Although it has been months since King Charles III assumed his new role as monarch, Canada has yet to update its currency to include images of the new sovereign.
Following her death on Sept. 8, the late Queen Elizabeth II continues to be featured on the $20 bill and Canadian coins. Having spent 70 years on the throne, she is Canada’s longest-reigning monarch.
While there is no legislation requiring Canada to feature the reigning monarch on its currency, doing so is a long-standing tradition. But as of now, a timeline for replacing images of the Queen on coins and bills remains unclear.
According to the Bank of Canada, which produces the country’s banknotes, it will be years before images of the King appear on the $20 bill. The current $20 banknote is intended to circulate for years to come, said Bank of Canada spokesperson Amelie Ferron-Craig.
“Once a new portrait subject has been selected, the banknote design process begins, and the banknote is ready to be issued a few years later,” Ferron-Craig told CTVNews.ca in an email on April 12.
In accordance with the Bank of Canada Act, the minster of finance is responsible for approving the portrait subject of new banknotes. The Bank of Canada has not received any kind of approval from the ministry regarding the design of a new $20 banknote, Ferron-Craig said.
When it comes to coinage, the Royal Canadian Mint is responsible for manufacturing and distributing Canada’s coins. The Mint’s senior manager of public affairs, Alex Reeves, said the federal government has jurisdiction over coin design, but directive on a new look involving the King’s effigy has not yet been issued. Until further notice, the Mint will continue to produce coins with images of Queen Elizabeth, Reeves said.
“We have a team and process in place to implement, in a timely manner, the government’s decision once it is announced,” Reeves told CTVNews.ca in an email on April 12.
CORONATION A ‘NATURAL OCCASION’ FOR CURRENCY UPDATES: EXPERT
CTV News royal commentator Richard Berthelsen says he expects the federal government to announce plans for new designs before the King’s coronation on May 6.
“There is a degree of public interest in knowing what the Canadian government is doing to commemorate the coronation and the start of the new reign,” Berthelsen told CTVNews.ca in a telephone interview on April 13. “The coronation would be a natural occasion when there might be announcements about some of these items.”
Any images of the King used in Canada will require his approval, Berthelsen said.
“It’ll be imagery produced in Canada, we won’t be using the British imagery,” Berthelsen said. “But it is always sent for the approval of the [monarch] before it is used, just as it is in the U.K.”
In the United Kingdom, the Bank of England has already revealed the new design of its banknotes featuring King Charles III. These notes include 5, 10, 20 and 50-pound bills. The King’s portrait will replace the existing images of Queen Elizabeth II, while the rest of each banknote’s design will remain the same.
The new notes will enter circulation by mid-2024, according to the Bank of England’s website. Bills featuring images of the late Queen will continue to circulate and are still considered legal tender.
Coinage with the King’s official effigy began circulating in December 2022, starting with the 50-pence coin and a commemorative 5-pound coin. According to the Royal Mint, the effigy was approved by King Charles himself. In keeping with tradition, the King’s portrait shows him looking to the left, the opposite direction of his mother’s portrait.
“Unlike the [United Kingdom’s] Royal Mint and the Bank of England, which seem to have a plan to transition quite quickly, we haven’t really seen that it Canada,” Berthelsen said. “The U.K. was a lot better prepared for this transition.”
Two new coins bearing official coinage portrait of King Charles III, on the left is the new 50-pence coin, and right is the new 5-pound commemorative coin, which will be among the first coins to bear the new King’s head, during a press preview in London on Sept. 29, 2022. The likeness of the king was created by British sculptor Martin Jennings, and approved by the King. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
COULD NEW CURRENCY DESIGNS EXCLUDE KING CHARLES?
In February, Australia’s central bank said it will be removing images of the monarchy from its banknotes. According to a press release issued Feb. 2, the Reserve Bank of Australia will be updating the country’s $5 bill to include an Indigenous design instead of King Charles. The current $5 bill includes a portrait of the late Queen and is the only Australian banknote with a member of the Royal Family.
The central bank plans to consult with Indigenous groups about the new design, a process it says could take years to complete. Meanwhile, King Charles’ image is still expected to replace the late Queen’s portrait on coins that will enter circulation later this year.
Australian $5 notes are pictured in Sydney on Sept. 10, 2022. King Charles III won’t feature on Australia’s new $5 bill, the nation’s central bank announced on Feb. 2, 2023, signalling a phasing out of the monarchy from Australian bank notes, although he is still expected to feature on coins. (AP Photo/Mark Baker, File)
It’s still unclear whether the Canadian government will choose to do something similar, although it’s entirely possible, Berthelsen said.
“They may choose to say, ‘We’re going to take advantage of this occasion and on the $20 bill, we’re going to move away from the current sovereign,’” Berthelsen said. “[Their philosophy] has kind of changed over the years, so there’s no reason it can’t change again.”
Keeping the late Queen on the $20 bill is another option, Berthelsen said. The government could decide to continue featuring Queen Elizabeth II “on a historic basis,” seeing as she is Canada’s longest-reigning sovereign.
“She’s a historic figure now and we have other historic figures on banknotes, they’re not all living,” he said.
But when it comes to coinage, Canada maintains a long-standing tradition of updating effigies to represent the current sovereign, said Berthelsen. As a result, it’s likely the Royal Canadian Mint will update its coin design to include King Charles.
WHAT ABOUT A ROYAL PORTRAIT?
According to government protocol, portraits of the late Queen Elizabeth II will be replaced with those of King Charles III when a new portrait becomes available. These portraits will be printed and framed for use in Canadian government offices and institutions.
In an email to CTVNews.ca on April 13, Canadian Heritage said it reached out to Buckingham Palace requesting an official Canadian portrait of King Charles III shortly after the Queen’s death. The department is now “working on the production of an official Canadian portrait of The King and will release it as soon as it is available.”
This comes after the first official portrait of King Charles III was unveiled on March 29. The oil painting was commissioned by the Illustrated London News (ILN) and done by Alastair Balford.
The official Canadian portrait will likely show the King with the Canadian orders, decorations and medals he holds, Berthelsen said. The Canadian government also likely commissioned different versions of the portrait, including one of King Charles alone and another featuring the King alongside Queen Camilla.
With files from The Associated Press and The Canadian Press
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.
