Canada should End its Constitutional Ties to the Monarchy - Essay Example

of the of the Concerned 14 May Canada should End its Constitutional Ties to the Monarchy Since the Confederation of the Canadian nation in 1867, a fierce debate has been raging whether Canada should dissolve its constitutional ties to the monarchy or whether it should continue to retain them. Any stance on this issue needs to be well informed, democratic, in consonance with the aspirations and spirit of the Canadian people, culture and traditions and inevitably must portend propitious tidings for Canada as a country and a responsible member of the International community. Time has come to question the cultural and political role of the Monarchy in the Canadian way of governance and in the Canadian social and cultural life. People need to think that does Monarchy has a pragmatic and viable role in the decision making and policy charting in Canada or is it merely limited to being a face on the Canadian currency? A thorough analysis of the wish of the Canadian masses, an in depth understanding of the Canadian culture and ethos and a strong affiliation to the local and international interests of the Canadian nation, do lead to a firm conclusion that Canada should dissolve is ties to the Crown at the earliest. Now is the time for the Canadian people to do away with their anachronistic colonial past by establishing themselves as a sovereign republic. The very fact that a Queen located in some distant land and catering to the wishes and aspirations of the people of her land should try to or should be allowed to have a jurisdiction over the political life, law and order institutions and courts of a nation of freedom loving people like the Canadians sounds absurd and irrational. Monarchy is a feudal way of governance, and luckily neither the UK nor Canada claim to be feudalistic societies in a contemporary context (Wilson: Online). The very idea that a man or a woman who has been granted divine rights by some God in the sky automatically commands a share in the taxpayers’ money is ridiculous. In the year 2007, the Canadian people spent or rather say splurged $ 55 million to support the way of life and the activities of the Queen’s representative in Canada that is the Governor General (Wilson: Online). It seems really atrocious to realize that a person commanding unwarranted authority on the behalf of a foreign queen should have the theoretical powers to depose Canada’s government or dissolve Canada’s democratically elected parliament (Wilson: Online). Even stranger is the power of the Privy Council to pass laws that are not subject to Parliamentary review (Wilson: Online). Even the humblest and gently endowed of the Canadian citizens or even say a denizen of some other free and democratic country will take no time to understand that such draconian and feudalistic powers are a sophisticated way of continuing the vestiges of a bygone way of governance that has become redundant and vestigial in a modern world. It’s time for the monarchy to go. Even if say the monarchy has historical ties with Canada and thus should be allowed to have constitutional ties with this nation, the primary premise is that Canada like Britain is a democratic nation and hence if such a relationship with the British monarchy is to exist, it should be in consonance with the wishes and aspirations of the Canadian people. Yet, the facts point to the contrary. A poll conducted by Ipsos Reid in October 2009 showed without an iota of doubt that roughly 53 percent of the Canadians wanted Canada to dissolve it constitutional ties with the monarchy and almost 49 percent wanted Canada to be a Republic (Wilson: Online). Moreover, 60 percent of the Canadians considered the royal family to be mere celebrities, of no relevance to the Canadian culture and way of life (Wilson: Online). The point is that the Canadians do not need a queen. Some say that Canada is a new country with no past and traditions and hence it should be allowed to have ties to the monarchy (Tidridge 11) . Yes Canada is a young nation, but no, it does not mean that it should as a compensation stick to the outdated systems of Europe. The good thing is that being a relatively new nation, Canada can learn from the histories and mistakes of other nations and can build new traditions and practices that are more current, pragmatic and based on democratic ideals. Is Canada averse to making a Canadian the constitutional head of the country? Certainly it is not so. At least the public opinion, Canadian ethos and national interest do indicate to the contrary. So Canada should dissolve its constitutional ties to the monarchy. Works Cited Tidridge, Nathan. Canada’s Constitutional Monarchy. London: Dundurn, 2011. Wilson, Terry. “Why we Need a Republic of Canada”. Canadian Awareness Network. 17 April 2011. 14 May 2011 . Read More