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2022 Conservative Party Leadership Race: Views on the Monarchy

5/17/2022

This article is a collection of responses from candidates for
the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada regarding
the monarchy. It will continue to be updated as more replies
roll in.

I have again included a scoreboard for the candidates as well as a section for notable quotes.

Questions & Replies

The questions that were posed to the candidates are below.
The questions are largely the same as the last survey except
for the addition of question 5.

1. What are your views on the monarchy?
2. As prime minister would you make use of the Advisory Committee on Vice-Regal
Appointments that was active between 2010 and 2015?
3. In 2019 the government cancelled a program that mailed physical copies of the
Queen's portrait to any Canadian who asked free of charge. Would you restore this
program?
4. The government also removed the Queen's portrait from the lobby of the Foreign
Affairs Office and replaced it with paintings by Alfred Pallen. Would you find a
way to have both paintings and portrait share the ample wall space of the Foreign
Affairs Office lobby?
5. The current government has not committed to supporting the creation of a
Platinum Jubilee Medal to mark Her Majesty's 70th year on the throne. What are
your views on this?

Below are links to each candidate's reply and a short look at
any previous comments they may have made in regards to the
monarchy. Candidates who failed to qualify or withdrew are
included for historical reference.

Qualified to appear on the ballot
Pierre Poilievre
Leslyn Lewis
Jean Charest
Roman Baber
Patrick Brown
Scott Aitchison

No longer in the race
Leona Alleslev

Crown & Cap Scoreboard

Here I have ranked the candidates support for, or opposition
to, the monarchy. Keep in mind this is only my assessment
and your mileage may vary. Also, note that changes may occur
as the campaign goes on.

The crown score is out of five crowns with each candidate
receiving one crown for stating support for the monarchy
in their reply, one crown for having defended the monarchy
in Parliament, two crowns for outlining how they would
improve the monarchy's role in the future, and one crown for
having spoken in support of the monarchy outside of
Parliament.

The cap score is likewise out of five caps with one cap given to
a candidate for being opposed to the monarchy in their reply,
one cap for desiring a referendum on the monarchy, one cap
for opposing the monarchy in Parliament and two caps for
making the establishment of a Canadian republic a part of
their policy platform.

Leona Alleslev

Ms. Alleslev scored well on all points except
having spoken on the monarchy outside of
Parliament. Also, while she spoke of the
monarchy fairly often in Parliament she was
never in the position of having to defend the
institution.

Score:

Scott Aitchison

Mr. Aitchison missed out on a perfect score
only because he has never spoken about, let
alone defended, Canada's monarchy on the
floor of Parliament.

Score:

Jean Charest

Mr. Charest is interesting in that of all the
candidates he has had plenty of time to say
a lot about the monarchy but hasn't and his
score reflects this.

Score:

I would like to thank all of the candidates for getting back to
me. While I might disagree at times with the replies I receive
it is at least good to know that politicians still take the time
to reply to ordinary Canadians.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

Conservative Leadership Candidates and the Monarchy: Jean Charest

5/17/2022

Just yesterday I received a reply from
Jean Charest to my survey of the tory
leadership candidates regarding their
views on the monarchy. Before getting
into the survey answers I will briefly go
over any statements Jean Charest has
made in Parliament or in the media. In
this case very briefly as I could not find
much. The only instance appears to be
a comment made during a previous
royal homecoming on how any protests
would not effect Quebec's image on the
world stage.

Jean Charest's replies to the survey are below:

1. What are your views on the monarchy?

"My position is consistent with the Party in maintaining our
ties with the Monarchy and retaining the Queen as a Head of
State. Constitutional questions involving the Monarchy are
not high priorities for Canadians with our current state of
the federation divided over issues like equalization and
resources."

2. As prime minister would you make use of the
Advisory Committee on Vice-Regal Appointments
that was active between 2010 and 2015?

"Yes."

3. In 2019 the government cancelled a program that
mailed physical copies of the Queen's portrait to any
Canadian who asked free of charge. Would you
restore this program?

"Yes."

4. The government also removed the Queen's portrait
from the lobby of the Foreign Affairs Office and
replaced it with paintings by Alfred Pallen. Would
you find a way to have both paintings and portrait
share the ample wall space of the Foreign Affairs
Office lobby?

"I would leave such a determination, as I would in any
individual department to the appropriate Minister. Should
each elect to post a portrait within their department such
issues would not pre-occupy me as Prime Minister nor
should they become national news."

5. The current government has not committed to
supporting the creation of a Platinum Jubilee Medal
to mark Her Majesty's 70th year on the throne. What
are your views on this?

"I believe Canada’s position should be consistent with the
Commonwealth in having one available. I received the
Golden Jubilee medal in 2002."

Jean Charest's positions would help fix damage done to the
institution over the last number of years but I am slightly
concerned over question #1. Being asked about what your
views on a topic and replying with party policy is a deflection.
Question #4 concerns me less as leaving ministers to handle
their own departments is a fair position to take.

Overall, I get the sense that Mr. Charest has an intellectual
appreciation for the monarchy but not a deep-seated love for
the institution.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

Prince Charles, His Detractors, and the Future of the Monarchy

5/17/2022

Prince Charles

Prince Charles has been sometimes
criticised for the way he expresses his views
on matters of personal interest to him such
as environmental affairs. However, a
monarch being involved in political affairs
is hardly something that would doom a
constitutional monarchy. Charles’s image is
really bound-up with the drama of his two
marriages rather than his personality.

The politician from across the Commonwealth who has really
trash talked Charles the most, is perhaps Maxime Bernier, at
least in recent times. Bernier in his days as a cabinet minister
never revealed any republican sentiment but as the
momentum of his right-wing populist movement has grown,
he has become more vocal over the issue. At this point,
Maxime is unlikely to return to Ottawa anyway even if the
PPC vote does increase by a large margin, but, this still could
put pressure on the Tories.

The monarchy in Canada has actually proven to be a pretty
resilient thing however controversial it may be. This might be
attributed to the Monarchist League of Canada having been
able to stay focused on presenting the argument for monarchy
in a non-partisan way and working to maintain a degree of
influence, to the extent of perhaps having the chairman sit
next to the leader of the opposition at a state dinner, or having
the deputy prime minister attend one of their events.

But the biggest threat to the monarchy in Canada is the
perception of Prince Charles being political. However, the
monarchy’s European counterparts show that this does not
need to be so. The other monarchies in Europe appear to
generally be suffering less controversy than that of the House
of Windsor despite being perceived as being more political. It
is also important to remember that whilst the financing of the
monarchy in the UK is part of the debate, Canada does not
send a single penny to Buckingham Palace. It would be
difficult for any politician like Bernier to use “taxpayers
money” as ammunition against it.

It feels pretty unrealistic that there will be any real appetite to
skip Charles, even if we had the option. It is important to
remember that constitutional monarchy can be refereed by
the public fairly easily. The royal houses have proved to be
highly sensitive to public opinion. In the UK this was
famously the case with Edward VIII’s controversial choice of
wife but more recently in Spain when their king was
humiliated into abdication by his own scandals. Spain appears
to be the only other European monarchy to be suffering the
same level of crisis in public image as the UK has. Despite
what tabloids like to shake up in the English speaking world,
such a “royal crisis” appears to be bigger in Spain than it is in
the UK, to the extent that quite a few mainstream Spanish
politicians have actually advocated a republic in contrast to
the very small number of British republicans in Westminster
and even smaller number of them who actually have tried to
campaign for a republic. Charles doesn’t face the same
pressure as Juan Carlos did.

People have at times raised an eyebrow over Prince Charles
(and his sons) acting ‘woke’. But Dutch royalty has been able
to work pretty well with ‘wokeness’, advocating LGBT,
immigration, environmental affairs, and other such things
related to social justice. This does frustrate some
conservatives but not to the extent of fanning republican
sentiment. The widespread support for the royalty continues
to be preserved.

Prince Charles speaking at COP21

With the more recent generation of royals, marrying
commoners has become increasingly natural. The Nordic
royals have been doing this for some time now but even in the
very conservative Japan it’s now been accepted. Charles’ wife
Camilla has not used the title “Princess of Wales” but this
reflects the sensitivity related to Diana. There shouldn’t be
any similar reason why Camila won’t be Queen consort.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s behaviour is hardly doing
the monarchy any favours but their antics do not appear to be
damaging Charles specifically.

Many heirs to the thrones have faced skepticism during their
early royal careers both before and after ascending to the
throne. But the best news for Prince Charles is that his public
image has improved no doubt as a result of his own efforts to
downplay his more controversial interests . People are already
forgetting about the bizarre portrayals of him of the past and
are starting to view him as a benign figurehead. A few in the
UK have proposed becoming a copycat Republic of Ireland
but Charles alone does more public engagements than the
Irish President despite Charles not being the Head of State.
He is just that committed.

With Prince Charles filling in for the Queen more than ever
due to concerns over her health, for example stepping in for
the Queen at the recent state opening of Parliament, some
people have felt the need to stir up debate over his position
but, it seems this has been received very favourably by the
British public. The British public likes what they are seeing
and respect for Charles is growing at the right time.

Loyally Yours,
Lord Ludichris

Platinum Jubilee in April

4/30/2022

Royal Tour Announced for May

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall will be coming
to Canada on May 17th and staying till May 19th. They will
visit the provinces of Newfoundland and Ontario as well as
the Northwest Territories.

Queen's Jubilee Classroom Challenge

Canadian Geographic Education has launched a competition
open to classrooms from kindergarten to grade 12. The
competition aims to highlight Canada's native flora. Rules for
the competition can be found here.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

Conservative Leadership Candidates and the Monarchy: Scott Aitchison

4/5/2022

Another Conservative Party leadership
candidate has replied to my survey. This
time it is Scott Aitchison who is the MP for
Parry Sound-Muskoka. As a refresher these
are the questions that were sent out:

1. What are your views on the monarchy?
2. As prime minister would you make use
of the Advisory Committee on Vice-Regal
Appointments that was active between
2010 and 2015?
3. In 2019 the government cancelled a program that mailed
physical copies of the Queen's portrait to any Canadian who
asked free of charge. Would you restore this program?
4. The government also removed the Queen's portrait from
the lobby of the Foreign Affairs Office and replaced it with
paintings by Alfred Pallen. Would you find a way to have both
paintings and portrait share the ample wall space of the
Foreign Affairs Office lobby?
5. The current government has not committed to supporting
the creation of a Platinum Jubilee Medal to mark Her
Majesty's 70th year on the throne. What are your views on
this?

Mr. Aitchison's reply is as follows:

"I am proud of our Queen and a devout monarchist. My answers to each if your
questions is a resounding yes and I am frustrated by the current government’s
dismissive attitude toward Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee."

As always I checked Hansard to see if the candidate has talked
about the monarchy at any point. Mr. Aitchison has not. In
fairness he was first elected in 2019 and the last few years
have not been normal as far as debates in parliament go.

Next I checked to see if Mr. Aitchison has comments on the
monarchy in public. As it turns out he spoke warmly about
Prince Philip's career shortly after his passing.

Scott Aitchison is a solid monarchist candidate.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

Platinum Jubilee in March

3/31/2022

Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan will issue Platinum Jubilee Medals

The government of Nova Scotia has announced that it will be
issuing its own Platinum Jubilee Medal. More info can be
found here.

Likewise, Saskatchewan has made a similar announcement
here.

The Loyal 96

On the 20th it was learned that a large number of Liberal MPs
has written a group letter to the Minister of Canadian
Heritage asking that a platinum jubilee medal be issued.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

Conservative Leadership Candidates and the Monarchy: Leona Alleslev

3/26/2022

Once again there is a federal Conservative
leadership race underway. As has become
my practice I have sent surveys out to all of
the leadership candidates to get their views
on Canada's monarchy. The first candidate
to get back to me is Leona Alleslev. Mrs.
Alleslev is the former MP for Aurora-Oak
Ridges-Richmond Hill, a position she held
from 2015-2021. This is her first candidacy
in a leadership race.

The questions have been somewhat expanded this year due to
a variety of reasons.

What are your views on the monarchy?

"As someone who holds a “Queen’s commission” to serve as
an air force officer - I take my oath to Queen and country
very seriously. As I am sure you know - our Queen is our
head of state - and commander in chief of our military -
which is separate from our head of government - the Prime
Minister. I think it is critically important that those two roles
remain separate and that Canadians continue to understand
why they are. I had a portrait of the Queen in both my
constituency office and my hill office the entire time I was an
MP. I was also awarded the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award
by Prince Edward in 1988 and will sing the words to God
Save the Queen as well as O Canada."

As prime minister would you make use of the
Advisory Committee on Vice-Regal Appointments
that was active between 2010 and 2015?

"I don’t know enough about the advisory committee of vice
regal appointments to answer your question - but Vice regal
appointments are critically important and should have the
advice and wisdom of representatives of the provinces and
territories and other groups prior to appointments being
made."

In 2019 the government cancelled a program that
mailed physical copies of the Queen's portrait to any
Canadian who asked free of charge. Would you
restore this program?

"Yes, Canadians should be able to obtain a portrait of the
Queen if they want one - I can tell you that it was difficult for
me - as a Member of Parliament - to get portraits of the
Queen for my parliamentary offices and I was furious. I
would change that."

The government also removed the Queen's portrait
from the lobby of the Foreign Affairs Office and
replaced it with paintings by Alfred Pallen. Would
you find a way to have both paintings and portrait
share the ample wall space of the Foreign Affairs
Office lobby?

"Every government dept. lobby should have a portrait of the
Queen. Wherever there is a picture of the PM (and a Minister
and a public servant Deputy Minister) there should also be a
picture of the Queen."

The current government has not committed to
supporting the creation of a Platinum Jubilee Medal
to mark Her Majesty's 70th year on the throne. What
are your views on this?

"I don’t know enough about the medal history and tradition
so I would need to know more before answering your
specific question - but - in principle I am a very strong
believer in history and decorum (having attended Royal
Military College and memorized the names of the first 18
cadets and carried a ceremonial sword) so I strongly believe
that the appropriate and historic commemorative action
should be taken to mark the 70th year of her reign."

A quick overview of her profile on openparliament.ca
shows frequent mention of the monarchy in passing (most
often in relation to her military career).

Overall, Leona Alleslev is a solid monarchist candidate in my
estimation.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

Meme Monday #11

2/21/2022

What can be said here except "Long may she reign"? Although
maybe someone should check to make sure Italy is alright...

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

Failure to issue a medal marking the Platinum Jubilee just the most recent act in a troubling pattern of behavior by this government

2/20/2022

On February 17th the Monarchist League of Canada finally
received confirmation by the government that no medal
would be produced to mark Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee.
Now, given the number of people who have went above and
beyond during the pandemic (and ought to be honoured in
some way) this is not a great decision. But as the article title
might suggest this isn't the first time Justin Trudeau has
failed to take his role as prime minister of Her Majesty's
Government seriously.

2015

The Queen's portrait is removed from the lobby of the Foreign
Affairs building. Back then I was willing to give the newly
elected Liberal government the benefit of the doubt.

2016

During a royal tour by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
the government approved a new natural gas terminal. This
was done while the royals were visiting the very people the
terminal would effect. The optics were not great and a more
cynical person might suggest the prime minister was trying to
hide behind the royal couple.

2017

Justin Trudeau opted to ignore the vetting committee for vice-
regal appointments when recommending the appointment of
Julie Payette to the position of governor general. Now, the act
of a prime minister keeping their own counsel regarding
appointments is not new. However, they do have a serious
responsibility to make sure the candidate is properly vetted.
Reporters quickly dug up some pretty easily found reports
that should have raised red flags. As governor general
Julie Payette would end up being the worst holder of the
office in at least my lifetime, if not longer.

2019

The government opted to end a successful program that
supplied free portraits of the Queen to any Canadian who
requested one. A similar program for the Charter was not
affected.

Occam's Razor & Chrystal Balls

How are these events to be interpreted? There are simply too
many slip-ups on a single issue for it to be random chance.
This leaves open a couple possibilities:

1. Justin Trudeau's government is incompetent. Justin
Trudeau has gotten into a lot of trouble over its time in office.
We are not talking about Machiavellian dirty tricks but rather
a string of unforced errors, back-peddling, and seemingly a
lack of clear leadership. Up until this year I would have
placed myself in this column.

2. Justin Trudeau's government is actively working to
undermine the monarchy. The last couple of acts by this
government that I listed don't fall into the category of a
government bumbling. To end the portrait program and not
the Charter program is intentional and the Jubilee Medal
decision even more so. Despite what Justin Trudeau has
said in the past I can't see him as a friend of the monarchy any
longer.

If it really is the second option we may be seeing the return
of republicanism by stealth. No grand declaration of war
against our institutions but instead a slow chipping away at
the foundation of Canadian governance.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

Platinum Jubilee in February

2/15/2022

February isn't exactly the best month to have a celebration but
here we are. February 6th marked the day 70 years ago that
Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II.

Queen's Statement

Jubilee Pin

The government of Canada has produced
a Platinum Jubilee pin which is being
distributed by the Monarchist League of Canada. The pin features the emblem
designed by the Canadian Heraldic
Authority for this jubilee.

Flag Raising at Rideau Hall

Governor General Mary Simon participated in a flag raising at
Rideau Hall on February 6th. Rideau Hall is one of the two
official residences of the Canadian monarch in Canada.

Canada Post's Platinum Jubilee Stamp

New Brunswick Village Marks Jubilee

The Village of Hillsborough had adopted measures in
honour of Her Majesty's Jubilee that henceforth any tree cut
down in the municipality will be replaced by a tree of a species
native to Canada and that a review will be held every two
years to make sure green spaces in the municipality are well
cared for. This initiative has a similar purpose to the UK's
Green Canopy initiative being undertaken for this jubilee.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

<<Previous

Forward>>

2022 Conservative Party Leadership Race: Views on the Monarchy

Questions & Replies

Crown & Cap Scoreboard

Conservative Leadership Candidates and the Monarchy: Jean Charest

Prince Charles, His Detractors, and the Future of the Monarchy

Platinum Jubilee in April

Royal Tour Announced for May

Queen's Jubilee Classroom Challenge

Conservative Leadership Candidates and the Monarchy: Scott Aitchison

Platinum Jubilee in March

Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan will issue Platinum Jubilee Medals

The Loyal 96

Conservative Leadership Candidates and the Monarchy: Leona Alleslev

Meme Monday #11

Failure to issue a medal marking the Platinum Jubilee just the most recent act in a troubling pattern of behavior by this government

2015

2016

2017

2019

Occam's Razor & Chrystal Balls

Platinum Jubilee in February

Queen's Statement

Jubilee Pin

Flag Raising at Rideau Hall

Canada Post's Platinum Jubilee Stamp

New Brunswick Village Marks Jubilee

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Questions & Replies

Crown & Cap Scoreboard

Royal Tour Announced for May

Queen's Jubilee Classroom Challenge

Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan will issue Platinum Jubilee Medals

The Loyal 96

2015

2016

2017

​2019

Occam's Razor & Chrystal Balls

Queen's Statement

Jubilee Pin

Flag Raising at Rideau Hall

Canada Post's Platinum Jubilee Stamp

New Brunswick Village Marks Jubilee

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