On the 26th, the Monarchist League of Canada shared a letter
from one of its members with practical ways the monarchy
could be better highlighted to Canadians. The text of that
letter has been reproduced below with commentary following.
from one of its members with practical ways the monarchy
could be better highlighted to Canadians. The text of that
letter has been reproduced below with commentary following.
I would very much like to commend you on your important
work and also for your very impressive, and motivational,
website. As a former aide-de-camp to the Lieutenant-
Governor of Nova Scotia, I think of myself as a proud
Canadian monarchist. I thoroughly enjoyed perusing your
website and was happy to learn more about your ardent
advocacy role in our country. I also very much enjoyed the
suggestions we as ordinary citizens can do to advocate for our
monarchy. With this in mind, I thought I might offer a few
additional suggestions you might wish to consider. These
ideas are intended to help close the gap in many people’s
thinking that our Royal Family are British and therefore not
Canadian. Some thoughts follow:
a. Improve Parliamentary and Rideau Hall Tours. As a
resident of Ottawa, I can confirm that Parliamentary tours, of
the House of Commons and Senate, as well as Rideau Hall,
provide little real context for these important institutions. A
substantial portion of the explanation provided during the
visits is focused upon architecture. At most the fact that
Canada is a constitutional monarchy, and that King Charles
III is our sovereign, is mentioned in passing. The expectation
is that visitors will know what this means, which sadly is not
usually the case. These tours should provide a more fulsome,
yet concise, explanation of our form of government, the
difference between the institution of the Crown and the Royal
Family members, the uniqueness of our Canadian system, and
the benefits of such a system compared to other models. Such
an approach would provide context for the institutions being
visited. We need to advocate for our system of government.
b. Explain Why We Take The Loyal Oath. Similar to the
above, there are times and institutions, such as when recruits
join the Canadian Armed Forces, where people are required to
take the loyal oath. Regrettably, there is never an explanation
of why this is required, or why it is important. Such an
explanation would make the oath more meaningful and
hopefully produce better informed advocates for our system.
c. Conduct Easily Achievable Royal Visits To Canadian Units
Visiting Or Near The United Kingdom. Propose that HRH
Prince William routinely visit Canadian service personnel as
they train or transit near the UK. Prince William is ideal for
this role considering the current health challenges of HM
King Charles III; this will establish a longstanding connection
with our future monarch and Canadian service personnel.
Such visits could be accomplished with minimal disruption to
the Prince’s calendar. A visit to one Navy, Army, and Air Force
unit annually, with appropriate media coverage in Canada,
would be ideal and would not be overly intrusive in the
Prince’s annual duties. For example, the Royal Canadian Air
Force (RCAF) currently has an entire Canadian crew posted to
Lossiemouth, Scotland, undergoing training with the Royal
Air Force on the P8 Poseidon aircraft. Imagine the delight of
the crew if HRH Prince William were to conduct a short
notice, unannounced to the outside world, visit and draw
attention to their important work and make some
congratulatory remarks about the 100th anniversary of the
RCAF. It would be magic if an article appeared in a major
Canadian newspaper and other news. Similarly, His Majesty’s
Canadian Ships routinely participate in both the NATO
Standing Naval Force Atlantic and Standing Naval Force
Mediterranean formations, which regularly brings them to UK
ports. It would be easy to visit one of these ships during a stop
over. Or the ship’s helicopter could fly the Prince onboard.
Under OP UNIFIER, there is a Canadian Army detachment in
the UK to train Ukrainian soldiers. Also, there is a Canadian-
led brigade forming in Latvia with routine re-supply flights
from Canada which transit near/through the UK. It would be
easy for HRH to be flown to the brigade and back. Most of
these examples are short duration visits that could be
accomplished within a day, often less, and if carefully planned
would result in no, or negligible, additional incremental cost
to the Canadian taxpayer. Although it would be ideal if HRH
Prince William performed the first round of visits, he would
not need to conduct all subsequent events. Through these
routine visits, i.e. three a year, Canadians would become
familiar with members of the Royal Family taking a regular
interest in Canadian service personnel.
d. Conduct Mirco-Royal Visits To Canada. We are fortunate
that Canada is relatively close to the UK. Despite the
proximity, Royal visits to Canada tend to be long in duration
and include many elements; their very nature has become
complicated and as a result are infrequent. Imagine if a
member of the Royal Family, preferably HRH Prince William,
our future King, conducted one or two ‘surgical’ micro-visits a
year. These visits would be short duration, e.g. one day on the
ground, and very limited in scope but would be designed to
form a routine link to the Canadian people. For example,
consider the NHL playoffs last year, the last game played in
Edmonton (the second last game of the entire season where
Edmonton represented the only remaining Canadian team
vying for Lord Stanley’s Cup). There could have been so much
good public relations generated if Prince William were
discovered spectating the game. Such a visit would need to be
carefully choreographed with appropriate media coverage and
security, of course. Given that the UK’s largest training area is
in Alberta and serviced with support flights, a very low-cost
visit could have been designed. This is just one example of
how such routine micro-visits could increase the bond
between our future monarch and the Canadian people.
In closing, I hope you find the above ideas useful; they are not
intended to be all encompassing, but rather to provide
examples of what might be possible. I am sure there are many
other great ideas out there. The proposals above are designed
to improve the knowledge and pride of Canadians in our
unique form of government, establish a routine, visible link
between Canadian service personnel and our Monarchy, and
finally, generate regular contact between our future Monarch
and Canadian society. Wishing you continued success in your
vital work.
John in Ottawa
work and also for your very impressive, and motivational,
website. As a former aide-de-camp to the Lieutenant-
Governor of Nova Scotia, I think of myself as a proud
Canadian monarchist. I thoroughly enjoyed perusing your
website and was happy to learn more about your ardent
advocacy role in our country. I also very much enjoyed the
suggestions we as ordinary citizens can do to advocate for our
monarchy. With this in mind, I thought I might offer a few
additional suggestions you might wish to consider. These
ideas are intended to help close the gap in many people’s
thinking that our Royal Family are British and therefore not
Canadian. Some thoughts follow:
a. Improve Parliamentary and Rideau Hall Tours. As a
resident of Ottawa, I can confirm that Parliamentary tours, of
the House of Commons and Senate, as well as Rideau Hall,
provide little real context for these important institutions. A
substantial portion of the explanation provided during the
visits is focused upon architecture. At most the fact that
Canada is a constitutional monarchy, and that King Charles
III is our sovereign, is mentioned in passing. The expectation
is that visitors will know what this means, which sadly is not
usually the case. These tours should provide a more fulsome,
yet concise, explanation of our form of government, the
difference between the institution of the Crown and the Royal
Family members, the uniqueness of our Canadian system, and
the benefits of such a system compared to other models. Such
an approach would provide context for the institutions being
visited. We need to advocate for our system of government.
b. Explain Why We Take The Loyal Oath. Similar to the
above, there are times and institutions, such as when recruits
join the Canadian Armed Forces, where people are required to
take the loyal oath. Regrettably, there is never an explanation
of why this is required, or why it is important. Such an
explanation would make the oath more meaningful and
hopefully produce better informed advocates for our system.
c. Conduct Easily Achievable Royal Visits To Canadian Units
Visiting Or Near The United Kingdom. Propose that HRH
Prince William routinely visit Canadian service personnel as
they train or transit near the UK. Prince William is ideal for
this role considering the current health challenges of HM
King Charles III; this will establish a longstanding connection
with our future monarch and Canadian service personnel.
Such visits could be accomplished with minimal disruption to
the Prince’s calendar. A visit to one Navy, Army, and Air Force
unit annually, with appropriate media coverage in Canada,
would be ideal and would not be overly intrusive in the
Prince’s annual duties. For example, the Royal Canadian Air
Force (RCAF) currently has an entire Canadian crew posted to
Lossiemouth, Scotland, undergoing training with the Royal
Air Force on the P8 Poseidon aircraft. Imagine the delight of
the crew if HRH Prince William were to conduct a short
notice, unannounced to the outside world, visit and draw
attention to their important work and make some
congratulatory remarks about the 100th anniversary of the
RCAF. It would be magic if an article appeared in a major
Canadian newspaper and other news. Similarly, His Majesty’s
Canadian Ships routinely participate in both the NATO
Standing Naval Force Atlantic and Standing Naval Force
Mediterranean formations, which regularly brings them to UK
ports. It would be easy to visit one of these ships during a stop
over. Or the ship’s helicopter could fly the Prince onboard.
Under OP UNIFIER, there is a Canadian Army detachment in
the UK to train Ukrainian soldiers. Also, there is a Canadian-
led brigade forming in Latvia with routine re-supply flights
from Canada which transit near/through the UK. It would be
easy for HRH to be flown to the brigade and back. Most of
these examples are short duration visits that could be
accomplished within a day, often less, and if carefully planned
would result in no, or negligible, additional incremental cost
to the Canadian taxpayer. Although it would be ideal if HRH
Prince William performed the first round of visits, he would
not need to conduct all subsequent events. Through these
routine visits, i.e. three a year, Canadians would become
familiar with members of the Royal Family taking a regular
interest in Canadian service personnel.
d. Conduct Mirco-Royal Visits To Canada. We are fortunate
that Canada is relatively close to the UK. Despite the
proximity, Royal visits to Canada tend to be long in duration
and include many elements; their very nature has become
complicated and as a result are infrequent. Imagine if a
member of the Royal Family, preferably HRH Prince William,
our future King, conducted one or two ‘surgical’ micro-visits a
year. These visits would be short duration, e.g. one day on the
ground, and very limited in scope but would be designed to
form a routine link to the Canadian people. For example,
consider the NHL playoffs last year, the last game played in
Edmonton (the second last game of the entire season where
Edmonton represented the only remaining Canadian team
vying for Lord Stanley’s Cup). There could have been so much
good public relations generated if Prince William were
discovered spectating the game. Such a visit would need to be
carefully choreographed with appropriate media coverage and
security, of course. Given that the UK’s largest training area is
in Alberta and serviced with support flights, a very low-cost
visit could have been designed. This is just one example of
how such routine micro-visits could increase the bond
between our future monarch and the Canadian people.
In closing, I hope you find the above ideas useful; they are not
intended to be all encompassing, but rather to provide
examples of what might be possible. I am sure there are many
other great ideas out there. The proposals above are designed
to improve the knowledge and pride of Canadians in our
unique form of government, establish a routine, visible link
between Canadian service personnel and our Monarchy, and
finally, generate regular contact between our future Monarch
and Canadian society. Wishing you continued success in your
vital work.
John in Ottawa
John's first and second suggestion touches on a topic that has
bedeviled Canada for much of the last 50+ years; a lack of
knowledge about Canadian institutions and history combined
with a tendency to focus on the place rather than what goes
on at the place. It really can't be taken for granted anymore
that Canadians would know much of anything about their
country.
John's third suggestion is easily achievable. It is about as
easily achievable as the Royal Family advocating for Canadian
businesses while in other countries in much the same way
they do for British businesses. Which is to say, the only thing
stopping it from happening is the political will of the
government of the day asking the Royal Family to do this.
I'm somewhat in disagreement with the final point. I don't
think current royal tours are long enough. Not to say micro-
tours aren't a useful concept - the Prince of Wales attending
the Stanley Cup playoffs is a good one - its just that I would
hate for them to become the norm. Because once the length is
the norm, cutting down the number of them becomes far too
easy. The problem we face is that the monarchy is seen as
separate from Canadian identity. I want a member of the
Royal Family here so long they become part of the furniture,
so to speak. This is why I have long advocated for a member of
the Royal Family taking on the position of governor general.
That said, these are achievable goals and worth Canadian
monarchists looking into.
Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour
bedeviled Canada for much of the last 50+ years; a lack of
knowledge about Canadian institutions and history combined
with a tendency to focus on the place rather than what goes
on at the place. It really can't be taken for granted anymore
that Canadians would know much of anything about their
country.
John's third suggestion is easily achievable. It is about as
easily achievable as the Royal Family advocating for Canadian
businesses while in other countries in much the same way
they do for British businesses. Which is to say, the only thing
stopping it from happening is the political will of the
government of the day asking the Royal Family to do this.
I'm somewhat in disagreement with the final point. I don't
think current royal tours are long enough. Not to say micro-
tours aren't a useful concept - the Prince of Wales attending
the Stanley Cup playoffs is a good one - its just that I would
hate for them to become the norm. Because once the length is
the norm, cutting down the number of them becomes far too
easy. The problem we face is that the monarchy is seen as
separate from Canadian identity. I want a member of the
Royal Family here so long they become part of the furniture,
so to speak. This is why I have long advocated for a member of
the Royal Family taking on the position of governor general.
That said, these are achievable goals and worth Canadian
monarchists looking into.
Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour
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