The Conservative Party of Canada is
holding a leadership race. As I have done
on many other occasions I decided to
find out what the candidates think about
our monarchy. I also sought their views on
intellectual property law but that really
isn't pertinent to this blog. Anyways! Let's
look at what the first respondent had to
say. The first to have replied is Maxime Bernier of the riding of Beauce.
holding a leadership race. As I have done
on many other occasions I decided to
find out what the candidates think about
our monarchy. I also sought their views on
intellectual property law but that really
isn't pertinent to this blog. Anyways! Let's
look at what the first respondent had to
say. The first to have replied is Maxime Bernier of the riding of Beauce.
"I do not envisage any change in policy or practices with regard to the
role of the monarchy in Canadian institutions."
Let's start off with the good news: he doesn't appear to have
anything against the monarchy. Or at least not enough to
want to change anything. The bad news: Mr. Bernier didn't
really give a strong indication what he thought about the
monarchy on a personal level. This leaves Mr. Bernier's
reply feeling a little bit like boilerplate.
I decided to dig a little deeper by looking at what Mr. Bernier
has said about the monarchy in the House of Commons. To do
this I used openparliament.ca (which I still think is a great
site). My search was fairly extensive using 'monarchy',
'queen', and 'head of state'. In the years since his election in
2006 I could find only one reference to the monarchy:
anything against the monarchy. Or at least not enough to
want to change anything. The bad news: Mr. Bernier didn't
really give a strong indication what he thought about the
monarchy on a personal level. This leaves Mr. Bernier's
reply feeling a little bit like boilerplate.
I decided to dig a little deeper by looking at what Mr. Bernier
has said about the monarchy in the House of Commons. To do
this I used openparliament.ca (which I still think is a great
site). My search was fairly extensive using 'monarchy',
'queen', and 'head of state'. In the years since his election in
2006 I could find only one reference to the monarchy:
"Mr. Speaker, as we know, Canada is a democratic country with a parliamentary
system, and under the Constitution, Canada's head of state is the Queen of England.
Unlike the Bloc Québécois, we are not ashamed that the Queen is our head of
state. We know that the Bloc Québécois would like to destroy this country and make
Quebec an independent country. That is not—"
~June 7th, 2012
While it might seem I would take issue with the term 'Queen
of England' (a title that has not existed for several hundred
years) I'm inclined to let it slide. The French language uses
'Queen of England' to describe the British monarch to this
day. Would it have been nice for him to have stopped that
sentence after the word 'Queen'? Sure. It is also not exactly
appreciated that he used a reference to the monarchy in the
context of a partisan dual.
But the bigger issue is that Mr. Bernier has said so little about
Canada's monarchy over the years that it is impossible to pin
down his views. Perhaps Mr. Bernier will further clarify his
views in regards to the monarchy as the leadership campaign
continues. But in the meantime there are other leadership
candidates to contact.
Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour
of England' (a title that has not existed for several hundred
years) I'm inclined to let it slide. The French language uses
'Queen of England' to describe the British monarch to this
day. Would it have been nice for him to have stopped that
sentence after the word 'Queen'? Sure. It is also not exactly
appreciated that he used a reference to the monarchy in the
context of a partisan dual.
But the bigger issue is that Mr. Bernier has said so little about
Canada's monarchy over the years that it is impossible to pin
down his views. Perhaps Mr. Bernier will further clarify his
views in regards to the monarchy as the leadership campaign
continues. But in the meantime there are other leadership
candidates to contact.
Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour
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