Canada’s Constitution makes it incredibly challenging for the country to end its ties with the Monarchy.
“I think it would be very difficult,” Allan Hutchinson, a legal theorist and law professor at York University, told CTVNews.ca. “Any change in the arrangements around the Crown would require the unanimity of all provinces and the federal government. The chances of getting that are not good.”
UNANIMOUS CONSENT
Canada is a constitutional monarchy, which means the British sovereign is our ceremonial head of state, represented by the Governor General. Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Charles III ascended the British throne and also became King of Canada.
“It really is all about formalities,” Hutchinson said. “King Charles has no power in Canada.”
Countries without monarchies, like the U.S. and France, are known as republics. For Canada to sever its longstanding ties to the Monarchy and become a republic, it would require agreement between the House of Commons, the Senate and all 10 provinces. Known as “amendment by unanimous consent,” the rule is outlined in Section 41 of the 1982 Constitution Act, which was enacted by then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau’s government. Input from the territories or a referendum is not required.
“In 1982, they needed the approval of the Brits in order to get the Constitution repatriated,” Hutchinson, who has written extensively about the Constitution, explained. “I think at that time, if they had made the monarchy a kind of optional feature, that might have been a problem.”
Constitutional law expert David Schneiderman believes it would be “virtually impossible” to achieve unanimous consent on the issue today.
“You would have to have an overwhelming consensus in Canadian public opinion that would warrant premiers passing resolutions in their legislatures calling for abolition of the Monarchy,” Schneiderman, a professor of law and political science at the University of Toronto, told CTVNews.ca. “I don’t see that happening anytime soon.”
Most other constitutional changes require agreement from two-thirds of the provinces, if they represent at least 50 per cent of the country’s population. Previous major attempts to amend the Constitution have failed, like the Meech Lake Accord in 1987 and the Charlottetown Accord in 1992.
“We know from our own history that changing the Constitution is a bit of a fool’s errand,” Hutchinson said. “Once you start opening it up, people will say, ‘Well, if we’re going to change the Constitution, what about this? What about that?’ I think it would lead us down a path that is fraught with a lot of challenges.”
THE COMMONWEALTH REALMS
King Charles III now serves as head of state of 15 Commonwealth realms, which include the United Kingdom and former British colonies like Australia, Belize, Canada, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. Several—particularly those in the Caribbean—are revaluating their ties.
In November 2021, Barbados became a republic and removed the Queen as head of state, the first country to do so in nearly 30 years. Its constitution simply required a decision by parliament.
Jamaica is also exploring the possibility of becoming a republic, although experts say the process will take years and require a referendum. The government of Antigua and Barbuda has meanwhile announced plans to hold a referendum on the Monarchy within the next three years, and the prime minister of the Bahamas has signalled an openness to a referendum too.
Such a referendum failed to end the Monarchy in Australia in 1999. Known for his republican leanings, Australia’s prime minister recently said that a referendum is not a priority during his government’s first term.
WANING SUPPORT
While Queen Elizabeth’s death has led to an outpouring of admiration for the monarch herself, recent scandals in the House of Windsor, like Prince Andrew’s relationship with disgraced financer and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and accusations of racism from Meghan Markle, have tarnished the institution’s reputation for some.
A poll from the Angus Reid Institute in April 2022 found that 51 per cent of Canadian respondents were in favour of abolishing the Monarchy in coming generations, compared with 26 per cent who were in favour of keeping it and 24 per cent were unsure. Approximately half of respondents believed the Royal Family represents outdated values and is “no longer relevant at all.” The poll also found that 65 per cent of respondents opposed recognizing Charles as Canada’s King and head of state.
Despite the constitutional challenges, Schneiderman believes Canadians could “imagine an alternative.”
“I think we should have been considering our ties to the Monarchy even before the death of Queen Elizabeth,” Schneiderman said. “It’s a moment to reflect on who we have had as a head of state, and whether we want to continue on with a head of state that is hereditary, from a particular family that breeds leaders to serve in this role; or whether in a modern, democratic and multicultural society, we might want a head of state that’s a little bit more representative of the people that the head of state serves.”
Hutchinson, who grew up and studied in the U.K., agrees.
“The idea that we have some hereditary head of state is rather pitiful in 2022 in a so-called democracy,” he said. “I don’t know what we lose by calling the Governor General something else, and then cutting ties with the Monarchy.”
Peter McNally is a retired McGill University information studies professor and a self-proclaimed “palace watcher.”
McNally also believes amending the Constitution would be “extremely difficult,” but when it comes to the Monarchy, he doesn’t want to see Canada try.
“The reason Canada exists historically because of 18th century loyalty to the Monarchy,” he told CTVNews.ca. “Today, the Monarchy is the living embodiment of Canada’s parliamentary tradition. It’s also a bulwark against American cultural imperialism.”
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
