A new king, so what now? By: Editorial Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Monday, May. 15, 2023

Opinion

There was plenty of pomp surrounding King Charles’ coronation ceremony.

The aftermath brings the circumstance, which for Canada, is a political crossroads.

In one direction lies a well-worn path the country has travelled since Confederation in 1867, with Canada’s head of state being the British monarch, which King Charles became last September after the death of his predecessor and mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

The constitutional monarchy model, with a governor general representing the sitting monarch in Canada, has been mostly a quiet undercurrent to the nation’s political system, whether the governor general was a British lord, or since Vincent Massey’s appointment in 1952, a Canadian citizen with no regal background.

The system remains unchanged with King Charles on the throne, yet Canadians’ relationship with the Crown continues to evolve.

A March poll by Research Co. found only 19 per cent of Canadians would prefer the country to remain a monarchy. Only 32 per cent of Canadians had a favourable opinion of King Charles and 22 per cent for his wife, Queen Camilla.

We don’t know what the respondents’ reaction will be once King Charles’ likeness appears on the $20 bill and on Canadian coins, as the Bank of Canada announced following the king’s coronation on May 6.

No doubt it will be a jarring first impression, because most Canadians have never known life without Queen Elizabeth, who served more than 70 years as monarch and was held in far greater regard than her son.

The respondents also weren’t asked how Canada would replace the constitutional monarchy should ties be severed with the Crown.

That’s Canada’s other option at the constitutional crossroads, and it’s a trail that leads to the political unknown.

Only 32 per cent of Canadians had a favourable opinion of King Charles and 22 per cent for his wife, Queen Camilla.

It’s also adorned with large roadblocks, with one being the Constitution itself, which was patriated in 1982 amid much fanfare but not without years of rancour between the nation’s premiers and the federal government during public and private negotiations.

The ordeal proved to be so onerous — Quebec refused to sign the agreement that led to the patriated Constitution — it created a general unwillingness for change.

Two proposed amendments, the Meech Lake Accord and the Charlottetown Accord, failed.

The Meech Lake Accord crashed in 1990, owing largely to the legislative efforts of Manitoba MLA Elijah Harper, an Oji-Cree politician who said First Nations weren’t included in the Constitution.

Almost 55 per cent of voters turned down the Charlottetown Accord in a 1992 national referendum.

Any amendment leads to another major barrier: the Crown’s treaties with Aboriginal nations in Canada, such as Treaty 1, which was signed in 1871 between the British monarchy and the Anishinaabe and Swampy Cree nations, and relates to a large portion of southern Manitoba in Winnipeg.

New or renegotiated treaties, with the federal government being the signatory instead of the Crown, hold the possibility of political reconciliation between Ottawa and First Nations, but it remains to be seen whether there is the political will to enter what would undoubtedly be difficult talks.

While many First Nations people harbour bitter feelings over decades of unfulfilled treaty promises and the harm caused in the monarchy’s name, there remains an attachment and respect because First Nations signed those treaties with the Crown, not the Canadian government.

New or renegotiated treaties, with the federal government being the signatory instead of the Crown, hold the possibility of political reconciliation between Ottawa and First Nations, but it remains to be seen whether there is the political will to enter what would undoubtedly be difficult talks.

Until that happens, expect the federal government to continue following the path of least political resistance and heed the sage advice of baseball philosopher Yogi Berra, who once famously uttered, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”