Category: Conservative Party

Conservative Leadership Candidates and the Monarchy: Marilyn Gladu

3/3/2020

Today I'm sharing the survey response
received from Marilyn Gladu via
Facebook. She is the MP for Sarnia—
Lambton and was first elected in
2015. Mrs. Gladu's response was the
last received before the reminder
emails went out. So far the response
rate has been better than expected. I
will be posting an index of them soon.
Now, on to survey results.

What are your views on the monarchy?

"I love the Queen."

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

"I haven’t heard about this program, but will look into it."

During the previous parliament 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"

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?

"Yes."

Let me start off with what was good about Mrs. Gladu's reply;
It was broadly supportive and she committed to carrying out
two of the policies outlined above.

While Mrs. Gladu stated that she loves the Queen this does
leave unrevealed what she thinks of the institution as a whole.
Her lack of knowledge about the Advisory Committee on Vice-
Regal Appointments is perhaps best explained by her election
having occurred after the committee ceased to be used. And
of course I'd prefer longer replies (but I always prefer longer
replies so that is neither here nor there).

Checking the Parliament debate records did turn up an
interesting quote:

"Our Westminster style of Parliament is based on allegiance to the Queen. How
then can we allow someone who has lived in Canada for 13 years, who has seen
how our government is based, who knows this and wants to be a Canadian citizen,
to swear their oath pledging allegiance to the Queen one day and then the next day
revoke that allegiance and still retain their citizenship? Will we also allow
individuals to revoke the other part of the oath where they pledge to obey Canadian
law? My view is that, when people take the pledge to join this great country, they
should not be able to pick and choose which parts they like. It is not a buffet."

This is probably a reference to this practice. No further
comments were found via google search.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

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Conservative Leadership Candidates and the Monarchy: Erin O'Toole

2/10/2020

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I had a chance to meet with leadership
candidate Erin O'Toole this morning
during his campaign stop in Moncton. This
is Erin's second attempt to become the
leader of the Conservative Party. I have
contacted Erin before but due to how
the last survey was conducted it ended up
causing us both a headache. As such I
really wanted to get his reply in-person this
time. The results of the Q&A are below.

What are your views on the monarchy?

This was the one question I didn't have to ask in-person as he
answered it the last go around:

"I was very proud to have received The Queen's Commission in the Canadian
Armed Forces, and it hangs in my office. I have worked indirectly with the Royal
Family on the True Patriot Love Foundation - a military charity I co-founded - and
for which I received Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee medal. The photo book of
Prince Harry's visit to Canada House for this charity sits on the coffee table in my
Hill office. And it was this organization that successfully bid for Canada to host this
year's Invictus Games, led by Prince Harry. There is nobody in the race who has
more of a direct association with the monarchy, nor, I believe, is there anyone in
the race who has been more publicly supportive of the monarchy than I. One of my
most widely reported policies during this race is all about working closer with our
Commonwealth allies. I have raised the monarchy and its strengths in my many
discussions about the CANZUK policy, which would create a trade and security
pact for Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK. The above is a snapshot to
give you a flavour of my track record and consistent and steadfast support for the
monarchy as a foundational element of our parliamentary democracy and a
positive force in our society." (2017)

A quick check of openparliament.ca brought up a couple
examples of Mr. O'Toole's regard for the monarchy.

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

Erin stated that he supports the reactivation of this
committee.

During the previous parliament 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?

Erin stated that he would reinstate this program and that he
was critical at the time of the decision by the government.

While I couldn't find his opposition to ending the program
online he did link to an article on his MP page about the
problems in regard to ending it.

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?

Erin stated support for this idea in principle. He only
hesitated to fully get behind this idea due to not being entirely
sure how much space was available. He mentioned it has been
several years since he was last in that building.

I would like to thank Mr. O'Toole for taking the time to
answer my questions.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

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Conservative Leadership Candidates and the Monarchy: Aron Seal

2/4/2020

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Photo Credit: Aron Seal

Hard to believe that it has been
three years since I last surveyed
the prospective leaders of the
Conservative Party of Canada. As
in 2017 there is a large number of
candidates. Also, like 2017, there is
a second race later in the year for
a different federal party (this time
it is the Greens). I am sending an
expanded list of questions this
time around:

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. During the previous parliament 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?

First up is Aron Seal who replied the same day the questions
were sent. While I appreciate promptness in this instance it is
because he didn't have to think the questions over very hard:

"Sir - I believe this tweet
should answer your
questions. I am afraid we
are at odds on this issue.
Best wishes, Aron"

As Mr. Seal has not held
public office the Hansard
cannot be checked for any
additional comments.
However, he has tweeted
a similar sentiment at
least once before.

Overall, a disappointing
start to this overview of
the candidates as the last
one found none of the
contenders harbored any
republican sentiments.
Both the sentiments
expressed (and factual
errors in his tweets) do
not leave me with much to
commend.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

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The Canadian Monarchy in the Year Ahead

12/26/2019

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While 2019 has been an exciting year politically, the Canadian
Monarchy has been low-key in a lot of ways. The Governor
General seems to have adapted to her new role and put her
mark on it. The government's questionable decision to cancel
the free royal portrait program was balanced out by the recent
appointment of a new Canadian Secretary to the Queen. Of
course the Queen finished off the year with her Christmas
message as she always does. That one of Her Majesty's themes
was reconciliation is apropos to Canada.

But as we inch towards the New Year I wanted to take a
minute to look at what is known to lie ahead and what can
with some certainty be predicted.

Leadership Races

Elizabeth May

Both the Conservatives and the Greens
will have leadership races in 2020. As is
my tradition I will be submitting a list of
questions to all the candidates. Both of
the out-going leaders are monarchists
with Elizabeth May being very vocal
over the years about this and Andrew
Scheer being the leader of Her Majesty's
Loyal Opposition. So I am sad to see
their time as leaders come to an end.
But at the same time there is a silver
lining to be seen.

Either by accident, or design, Mr. Scheer repelled Maxime
Bernier from the Conservative Party. Long-time readers may
recall that Mr. Bernier did not score highly on the last
survey I conducted. That the man who came in a close second
last time has zero chance in the up-coming contest is a relief.

I have greater concerns about the Green Party which seems to be at a cross-roads of sorts. Elizabeth May has been a strong
influence within the party for so long that I can't make any
predictions about what her successor would be like.

The New Democrats

I still have concerns about Mr. Singh's republicanism but
the party itself looks better going into 2020. Declared
monarchist Randall Garrison kept his seat in a reduced
caucus and the minority government situation should keep
the NDP from putting forward any damaging proposals.

Polls

At some point there will be an opinion poll on the monarchy.
The poll will show Canadians love the Queen more than our
politicians, are evenly divided on the monarchy itself, and are
ambivalent about Prince Charles. Reporters will conveniently
forget that ambivalence is actually an improvement and fret
about the future of the monarchy. Having finished this
pantomime for another year we will give ourselves a pat on
the back and agree to meet again in another 8-12 months.

Royal Homecomings

While none have been announced to my knowledge with the
appointment of a New Canadian Secretary to the Queen we
may hope that one is in the works.

Monarchy in New Brunswick

Just this week a group in New Brunswick launched a court
action over the recent appointment Brenda Murphy as the
province's Lieutenant-Governor. This case will likely play out
over the coming year. My gut feeling is that it won't go
anywheres but you never know. Something to watch closely.

Monarchist League in New Brunswick

Personally, I have finished out my first full year as Chairman
of the New Brunswick Branch of the Monarchist League of
Canada. Out-reach and educational activities were largely confined to the South-East. This is a situation that I will be
working to address.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

2 Comments

Candidate Erin O'Toole and the Monarchy Revisited

4/9/2017

2 Comments

Recent events have necessitated a re-visiting
of Conservative Leadership Candidate Erin
O'Toole's views on the monarchy. This is
due to Mr. O'Toole objecting to my
characterization of his views in my last post.
This situation has been quite distressing as,
while not a journalist, I do try to be accurate
in reporting the views of others. Accuracy is
important in an era of 'fake news' and casual
regard for the truth. As such I took the
charge of misrepresentation very seriously.

In my previous post I stated that Mr. O'Toole 'refused' to
answer my questions regarding the monarchy. As a result
several people have interpreted this to mean that Mr. O'Toole
doesn't support the monarchy. It was not my intention at all!
While I might be disappointed in such refusals to reply to
questions I have always viewed a refusal as being an
essentially neutral response. However, I understand why
people might not read it that way and for that I apologize.
Further, Mr. O'Toole has stated that the idea he 'refused' to answer my question is simply false. I have more to say on this
but first I would like to go over the events that led to this
point.

I would like to quickly review the process I used to contact
Mr. O'Toole (and the other candidates). My primary method
of communication has been email for a couple of reasons:
-Its often the primary means of contacting the candidate.
-It creates a written record that I can refer back to.
-Searching for an email is easier than most social media posts.

However, as the months started ticking down I did start also
contacting candidates via Facebook. This did yield results and
I did not perceive of it as being a potential problem. The
following is the private message I sent to Mr. O'Toole's
campaign through Facebook on January 30th:

"Greetings Mr. O'Toole,
NOTE: I have previously contacted the candidate at least twice over the last few months and have not received a response.
My name is James Wilson and I am looking to get a better idea of the views of the Conservative Party leadership candidates so I may cast an informed vote. Could I get your views on the following?
1. What are your views on the monarchy?
2. What are your views on intellectual property?
3. What are your views on Basic Income/Mincome?
4. Do you support Canada joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)?
Thank you in advance for taking the time to read my message.
Best Regards,
[Named Redacted]"

As you may notice I actually polled Mr. O'Toole on various
areas of policy. This format is consistent across all of the
candidates I contacted. On February 27th I received the
following reply:

"Hi [Named Redacted]. Sorry for the delay in response. I appreciate you sending me a message!
While I don't have these detailed policy positions right now, I am working on it. At
this time I am putting forward a number of policy papers on how I would govern
Canada. I am reaching out to hear what Conservatives are thinking because I am
running a campaign of ideas and innovation that reflects where our country is
going and what we need to do to succeed. I intend to release my policy proposals in
the near future. These are intended to provoke discussion amongst members. They
will not be top-down policies, nor will there be two dozen of them. They will
represent key priorities that I want all Conservatives to consider as we build the
winning team for the next election. So far I have created policies for immigration,
jobs, farming, firearms and Veterans which you can read about on my website
www.erinotoole.ca If you would like to join the mission please send an email to
volunteer@erinotoole.ca. I would love to have you on my team for CPC leadership
and our victory in 2019!"

At the time I interpreted this reply
as a brush-off and a failure to
answer the questions I had asked.
However, in hindsight 'refusal' was
too strong of a word to have used. I
will concede this was a poor word
choice and I would like to apologize
to Mr. O'Toole for the mis-
characterization of his stance, no matter how unintentional. I
would also like to apologize to the Monarchist League of
Canada as I inadvertently put them in a difficult situation.

If any good came out of this situation it is that Mr. O'Toole
has released a statement to the League outlining his views on
the monarchy:

"I was very proud to have received The Queen's Commission in the Canadian
Armed Forces, and it hangs in my office. I have worked indirectly with the Royal
Family on the True Patriot Love Foundation - a military charity I co-founded - and
for which I received Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee medal. The photo book of
Prince Harry's visit to Canada House for this charity sits on the coffee table in my
Hill office. And it was this organization that successfully bid for Canada to host this
year's Invictus Games, led by Prince Harry. There is nobody in the race who has
more of a direct association with the monarchy, nor, I believe, is there anyone in
the race who has been more publicly supportive of the monarchy than I. One of my
most widely reported policies during this race is all about working closer with our
Commonwealth allies. I have raised the monarchy and its strengths in my many
discussions about the CANZUK policy, which would create a trade and security
pact for Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK. The above is a snapshot to
give you a flavour of my track record and consistent and steadfast support for the
monarchy as a foundational element of our parliamentary democracy and a
positive force in our society."

I have added a note to the original post directing readers here
as well as updated the Five Crown Scoreboard to reflect new
information I have learned. I will also be reviewing the
processes I use in contacting public figures to see if there is
room for improvement.

Apologetically Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

2 Comments

Conservative Leadership Candidates and the Monarchy: Andrew Scheer

3/21/2017

2 Comments

The latest response to my survey of Tory
leadership candidates is Andrew Scheer. I
would like to give a special thanks to James
Hawkes of the North Saskatchewan Branch
of the Monarchist League of Canada who
took it upon himself to remind Mr. Scheer
about my email(s). This project has taken
over my blog these last few months and I am
glad it is almost over. Mr. Scheer's reply:

"I have long believed that the Monarchy is an important part of Canada's past,
present and future. It provides a link to our past and provides continuity, stability,
and the preservation of our distinct Canadian identity. The Crown has an enduring
capacity to adapt to the interests of Canadian self-government and identity. It is
vital to our democratic system. The former Conservative government, Rideau Hall
and several provinces – with Saskatchewan in the lead – have made important
contributions towards public education about the Crown in recent years. We need
to continue these efforts. So, I encourage efforts to explore opportunities to elevate
understanding and appreciation of the Crown; to restore Canadians’ understanding
of its role in our democratic system and to remind ourselves of our history and the
role of the Crown in that journey. In my time as Speaker, I had the privilege of
travelling to the UK to attend to an audience with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
and present on behalf of the Canadian Parliament the Loyal Address and
Proclamation on the Birth of His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge. It
was certainly a highlight of my career thus far."

I'm not sure if I can add anything to this. The quote stands
well on its own. I will say (again) that this kind of detail is the
reason I prefer direct replies. Moving on to other topics lets
see what has Mr. Scheer had to say about the monarchy while
in Parliament. As it turns out Mr. Scheer has mentioned the
monarchy a few times making note of her 90th birthday in
2016 and praying for her well-being during his time as
Speaker of the House.

Mr. Scheer also sent along a pdf (link below) detailing a trip
taken to the UK in 2014. The main purpose of the visit "was
to attend to an audience with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
and present on behalf of the Canadian Parliament the Loyal
Address and Proclamation on the Birth of His Royal
Highness Prince George of Cambridge."

Overall, Mr. Scheer's response has been a welcome surprise as
I wind down this project and begin focusing on the NDP
leadership race.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

report_to_parliament.pdf
File Size:	168 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

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Conservative Leadership Candidates and the Monarchy: Erin O'Toole

3/3/2017

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UPDATE: Due to questions raised about
some of the points below and additional
information being received from Mr.
O'Toole regarding the monarchy the
information below is out-of-date. It is kept
for historical reasons. Updated Article

Erin O'Toole has taken the time to reply to
my email. Unfortunately, I wish his reply
had been better. Long story short Mr.
O'Toole has refused to answer my question
regarding the monarchy. Mr. O'Toole is not the first
candidate to refuse to answer my question regarding the
monarchy but his refusal is the most disappointing. Anyways,
lets see if Mr. O'Toole has had anything to say about
monarchy in other contexts.

And in fact Mr. O'Toole has mentioned the monarchy and
various members of the Royal Family on different occasions.
These quotes don't necessarily fall under the category of him
having 'defended' the monarchy, but they do represent a
decent knowledge of it and willingness to discuss it and how
it relates to Canada. Which makes it hard to pick a quote that
exemplifies all of them. The one I've chosen is based mostly
on its uniqueness:

"Mr. Speaker, troubling reports out of the United Kingdom indicate that a Canadian
terror suspect is being pursued with respect to possible risks to the Duke and
Duchess of Cambridge travelling in India. I ask that the Minister of Public
Safety update the House and confirm that CSIS and all of our security agencies are
providing co-operation in this international investigation."

And given that Mr. O'Toole has only held office since 2012 the
number of references is encouraging even if they are fairly
minor. Finally there is the fact that Mr. O'Toole supports
CANZUK. While the idea has obvious economic benefits it is
also pretty upfront about how important it holds our shared
monarchy to be. Overall, Erin O'Toole is an interesting
candidate. I just wish he'd give answers to questions asked.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

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Conservative Leadership Candidates and the Monarchy: Brad Trost

2/27/2017

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Brad Trost's campaign team has gotten
back to me with an answer to the question
I've been asking for a few months now;
What are your views on the monarchy?
Like several other candidates the answer
came via a campaign staff member (in this
case it was Mr. Murray Heinzlmeir). It has
taken a bit of time to get this response but
I understand the candidates are very busy.
So what does Mr. Trost have to say?

"The Monarchy is fundamentally linked to the rule of law and Parliamentary
democracy in Canada. Mr. Trost has talked to me on a number of occasions over the
years about the importance of Question Period, for example. The Prime Minister
and the Cabinet are held accountable for 45 minutes every day of the week that the
House of Commons is sitting. The importance of the Monarchy to our military is
also of historical and current significance."

I feel there is a bit of a tangent here conflating monarchy with
cabinet government. While its true that some republics don't
have the executive face questioning on a regular basis, its not
true for all of them. This answer is perhaps a first in that it
would be better if it were shorter because the other points
regarding rule of law, parliamentary democracy, and the
military are all valid.

So what has Mr. Trost had to say about the monarchy during
his time in Parliament? Well, nothing of substance as it turns
out. As Mr. Trost has been a Member of Parliament since
2004 he has had plenty of time to have made some statement
on the monarchy. Overall, par for the course.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

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Conservative Leadership Candidates and the Monarchy: Lisa Raitt

2/4/2017

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I have received a response from Lisa Raitt
to my inquiry on her views on the
monarchy. As a fellow Maritimer I was
quite interested to see what Mrs. Raitt's
views on the monarchy are.

However, in the response from her
campaign team I was told that no answer
would be forthcoming. As such this will be
a very short post.

UPDATE: Lisa Raitt's campaign replied through the
Monarchist League of Canada on April 10th:

“Lisa is a strong supporter of the monarchy.”

Lets move on to checking the Hansard and Mrs. Raitt's public
comments. I found no significant mentions of the monarchy
by Mrs. Raitt during her time in Parliament. Likewise, I was
unable to find any public comments on this topic by Mrs.
Raitt either.

That is all.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

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Conservative Leadership Candidates and the Monarchy: Rick Peterson

1/31/2017

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Rick Peterson was nice enough to reply to
my inquiry over Facebook. It got me
thinking how much technology has really
allowed people to easily connect with their
political class. A mere 20 years ago an
exercise such as mine would have been
conducted primarily via phone, snail mail,
or in person meetings. So far, I have only
met one candidate in person and the others
were contacted via Facebook or email.

But enough of that. What are Mr. Peterson's views on the
monarchy?

"I support the monarchy."

I can't really say too much on this can I? Rick Peterson
supports the monarchy. I know brevity is a politician's friend
but sometimes I wish it were not. This only leaves the
question of what Mr. Peterson has said about the monarchy in
the past. This is where things get difficult. Mr. Peterson has
never held public office so the Hansard is of little use here. A
quick Google search didn't turn up anything either. Although,
as a private individual perhaps that is to be expected.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

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<<Previous

Conservative Leadership Candidates and the Monarchy: Marilyn Gladu

Conservative Leadership Candidates and the Monarchy: Erin O'Toole

Conservative Leadership Candidates and the Monarchy: Aron Seal

The Canadian Monarchy in the Year Ahead

Leadership Races

The New Democrats

Polls

Royal Homecomings

Monarchy in New Brunswick

Monarchist League in New Brunswick

Candidate Erin O'Toole and the Monarchy Revisited

Conservative Leadership Candidates and the Monarchy: Andrew Scheer

Conservative Leadership Candidates and the Monarchy: Erin O'Toole

Conservative Leadership Candidates and the Monarchy: Brad Trost

Conservative Leadership Candidates and the Monarchy: Lisa Raitt

Conservative Leadership Candidates and the Monarchy: Rick Peterson

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