Vaughn Palmer: B.C. mourns, but politics continues as usual – Vancouver Sun

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VICTORIA — The B.C. government put public business on hold this week to mourn the Queen who’d served through almost half of B.C.’s history as a province.

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Princess Elizabeth made her first visit to B.C. a few months before she ascended the throne, during the term of Premier Byron Johnson in the fall of 1951.

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As Queen, she made two visits under B.C.’s longest-serving premier W.A.C. Bennett, the second in 1971 marking the 100th anniversary of B.C.’s entry into confederation. She made subsequent visits under Bennett’s son Bill and Premiers Bill Vander Zalm, Mike Harcourt and Gordon Campbell.

Premier John Horgan, the 13th B.C. premier whose tenure overlapped with Elizabeth II’s 70 years in office, noted how the royal visits framed the postwar history of the province.

“In the 1970s, the Queen joined us as we celebrated B.C.’s 100th anniversary.

“In the 1980s, the Queen officially granted the province its coat of arms, an important symbol of our independence and sovereignty.

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“ In the 1990s, the Queen honoured us by opening the Commonwealth Games.

“And in the 2000s, during her Golden Jubilee Year, the Queen dropped the puck at a Vancouver Canucks game, to the delight of hockey fans.”

After the Queen’s last visit 20 years ago, the legacy continued.

“Among them was the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy, created to protect and conserve forests throughout the Commonwealth,” wrote Horgan.

“In 2016, the Queen designated B.C.’s Great Bear Rainforest as part of the canopy during the royal tour of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.”

The royal visits to B.C. included the usual mix of cheering crowds, lengthy receiving lines, plus a footnoted oddity or two.

In the 1983 visit, the Queen invited the world to Expo 86, though when the fair itself opened, the presiding royals (at the provincial government’s request) were the Prince and Princess of Wales.

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During a 1987 visit, the Queen approved a revised coat of arms for the province, an episode that came with a backstory reminder of B.C.’s contrarian history.

Back in 1906, Elizabeth II’s great-grandfather, Edward VII, had approved a new coat of arms for B.C. including the motto, Splendor Sine Occasu, meaning splendor without diminishment.

However, the King did not approve the inclusion of the royal crest, which is exclusive to the sovereign.

“The upstart colony went ahead and used the royal crest anyway,” as the Vancouver Sun’s Larry Still reported in October, 1987.

The act of heraldic impudence did not go unnoticed by the College of Arms in London, which filed a protest in 1926. It took more than 60 years to rectify the lapse.

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The outcome, wrote Still, was “a British compromise” in which the regal lion was “garlanded with dogwood flowers to distinguish the crest from its truly royal cousin.”

With that change in hand, the Queen signed a royal warrant approving the full, revised coat of arms in a ceremony at the Robson Square legal courts on Oct. 14, 1987.

“With Her Majesty’s agreement, the royal crest is for the first time in history being granted, with an appropriate differencing mark, to another sovereign entity,” noted Robert Watt, a member of the Heraldry Society of Canada.

During the Queen’s last visit in 2002 there was a notion, soon dropped, that she might preside at the opening of the B.C. legislature.

However, she did open a Vancouver Canucks hockey game. Mindful of the Queen’s sense of humour, one wag guessed she might have found the hockey game to be a more dignified spectacle than the often-raucous proceedings of the B.C. legislature.

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In her first visit to B.C. as Queen in 1959, she cut the ribbon for the official opening of the Fraser River crossing now known as the George Massey tunnel.

Given the political squabbling over a replacement (A bridge! No, a tunnel! No, a bridge! etc.), by the time the new crossing is ready to open, perhaps the late Queen’s great-grandson, George, will be on the throne.

One of the most admirable aspects of the monarchy puts the sovereign above politics, an attribute that was especially notable with Elizabeth II and should continue under her successor Charles III.

But even with the government in mourning officially, politics continues.

Premier John Horgan sat down Friday with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, for what was billed as a “working lunch” and perhaps their last face-to-face meeting before Horgan retires.

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At week’s end, the NDP was fielding unproven allegations against climate activist Anjali Appadurai, a contender for the party leadership.

During an online membership drive, an Appadurai supporter offered to pay the $10 membership fee for those unable to afford it, which would be a violation of the Election Act.

Appadurai tried to brush off the episode, saying her friend “misspoke” and no memberships were bought.

But presumed front-runner David Eby called the allegations serious and thus warranting investigation by the party.

Also Thursday, Elections B.C. announced that a byelection would go ahead Saturday to fill the vacant legislature seat for Surrey South.

It’s a pivotal vote and a must-win for B.C. Liberal leader Kevin Falcon.

But whatever the outcome, the week also brought a development for Falcon.

With the passing of Her Majesty, he will henceforth be known as the leader of His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition.

“God save the King,” as Premier Horgan said in closing his message on the death of the Queen.

vpalmer@postmedia.com