to end Canada’s ties with the royals.
It’s unlikely all provinces, along with the House of Commons and Senate, will agree to remove the sovereign any time soon — if ever.
That constitutional reality has prompted the federal Liberal government to put King Charles in a new light.
The Canadian delegation at Saturday’s celebration reflected the image the government wants to project when people think of the monarch. There were Indigenous leaders, a large youth delegation, climate activists, scientists and an astronaut — Jeremy Hansen, who’s headed to the moon with the Artemis II mission.
King Charles won’t be known as ‘defender of the faith.’ Does it matter?
King Charles will have a new title in Canada now that the government has dropped “defender of the faith” — part of a push to redefine the head of state’s role.
Under Trudeau, Canada has also dropped the “defender of the faith” position from Charles’s Canadian title — a signal that, unlike in the U.K., the head of state is strictly secular in Canada’s religiously diverse country.
“The issues that matter most to Charles, they resonate with Canadians,” Winnipeg’s Daniel Guenther said. “Environmental sustainability, historical preservation, Indigenous reconciliation — those are issues that are at the forefront at home. There’s a total overlap.”
He said this year’s event was “quite a different coronation” than the one staged for Queen Elizabeth in 1953.
The inclusion of different faith leaders in the church service, the presence of Indigenous groups and a selection of racially and ethnically diverse performers shows that the “world has really changed and the monarchy is willing to change with that,” Guenther said.
Opinion: Brad West been one of the sharpest critics of decriminalization
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Published Apr 22, 2024 • Last updated 2 hours ago • 4 minute read
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VICTORIA — Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West fired off a letter to Premier David Eby last week about Allan Schoenborn, the child killer who changed his name in a bid for anonymity.
“It is completely beyond the pale that individuals like Schoenborn have the ability to legally change their name in an attempt to disassociate themselves from their horrific crimes and to evade the public,” wrote West.
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The Alberta government has legislated against dangerous, long-term and high risk offenders who seek to change their names to escape public scrutiny.
“I urge your government to pass similar legislation as a high priority to ensure the safety of British Columbians,” West wrote the premier.
The B.C. Review Board has granted Schoenborn overnight, unescorted leave for up to 28 days, and he spent some of that time in Port Coquitlam, according to West.
This despite the board being notified that “in the last two years there have been 15 reported incidents where Schoenborn demonstrated aggressive behaviour.”
“It is absolutely unacceptable that an individual who has committed such heinous crimes, and continues to demonstrate this type of behaviour, is able to roam the community unescorted.”
Understandably, those details alarmed PoCo residents.
But the letter is also an example of the outspoken mayor’s penchant for to-the-point pronouncements on provincewide concerns.
He’s been one of the sharpest critics of decriminalization.
His most recent blast followed the news that the New Democrats were appointing a task force to advise on ways to curb the use of illicit drugs and the spread of weapons in provincial hospitals.
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“Where the hell is the common sense here?” West told Mike Smyth on CKNW recently. “This has just gone way too far. And to have a task force to figure out what to do — it’s obvious what we need to do.
“In a hospital, there’s no weapons and you can’t smoke crack or fentanyl or any other drugs. There you go. Just saved God knows how much money and probably at least six months of dithering.”
He had a pithy comment on the government’s excessive reliance on outside consultants like MNP to process grants for clean energy and other programs.
“If ever there was a place to find savings that could be redirected to actually delivering core public services, it is government contracts to consultants like MNP,” wrote West.
He’s also broken with the Eby government on the carbon tax.
“The NDP once opposed the carbon tax because, by its very design, it is punishing to working people,” wrote West in a social media posting.
“The whole point of the tax is to make gas MORE expensive so people don’t use it. But instead of being honest about that, advocates rely on flimsy rebate BS. It is hard to find someone who thinks they are getting more dollars back in rebates than they are paying in carbon tax on gas, home heat, etc.”
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West has a history with the NDP. He was a political staffer and campaign worker with Mike Farnworth, the longtime NDP MLA for Port Coquitlam and now minister of public safety.
When West showed up at the legislature recently, Farnworth introduced him to the house as “the best mayor in Canada” and endorsed him as his successor: “I hope at some time he follows in my footsteps and takes over when I decide to retire — which is not just yet,” added Farnworth who is running this year for what would be his eighth term.
Other political players have their eye on West as a future prospect as well.
Several parties have invited him to run in the next federal election. He turned them all down.
Lately there has also been an effort to recruit him to lead a unified Opposition party against Premier David Eby in this year’s provincial election.
I gather the advocates have some opinion polling to back them up and a scenario that would see B.C. United and the Conservatives make way (!) for a party to be named later.
Such flights of fancy are commonplace in B.C. when the NDP is poised to win against a divided Opposition.
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By going after West, the advocates pay a compliment to his record as mayor (low property taxes and a fix-every-pothole work ethic) and his populist stands on public safety, carbon taxation and other provincial issues.
The outreach to a small city mayor who has never run provincially also says something about the perceived weaknesses of the alternatives to Eby.
“It is humbling,” West said Monday when I asked his reaction to the overtures.
But he is a young father with two boys, aged three and seven. The mayor was 10 when he lost his own dad and he believes that if he sought provincial political leadership now, “I would not be the type of dad I want to be.”
When West ran for re-election — unopposed — in 2022, he promised to serve out the full four years as mayor.
He is poised to keep his word, confident that if the overtures to run provincially are serious, they will still be there when his term is up.
LIVE Q&A WITH B.C. PREMIER DAVID EBY: Join us April 23 at 3:30 p.m. when we will sit down with B.C. Premier David Eby for a special edition of Conversations Live. The premier will answer our questions — and yours — about a range of topics, including housing, drug decriminalization, transportation, the economy, crime and carbon taxes. Click HERE to get a link to the livestream emailed to your inbox.
New York Times reporter and CNN senior political analyst Maggie Haberman explains the significance of David Pecker, the ex-publisher of the National Enquirer, taking the stand in the hush money case against former President Donald Trump.
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