The Monarchist League of Canada has 
sent out an email today with updates 
on its various initiatives. The update
on its social media campaign is worth 
examining:
"We continue to attract queries, trial
members and new paying members.
We expected the first two. However,
the full memberships continue in
steady numbers - and that was
unexpected!"

This is great, of course, but the League goes on to say;
​
"...from the comments we receive, the current threats to our
nationhood are indeed driving a desire to want to know
more about and/or appreciate the distinctiveness of our
institutions, as well as the outward manifestations of which
we all see."

Perhaps this shouldn't be too surprising when this was the
advert I saw in January:

​This is an interesting development and one that is reinforced 
​by what Canadians are searching online in recent weeks.

There has been an up-tick in searches for the Canadian
Monarchy. Concurrent searches are actually at a higher level
than at any point in 2024. Recently, an article posted to
r/CanadaPolitics on the King's statement regarding Flag
Day received 860 upvotes at a 97% upvote ratio. This is a
higher than average ratio for any posted article, let alone one
on the monarchy.

Out of curiousity I also wanted to see if these results held for monarchy-adjacent topics. I checked the Google Trends result
for 'United Empire Loyalist' and there is a similar uptick
which occurred at about the same time:

I think from these results it is clear that Canadians are
reconnecting with their institutions and history. If the
American regime remains hostile these results could be
sustained. This is even more true when you consider a Royal
Homecoming is in the works for the near future. The timing
of said Homecoming could very well see the King open a
session of Parliament in the Spring (presuming an early
election) which would highlight the monarch's constitutional
​role in Canada. 

While Trump's vulgar notions of annexing Canada and the
very real economic damage he is inflicting by tariffs (and the
mere threat of tariffs) are very bad for Canada, if his actions
lead to a Canada more confident in itself and its history he
will have unintentionally left Canada more united then ever.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

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.

​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

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 

On February 7th Grenada celebrated 
its 50th year since independence. This 
was briefly mentioned in my last post 
but I wanted to return to the topic as 
there was one other notable event 
concerning the monarchy that occurred; 
a group of Grenadians have come 
together to form a monarchist league. Back in 2016 I noted 
a lack of monarchist leagues in the Caribbean. The only one 
I found at the time was the Caribbean Monarchist League, 
which consisted of a Facebook page that does not appear to 
even be active any longer. So this development is welcome.

I wanted to take a bit of time to look at this new league
through its website, social media, and other sources. Since
comparisons to the Monarchist League of Canada are
unavoidable I will be looking at how each handles its public
facing resources. I may also include a bit of humble advice if I
feel it warranted.

Above is the home page of the Grenada Monarchist League.
Starting at the top we have the organization's logo and, as
much as it pains me to admit it they nailed it in a way the
Canadian Monarchist League simply doesn't. I will save the
meat of that discussion for later but it will suffice to say the
Canadian version is simply too detailed to be rendered that
small. Navigation is simple with several drop-down menus.
This is where I will offer some advice as someone who runs a
website; if you have a drop-down menu there is a good chance
people won't click on the initial header. Take, for instance,
the Questions header on the Grenada website which has three
drop-down options. What can be easy to miss is that the
header itself leads to a submission form. Meanwhile, the
Canadian website has headers that are deactivated. They are
signposts for other pages rather than pages themselves. Either
option can work but keep in mind that there will be a
proportion of readers who never see what is on the header
that has drop-down options. What the Grenada website does
better is it avoids the use of sub-menus. The Canadian site
uses them and I don't know how I feel about that. Websites
shouldn't be JRPGs. It doesn't have any sub-sub-menus so I'll
grade it 'acceptable'. I like that both websites use the phrase
'Our Monarchy'. I see exactly what they are going for and its
good branding. I also like the byline 'For the Advancement
and Defence of the Nutmeg Crown'.

Moving on to the splash image. I'm of two minds about the
layout Grenada choose here. Obviously, an image with the
king surrounded by politicians, soldiers, and flags is very nice.
But the image cuts off his head which isn't great symbolism for a head of state. On the other hand, it can convey that the
monarchy is bigger that the current occupant of that office. I
can't decide which would be better here. The Monarchist
League of Canada avoids this problem and does something
clever: if one image of monarchy is good, more is better. It
also lets each image tell a different story (relationship with
First Nations, showcase the heir to the throne, king as
statesman, etc). It works well and I think it could be an
interesting change to the Grenada website. It would also make
the text and button overlaying the image a non-issue
(although adding a shadow box to increase readability would
be good too).

The next section on the Grenada Monarchy League website
details the king, governor general, the constitution, the king's
role, royal visits, and awards and honours of Grenada. The
Monarchist League of Canada takes a different approach in
that the first section is on supporting the cause. The royal
family (not just an individual) is listed fourth. I'm not going to
say one approach is better than the other as both have merits
and it really comes down to how best to advocate for
monarchy in differing social and political circumstances.

The Grenada website finishes off with a quotation by T.A.
Marryshow who was an important figure in Grenadian
history. While the Canadian website has a page of quotations,
it is in a sub-menu.

In conclusion I think there is a lot that both League's could
learn from each other in how to put together an effective
homepage.

About Us Section
Its clean, simple, and to-the-point description of the League.

Our Mission
This section is interesting and is much more fleshed out than
anything on the Monarchist League of Canada website. You
have the general support for the monarchy, governor general,
and status quo but then it gets into more specific policies the
Grenada League supports. There is nothing like this on the
Canadian website. The Monarchist League of Canada may call
for specific policies in emails but never lists them on their
website. On this front I think the Grenada League has the
right idea; be bold.

Our Logo

This is so good. So good I posted it twice. From their website:

As much as I like the Canadian Monarchist League's
armorial bearings, simply reusing the image from the
grant of arms was a poor choice. Red and gold should look
bright but in reusing the image from the grant it comes out
looking a little staid. And while ​the grant of arms is probably
too complex for how its used on the Home page, the badge is
the perfect level of complexity.

Getting back to the Grenada League's logo; its S-tier work and
if you ever apply for a grant of arms integrate this somehow.
Simply beautiful.

What We Propose
This section goes a bit more into detail on the more ambitious
ideas the Grenada Monarchist League wants to see adopted.
First off is a suggestion that a Grenadian Privy Council be
created and that it take on the role of advising the monarch on
appointments of governors general. The third proposal (I'll
come back to the second) is the creation of a royal standard
for the King in Grenada. Both of these proposals are for things
Canada more-or-less has and I support them. The second
proposal is that the heir to the throne should have a unique
title in Grenada similar to how in the United Kingdom it is
the Prince of Wales. I've secretly wanted something similar
for Canada and I am glad they are going for it.

I'm not going to go through each tab in the header as there is
not anything too surprising. The Canadian League has a heavy
focus on fund-raising but its my understanding the Grenada
League hasn't quite got that aspect of their organization set up
yet so its absence is understandable.

A final point is making sure the website looks good on a
desktop computer as well as a smartphone. On this point the
Grenada website looks even better on mobile while the
Canadian website looks about the same. My blog is tooled
towards being viewed on a desktop and tends to look bad on
mobile devices.

As the Grenada Monarchist League is, as of today, one week
old and its membership spread out over several islands and
the wider diaspora it should come as no surprise its activities
are a bit limited. The following are a series of suggestions that
are based on what the Monarchist League of Canada does and
what I, myself, have done before.

Email Updates
The Monarchist League of Canada keeps its membership
constantly updated on things effecting the monarchy, fund-
raising drives, and membership initiatives. It is hard to
communicate too much with the membership and sadly very
easy to communicate too little. I should note that one type of
email the League sends out frequently is a letter-writing
campaign (usually to members of parliament).

Being a Resource
The Monarchist League of Canada publishes flyers and
booklets explaining the Canadian Monarchy as part of their
dedication to education. I've requested such publications from
time-to-time in order to distribute. Because its an issue in the
Canadian context, this has included doing full reports on how
much the monarchy costs Canadians which is published every
few years. The Grenada Monarchist League doesn't have to do
​any of these things specifically but the League should be able to support monarchists in advocacy and education.

​Leadership Surveys
One thing I have done for several years now is 'leadership
surveys' such as these ones. It is important to know who 
can be counted on to support the monarchy. Do note that it is
recommended that monarchist league remain non-partisan.
The Monarchist League of Canada has benefitted from having
members in every party and not being seen as being 'out to
get anyone'. Which brings us to...

Forge Links
Members of the Monarchist League of Canada are often called
on to speak to the media when an issue concerning the
monarchy comes up. Publishing the reports on the
monarchy's cost is only possible because it has the trust of
multiple departments to let them see how money is spent.

Social Media
The Monarchist League of Canada has an extensive social
media profile but they are also able to get someone to look
after it full-time. In terms of organizing people I'm a bit of a
sceptic on how useful it can be.

It is good to see people coming together in a shared love of the
Grenadian Monarchy and I look forward to their future
success.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour 

We are officially in the 70th year of Her Majesty's reign.
While events won't likely get started till the summer I wanted 
to go over what we know so far. 

The Department of Canadian Heritage opened applications 
​for funding in November. I know that the manager of the
Albert County Museum applied for funding. Interestingly, 
she stated that the window for applying for a grant was very
short. Whether it was abnormally short is not a question I 
can answer.

The Monarchist League of Canada
has released its own seal to mark Her
Majesty's Platinum Jubilee. Mitch
Ramsay-Mader's design was chosen
from a number of submissions. Several
submissions had to be rejected as they
used elements such as the royal cypher 
which are for the Queen's use alone.
​Mitch explaining his design:

Mitch is originally from Nova Scotia but now resides in Her
Majesty's other realm of Australia.

Since I last wrote on the efforts to have an official Platinum
Jubilee Medal program there has been some media attention:

It is probably worth noting that the original Platinum Jubilee
Medal article has been this blog's most commented on post
ever.

Efforts in Parliament continue with two tory MPs having
released a ​statement on January 13th:

While great to see (especially from two MPs that hold critic
roles in their party) it is a bit of an opportunity missed. There
are MPs from many parties that agree with this statement and
such a bi-partisan statement would have had more impact.
Alas, perhaps partisanship in the House of Commons has
made such reasonable ideas impossible.

While efforts continue the usual timeline for these things is
becoming so compressed that I don't hold out much hope.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

A few months back I detailed the efforts that were being 
made to ensure a Platinum Jubilee Medal would be issued in 
2022. This is a small update on how efforts are going.

The Monarchist League of Canada continues to have talks 
with officials and is encouraging its members to reach out to 
their MPs. A response from Canadian Heritage was received:

Interestingly, the League also learned, quite by accident, that 
a design for the medal has been completed but is under media
embargo. Why the government would delay the release of the
​medal's design for so long is unknown.

MP Cheryl Gallant's petition on this matter closed on August
7th with 1826 signatures.

It is possible that the government is just waiting for the right
time to announce the creation of the jubilee medal but until
we know more the safest course is to continue bringing up the
issue with elected officials.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

The year 2022 will mark the Queen's 
70th year on the throne of Canada. It 
is customary for medals marking a 
jubilee to be given out to deserving 
​Canadians during the jubilee year. 
However, it was learned earlier this 
year that no such medal is planned 
to be issued for the Queen's Platinum 
Jubilee. This is made all the more 
unfortunate by the pandemic having 
produced a long list of people who 
are deserving of special recognition 
of the type a periodic medal would 
​be well-suited to provide.

April 9th: Before this decision became public knowledge a
petition was already being posted on the House of Commons
website by MP Cheryl Gallant.
April 29th: Chairman Finch of the Monarchist League of
Canada informed the membership that he has learned there
are no plans for a platinum jubilee medal. A call for a letter
writing campaign was made at this time. 
May 14th: Chairman Finch posted an update noting he has 
had several good conversations with various individuals, in
and out of public life.
May 19th: NDP MP Daniel Blaikie called one League
member stating he was surprised to learn no medal was being
considered and noting, "I've known many that have received
the Diamond Jubilee Medal and it was a wonderful
encouragement to them."
May 29th: The League released a simple infopic for posting
to social media:

June 13th: Two League members shared excepts from their
conversations with their MPs. They were MPs Nelly Shin and
Michael Chong and both expressed support for, at the very
least, a platinum jubilee medal.
June 16th: Chairman Finch provided an update on the fight.
The government was reviewing the costs associated with the
issuing of a jubilee medal. It was also revealed several
premiers had been privately advocating for the medal.
June 19th: Monarchist League details the social media reach
of a single League member. Currie Dixon, the Leader of the
Official Opposition in the Yukon Legislature thanked the 
League for its efforts and informed them Motion 77, urging
the federal government to issue a platinum jubilee medal, had
been added to the order paper.
June 28th: A League member in Ontario was thanked for his
letter writing campaign which has seen hundreds of letters go
out.

And this is where the jubilee medal campaign stands today. It
is possible with MPs returning home for the summer and the
pandemic restrictions lifting it will be easier to do the sort of
in-person advocacy that greatly benefits these sorts of
​endeavors.​

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

I mentioned back in October, 2018 that I had been named 
chairman of the New Brunswick Branch of the Monarchist 
League of Canada. 2019 was a good year with contacts being 
reestablished, educational materials distributed to a few 
schools in south-east New Brunswick, and a Victoria Day 
luncheon in Fredericton for the membership to discuss 
priorities going forward. And then the pandemic threw a 
wrench into efforts to put those priorities into practice in 
2020. The only progress made that year was to double the 
number of people liking the Branch's Facebook page as more 
people retreated inside and online.

At the back of my mind there was one loose end that needed
to be addressed at some point. Before the departure of Barry 
MacKenzie the branch had been granted the honour of having the Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick agree to be the
branch patron. However, so much time had gone by that I
felt this relationship should be renewed.

With 2021 looking somewhat easier to predict I went to work
tying up this loose end. I can report that earlier this month
Lieutenant Governor Brenda Murphy graciously agreed to
renew the relationship between the New Brunswick Branch
​and Her Honour. An except from the letter delivered to me:

Her Honour was also kind enough to send along a video with a message of encouragement for the branch membership.

While in-person events are still a no-go the Branch will be
more active in the coming year than the previous one.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

It is hard to believe it really has been five years since I was 
writing about the League turning 45. This blog wasn't even a
year old at that point and I was in the process of moving back 
home to New Brunswick. 

The League has sent out a statement reflecting on its golden 
anniversary which I have included below in its entirety: 

Fifty years ago today the League was founded.

1970 was incalculably different from 2020, both in terms of
Canadian society, generally  - what we think of as “the
sixties” had really hit the nation more in the early 1970's -
and specifically, in “official” Ottawa's attitude towards the
Monarchy.

Royal nomenclature was disappearing throughout
government bodies. A Cabinet Minister felt free to say that
no one would know the difference between his substituting
on post offices for the Canadian Royal Arms a Schenley
liquor bottle’s “arms.”  The Royal Anthem was rarely
included at official functions - SecState propagated the myth
it should only be sung in the presence of the Sovereign!
Rideau Hall was beginning a long slide  to portray the
Governor General as “head of state.” Deference to The Queen
and Royal Family was markedly absent in the media. Paul
Hellyer’s unification of the Armed Forces brought with it  the
deracination of many of the three Services' Royal
associations.  A sense of inevitable change hung in the air.
 
Pierre Trudeau would come to appreciate a remarkable
Sovereign, and in time, the institution she personifies. But he
had predicted in his first years in office that “the new values
of the up-and-coming generation might cause Canada to
give up her connection [sic] to the Monarchy.”  Whoever
would have imagined that in a little more than a decade he
would conclude a deal on the Constitution which would -
probably forever - entrench the Monarchy as our form of
government!

There was no Internet in those days to facilitate easy and
inexpensive communication. However, that, remarkably,
some 600 would turn out to pack one of the little-publicized
first League meetings, this one in Ottawa on a warm June
evening, was perhaps a harbinger that there was greater
loyalty, and a deeper concern for the future of the Canadian
Crown, than anyone could have imagined.

​Il y a cinquante ans aujourd'hui, la
Ligue était fondée.

L’année 1970 était incalculablement
différente de 2020, tant du point de
vue de la société canadienne en
général - «les années soixantes»
avaient vraiment plus frappé le pays au début des années de
970 - et plus précisément de l’attitude «officielle» d’Ottawa à
l’égard de la monarchie.

La nomenclature royale disparaissait dans tous les
organismes gouvernementaux. Un ministre du Cabinet n’a
pas hésité à dire que personne ne connaîtrait la différence
entre le blason canadien et le «blason» d’une bouteille
d’alcool Schenley. L’hymne royal était rarement chanté lors
de réceptions officielles: SecState a propagé le mythe qu'il ne
devrait être chanté qu'en présence du Souverain! Rideau
Hall commençait une longue glissade pour présenter le
gouverneur général comme un «chef d'État». La déférence
envers la Reine et la famille royale était nettement absente
dans les médias. L’unification des forces armées par Paul
Hellyer a entraîné le déracination de nombreuses
associations royales des trois services. Un sentiment de
changement inévitable était en suspens.

Pierre Trudeau en viendrait à apprécier une Souveraine
remarquable et, avec le temps, l'institution qu'elle
personnifie. Mais il avait prédit, dans ses premières années
au pouvoir, que «les nouvelles valeurs de la génération
montante pourraient amener le Canada à abandonner son
lien avec la monarchie». Quiconque l'aurait imaginé dans un
peu plus d'une décennie, il conclurait un accord sur la
Constitution qui - probablement pour toujours - consacrerait
la monarchie en tant que notre forme de gouvernement!

Il n'y avait pas d'Internet à cette époque pour faciliter la
communication facile et peu coûteuse. Cependant, il est à
noter que quelque 600 personnes se préparaient à organiser
la première réunion peu médiatisée de la Ligue à Ottawa un
soir de juin, annonçant peut-être une loyauté accrue et une
préoccupation plus profonde pour l'avenir de la Couronne
canadienne que quiconque aurait pu imaginer.

Cette préoccupation a entraîné un fardeau considérable, car
certains monarchistes voulaient utiliser la cause de la
Couronne - et de la Ligue - comme un cheval de bataille sur
lequel se battre pour une variété de causes qui étaient liées
dans de nombreux esprits à la nécessité de: préserver la
couronne. Ceux-ci incluaient, mais ne se limitaient pas, aux
individus qui souhaitaient que la Ligue se batte pour
maintenir le lien "britannique", s'opposer au bilinguisme
officiel et restaurer le Red Ensign, sans oublier qu'elle
devrait soutenir la restauration des monarchies dans une
multitude de pays, anciens royaumes. Celles-ci partageaient
un riche éventail de personnages, certains sincères, d’autres
que l’on pourrait aimablement qualifier de «curieux» et,
dans certains cas, de fous. Il faudrait plusieurs décennies
pour que les membres soient aussi diversifiés qu’aujourd’hui,
alors que cela reflétait beaucoup mieux les nombreuses
diversités du Canada contemporain.

Congratulations to the League on reaching this important
milestone!

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

The Canadian Secretary to the Queen is the primary means of 
communication between the cabinet and the monarch. They 
have important roles in advising the monarch and helping to 
organize royal tours.

The role has been vacant since 2017 when the last CSQ, Kevin 
MacLeod stepped down. A vacancy of a couple years is not 
entirely unusual for this position. The longest vacancy was
actually between 2005 and 2009. For the last couple years the
roles of the office have been exercised by the Department of
Canadian Heritage.

Donald Booth has previously worked in the Privy Council.
There is little other information about him at this time.

According to the Monarchist League of Canada the Prime
Minister was the 'moving spirit' behind this appointment. It
is good to hear that among the many priorities of running a
minority government Justin Trudeau hasn't let the monarchy
slip through the cracks. This could also indicate that future
royal tours are in the planning stages as the CSQ has an
important role in that regard.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

During the recent provincial election
(which I took part in) I was offered the
position of Chairman of the New
Brunswick branch of the Monarchist
League of Canada. The branch had
been sadly inactive since 2015 when
Barry MacKenzie stepped down as
chairman.

Barry left a void and it could not be easily filled. Earlier this
year the League finally put out a call for volunteers to help
rebuild the New Brunswick branch. I volunteered and figured
I could be of use to whoever they decided to put in charge of
rebuilding efforts. Imagine my surprise when that person
turned out to be me.

When I received the offer over the summer I initially sent
back an email refusing the position. My intention to run in
the election and the time investment in various other projects
left me doubting I could give it my 100% best effort. As fate
would have it my email was never delivered and I was
contacted again about leading the rebuilding efforts while I
was campaigning in the election.

This time I gave it a bit more thought and decided I would try
it. There was several other volunteers so things wouldn't fall
all on my shoulders. With that and a few other minor
concerns dealt with I accepted the position.

There is a lot of room to grow League efforts in the province
and my long term goals are as follows:
-Having annual events in all three major cities in NB.
-Increasing membership among Acadians.
-Putting the NB Branch on steady footing for the future. 
An ambitious calendar of activities and initiatives is being
drawn up for the coming year. Stay tuned!

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour