Category: Monarchist League Of Canada - The Maple Monarchists

The Monarchist League on Facebook

5/31/2017

Ironically, for all the talk of the internet isolating people it
also has great usefulness in bringing people together. The
Monarchist League of Canada has various social media
accounts, of course, but some may not know that the
League's many branches maintain at least a Facebook
presence. I have taken the time to list them below:

New Brunswick
Facebook
Twitter

Halifax - SW Nova Scotia
Facebook

Northumberland and NE Nova Scotia

Quebec
Facebook

Ottawa - Ontario
Facebook

Barrie-Huronia - Ontario
Facebook

University of Toronto - Ontario
Facebook

Waterloo-Wellington - Ontario
Facebook

South Saskatchewan
Facebook
Twitter

Lethbridge and Medicine Hat - Alberta
Facebook

Victoria - British Columbia
Facebook

I find it encouraging that most of these pages have a healthy
number of members and are active. Even better, each page
has avoided that common pitfall of redundancy. They all have
a little bit of individuality to what is posted rather than being carbon copies of the League's main page.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

Victoria Day Odds & Ends

5/22/2017

Queen Victoria at four years of age

Happy Victoria Day!

There is a few items I wanted to
cover this Victoria Day. The
Monarchist League of Canada
sent out an email on May 11th
with ideas for how to celebrate
Victoria Day with friends and
family. It is a good list. Myself,
I have the last two years treated
my coworkers to birthday cake.
It's a good way to inform people
that Victoria Day is also the
reigning monarch's birthday.

Former MP Brian Murphy took the occasion to write a mostly
positive tribute to the monarchy in the Times & Transcript on
Friday. I had a few small issues with the piece and will be
writing a reply but overall it was a welcome surprise.

On the subject of the media: I have noticed a certain tendency
towards using 'May Long Weekend' rather than referring to
Victoria Day itself. I'm inclined to believe this is one of those
time-saving measures used by the media rather than any sort
of effort to downplay Victoria Day.

Conservative Party Leadership Candidate Chris Alexander
sent out an email today. I have copied it below:

"Today we celebrate free institutions & the stability of monarchs.

Since Louis XIII (pictured below), the reigns of just six of them (including Louis XIV,
George III & Queen Victoria) account for almost three & a half centuries of
Canadian history. In Québec, today is the 'Journée nationale des patriotes' --
celebrating the struggle for national recognition, political freedoms & democracy.

All achieved under the Crown of Canada.

It's time to recognize the crown's role in our lives by:
- holding a coronation of our next monarch in Canada; &
- styling our country the Kingdom of Canada.

Without constitutional amendment, upheaval or drama.
With pomp, dignity & ceremony. For love of country.
To show what we're becoming -- our history & our potential.
These ideas for renewing the Crown of Canada are here.

Happy Victoria Day!"

The policy on having a Canadian coronation is one he told me
about when I met him at a candidates debate in Moncton. The
policy on styling Canada as a 'kingdom' is new to me though.

Finally, the month of May marks the 3rd anniversary of this
blog's founding. Hard to believe its been three years already.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

Candidate Erin O'Toole and the Monarchy Revisited

4/9/2017

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,
James Wilson"

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 James. 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

Monarchist League of Canada Publishes 6th Triennial Survey on the Cost of the Canadian Crown

11/18/2016

Canadian Monarchist League Flag

The Monarchist League of Canada
announced this week the completion
of its 6th Survey on the cost of the
Canadian Monarchy. The survey is
done every three years and serves to
give accurate information on how
much the monarchy costs Canadians.

The Cost of Canada’s Constitutional Monarchy

The survey found that the monarchy costs Canadians approx.
$54,995,107 (or $1.53 per Canadian) during the fiscal year
2014-2015. This represents a drop of 7% since the last survey.
The survey includes comparisons with other government
institutions such as the Senate ($2.38 per Canadian), House
of Commons ($11.76 per Canadian), and CBC ($28.95 per
Canadian).

The survey is quite detailed and helps counter disinformation
spread by republicans as to what the monarchy actually costs.
Often such disinformation is spread in order to argue that a
president would be cheaper for Canada. The section looking at
the costs of several different republican heads of state is
included for this reason.

League's Coat of Arms

In other League news three new Branch
Chairmen have started:
-Angela Barrett has become Chairman of
the new Prince Edward Island Branch.
-Dave Willer has become Chairman of the
Niagara Region Branch which has split from
the Greater Hamilton Region.
-Bobby Paolini has taken over the Greater
Hamilton Region Branch.

As well, Paul Partington has taken on the task of forming a
Young Monarchist group in the Halifax area. The League does
good work and its initiatives are always appreciated.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

The Young Monarchists: An Interview With Dylan Mainprize

7/17/2016

The Monarchist League of Canada has announced that Neil
MacAlasdair has stepped down as National Young Monarchist
Chairman in order to continue his studies at Cambridge
University. Taking his place as National Chairman is Dylan
Mainprize of Dundas, Ontario. I caught up with Dylan in
order to ask him about his new duties.

A Kisaragi Colour: Can you tell me a little about yourself?

Dylan Mainprize: Well I'm a 4th year student at McMaster
University studying communication studies and history. For
the most part I'd said I'm not terribly out of the ordinary, I
love hockey (the Montreal Canadiens specifically), soccer,
running, rugby, jokes and spending time with my friends -
nothing particularly exceptional. I'd said what defines me
most as a person is my loyalty to my country. My friends often
joke that I can be a tad over-zealous at times with in comes to
my nation, but the way I see it the love of country is an
inherently selfless love. A focus on your community has the
greater capacity to promote good as opposed to an inward-
looking individualistic focus, which is not necessarily a
negative thing but not really my style.

AKC: How did you come to be a monarchist?

DM: I'm a monarchist because I'm Canadian. Perhaps not a
complicated answer, but the most accurate one. I support my
country in all its endeavours and I do not separate the concept
of my country and my Queen. Her Majesty the Queen, and the
Crown in general, is deeply intertwined with Canadian
culture, of which I am a product of - I was taught English and
French (the ladder unfortunately is not at the level it should
be), read "The Hockey Sweater", studied our history and
indeed raised to recognize the benefits I have because of my
Queen and Country. The Crown is a part of my heritage - a
part of Canadian heritage.

AKC: You have just been named the National Chairman of
the Young Monarchists. How did this come about?

DM: I've been a member of the League for a while now and
with Neil MacAlasdair stepping down to pursue his studies I
suppose I seemed to be a logical choice. I hesitate to declare
myself a uniquely charismatic person, I'd not want to seem
too self-aggrandizing, but I do believe I'm good a interacting
with people and building relationships. For that reason I do
believe I will be an effective representative of the League and
Chairman of the Young Monarchists.

AKC: What will your duties consist of?

DM: My duties will be to promote the League among our
nation's youth, help organize existing Young Monarchists and
to grow youth membership.

AKC: You mentioned before that you are a student at
McMaster University. What has been the response to the
Young Monarchists on campus?

DM: I'd say the response has been mostly positive. Many
University students are curious about the Crown in Canada
and often passively support its vital role. The struggle is to
translate this passive support into a more active support. I do
not necessarily expect every student with monarchist leanings
to join the League, of course I'd be thrilled for them to join,
but I see any student going out of their way to learn more
about one of their culture's most important institutions to be
a success story. Once in while I will run into a fervent
republican but I'd say overt hostility to the Crown and the
League is rare.

AKC: The Young Monarchists recently produced a series of
videos about its activities which were posted and shared
online. How important do you feel online promotion is
compared to word of mouth?

DM: Given the huge role social media and the internet play in
today's society, particularly among the youth, I consider
maintaining and expanding an online presence to be of
utmost importance. As with any national organization the
League has to go where the people are. Today people are
spending more and more time online, adapting to the new
media landscape is how the League can build a larger
following among the youth. Gaining followers by word of
mouth is certainly wonderful but online expansion has
potential to reach new audiences that may not have any
substantial connections to the League.

I'd like to thank Dylan for taking the time to answer my questions and I look forward to seeing what direction he takes
the Young Monarchists in the future.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

Celebrating Victoria Day

5/23/2016

Happy Victoria Day!

This Victoria Day is special in that
it is also marks the official 90th
birthday of Queen Elizabeth II of
Canada.

The Monarchist League of Canada
has encouraged its members to
film themselves singing Happy
Birthday to Her Majesty to mark
the occasion. The Governor
General even joined in recently.

Victoria Day is a uniquely Canadian celebration. No other
member of the Commonwealth celebrates it. The date used to
move around a little bit since it was Queen Victoria's actual
birthday. It was eventually decided to fix the date to the
Monday before the 24th of May (the Queen's actual birth
date).

Canadians celebrate Victoria Day in a few different ways.
Some don't mark the occasion in any special way (although
even this can be an appropriate way of marking the
occasion). Firework displays have long been a part of Victoria
Day celebrations and continue to be a part of celebrations
in Canada today. As for myself...

...I treated my coworkers to birthday cake.

The month of May also marks this website's second birthday.
When I started I was unsure about how long it would last. I
wasn't even sure if I had the dedication to keep it regularly
updated. But two years in I am pleased with how things are
going.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

Canadian Monarchist News, Spring 2016

3/22/2016

The Monarchist League of Canada has published its Spring
2016 issue of Canadian Monarchist News. Link

CMN Front Page

This issue leads off with a
handful of articles on Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau. This
is understandable given the
recent change in government
and the fact that Mr. Trudeau's
view of, & relationship with,
the monarchy is not all that
well publicized. These articles
do a lot to illuminate Her
Majesty's newest Prime
Minister. There is also a nice
tribute to former Prime
Minister Stephen Harper for
everything he has done for
Canada's monarchy.

The article by constitutionalist Philippe Lagassé interpreting
the Ontario Court of Appeal's ruling on the Citizenship Oath
helped clear up the details of a slightly muddled legal ruling.

It was also nice to see the Young Monarchists are well
represented. In fact, all ages are well-represented. The old
republican lie that monarchists are nostalgic octogenarians
has never been more dead.

While many features from previous issues have returned I
do note the absence of the Crowns & Maces. This feature
which noted positive actions towards the Canadian Crown
and called out negative ones was one of my favorites.
Perhaps there were too few negative actions to make a good
article? One can only hope!

Back issues of Canadian Monarchist News can be found on
the League website. Link

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

A Collection of Loyal Quotes: Part Four

3/12/2016

While I've been doling out quotes a few at a time the
Monarchist League of Canada has an excellent quote page.
It has both some of the Queen's more memorable quotes
about Canada as well as quotes by Canadians about their
monarchy.

"I have a considerable regard for
The Queen and the monarchy
although I’m a New Democrat and a
socialist. I think that the monarchy
has validity at a time when
everything else is flying off in all
directions. I’d like to tell her that
she’s had a tough road and I sure in
hell wouldn’t change places with her.
I admire her stubborn refusal to
break down and take the easy way,
to conform with the constantly
changing public image of how our leaders should act."

~Farley Mowat, author and environmentalist

Photo Credit: Manning Centre

"If you'll forgive me going all
Bagehotian for a moment, in a
country such as Canada, the post-
election Speech from the Throne is
the defining act of constitutional
monarchy: the Queen or her viceroy
comes to parliament to read words
placed in her mouth by the Prime
Minister of her newly elected
government. It's the logical endpoint
of Magna Carta: the state as
servant of the people."

~Mark Steyn, author, journalist, and commentator

"We recall, with great honour, the
political and military bond of
mutual affection and alliance that
has marked the relationship
between the Mohawk people and
the British and Canadian Crown
for the last three centuries."

~R. Donald Maracle, Chief of the Mohawks of Bay of Quinte

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

Monarchy in the Year Ahead

12/26/2015

2015 is coming to an end and its time to look what the year
ahead likely has in store for monarchy.

In Canada 2016 may actually a quiet year. The Governor General's term was extended to 2017 and of the provincial
Lieutenant Governors only PEI's is likely to be replaced in
2016. At the same time the next major national celebration is
the sesquicentennial of Confederation in 2017. However, if a
member of the Royal Family is to attend planning needs to be
started in the coming year. Reminding the Minister of
Canadian Heritage isn't a bad idea.

I predict the Monarchist League of Canada will also develop a
good working relationship with the new government in 2016.

The Queen of Barbados

The Government of Barbados
has announced its intentions
to abolish its monarchy in
2016. Despite this, it is not
entirely certain they will be
able to do so. To change the
constitution the government
will need the opposition's
support to pass the required
legislation. As the opposition
has not indicated they support
this change the government
may not have an easy time.

In Spain the restless Catalonia region may attempt to gain its
independence illegally in 2016. While not a direct threat to
the Spanish Throne it is unfortunate to see the kingdom going
through the uncertainly associated with a separatist
movement within its borders.

Christian Bjørnskov

On the academic front it is possible
Christian Bjørnskov, Martin Rode, and
Peter Kurrild-Klitgaard may continue
their research on monarchy as a form of
government.

I'm sure other studies are in the works
and I intend to publicize them whenever
I find them.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

Much Ado About Paintings

11/15/2015

Last week there was a bit of a stir when the Queen's portrait
was removed from the lobby of the Foreign Affairs building.
The portrait had hung there since 2011 when it replaced two
paintings by Quebec artist Alfred Pellan.

Photo: Adrian Wyld of The Canadian Press

The Monarchist League of Canada was not pleased. Outside
observers may see the reaction as a bit much. To understand
the reaction from the League requires knowing a bit of the
history between the League and the Liberal Party of Canada.

The League formed in 1970 in order
to counter what was seen as the
'creeping republicanism' of the
governing Liberal Party. The slow
removal of royal symbols, downplay
of royal history, and subtle disregard
for the Crown was a war of attrition.
Every negative action taken by the
government in regards to the Crown
had to be confronted or Canada's
monarchy would face slow decay.

However, over the last ten years the monarchy has been
returned to its rightful place at the center of Canadian culture
by the Conservative Party. During the period in between the
Liberals held a vote on adopting opposition to the monarchy
as a part of party policy. While the vote failed 67-33 the
vote left some monarchists concerned about what the Liberal
Party would do in power. The Trudeau Liberals have also
made some supportive statements in favour of the
monarchy. However, saying things outside of power and
doing things once in power are completely different.

With the return of the Liberal Party after the recent election
the League is certainly looking for signs whether the
monarchy is now valued by the Liberals or whether it will be a
return to the previous policy of republicanism by a thousand
cuts. While the League is strictly non-partisan there isn't
a lot of trust for the new Liberal government as of yet. An
action like this so shortly after the election was likely to be
interpreted as an attack. The portrait flap will probably come
to be seen as the first uneasy interaction between two groups
which have not had to work together for a while. I'm not
prepared to read too much into this action. One mistake a
trend doth not make. As for what ought to have been done
about the paintings...

The paintings in question

A compromise should have been found. The Conservatives are
somewhat to blame for the current situation. They set up a
situation that artificially pitted monarchism vs. Quebec
nationalism. The sensible solution, in 2011 as in 2015, would
be to have both the Queen's portrait and the paintings on the
(very large) wall. The paintings represent the diversity of
Canada. The portrait represents Canada's status as a
monarchy, a unifying force, and the person in whose name
the Foreign Affairs office acts. The wall is literally, and
figuratively big enough for both.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour