King Charles did his duty to Canada by all the small symbols he used or wore to various events that he attends as his role requires, this is how Queen Elizabeth carried on and the King follows in the ways of his mother. If we are not aware and proud of our history I worry for the future. This stuff must be taught in school to have any hope of success as an independent country. 👍 🇨🇦 🇬🇧
First, I'm glad your saner driver did not steer you into a moose, or any other currency dwelling Canadian icon. Animal-loving monarchists everywhere, and no small few writer-loving readers, breath easier.
Second, while I might have expected the wonderful CH to align the pigeons here and speak truth, and it surprises me that she didn't, the others' misadventures are - sadly - a yawn. (The 'shaking Bowel's hand' quip, btw, had me very nearly losing mine in mirthful spontaneous combustion!) Mansbridge, his calming tones and nationalist passions notwithstanding, is no Anne Applebaum, Fintan O'Toole, Fareed Zakaria, or Scott Galloway. Expecting erudition from him on any subject, much less constitutional politics and the state/government conundrum that is the glorious, and gloriously impenetrable, heritage tapestry we all know and hate reading about in PolSci 101, is a high bar. Like, Methuselah with a cane trying for gold in the Olympic high jump high kind of bar. I feel a soap box materializing, unbidden, beneath my feet with 'state of Canadian journalism' emblazoned on its side, so I'll dodge on, with perhaps a slim apologetic for Peter: maybe his anger got away from him, and he left things unsaid? I know that feeling, usually when I'm clawing away from the purple air around the TV on any Canadian commemorative broadcast, rife with rubbish, including some of those I'm actually on!! (".....and at Vimy Ridge, Canadians fought for the first time under Canadian command....!!" Sigh. Change channel.)
Third, your Starmer comments are the real business, and dead on in every respect. I understand the man, and the country, are in a spot of bother, post-Brexit self-inflicted insanity and such, but Jennifer Welsh of McGill nailed British silence recently in 'The Guardian'. To paraphrase her, and perhaps to amp it up with my own boundless indignation at Britannia's coarse ingratitude: exactly how many Canadian bodies might have constituted a downpayment sufficient to elicit a "we've got you" response from Britain's new ass-kisser in chief? Some of those who lost comrades were back in Europe this spring, and will be again in two weeks: if Sir Keir professed thanks to a crowd I was standing, with the soldiers, sailors, and fliers who helped save the UK and democracies everywhere twice, I think I'd throw a boot at him. Evidently, we fought two world wars to stiffen someone else's resolve against fascism and unprovoked aggression and the deliberate, systematic evisceration of democracy and liberal values: astonishingly, that someone else appears to be Germany!
Finally, I reminisced at the May 24th description and making wet retreats a day early. Too true. Traditionally, in Newfoundland the trout fishing season opens on the 24th weekend. In the days before Internet etc., you never knew the ice conditions before heading to the bush, so it was normal to bring along boat and ice augur, track pants and snow pants. Sometimes, you used them all across 72 hours.
Keep up the great work, Dan. Love these contributions, even if I don't always have the time to etch in a comment.
Born and raised in northeastern Ontario but I could have written almost every word of this: “In the days before Internet etc., you never knew the ice conditions before heading to the bush, so it was normal to bring along boat and ice augur, track pants and snow pants. Sometimes, you used them all across 72 hours.”
"Canadians angry at his silence should have been angry with the then-Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau."
It's ironic that at a time when virtually everything bad in the universe was being blamed on Justin Trudeau, one thing that *was* his fault was blamed on King Charles. I think we could all use some rigorous civics classes.
I believe that most of the elites in this country hold the monarchy in disdain because they realize that none of them can ever be the top of Canadian society. At best, they can hold out for Governor General, and it really bothers them.
I’ve always found the Liberal Party to be institutionally republican, but they realize it’s constitutionally impossible to change that so they opt to neglect it. They remove the portraits of HM, they appoint Governors General who refer to themselves as “Canada’s head of state” rather than his loyal representative, they replace symbols of monarchy with a bland maple leaf logo…in effect, they usually ignore it and don’t encourage people to learn basic civics. Then when people learn that we have a monarch, they are surprised and ask why we have an anachronistic institution.
I’m sure there are many individuals in the Liberal Party who are monarchists, but as a governing institution, they tend to neglect it as a sop to the nationalists (who are usually left-wing anti-Brit, anti-American types).
Is Carney different? I don’t know, but I like what I’m seeing.
I gave up on Mansbridge a few years ago. He has full blown Trump Derangement Syndrome and has expressed anti-monarchist sentiments since the Markle debacle. I know he’s no longer a journalist but he’s so biased towards to Liberals it’s infuriating to listen to. Classic Boomer.
Continuing the list of the elected Canadians who do not understand our constitutional monarchy, this article by Tony Keller today in The Globe and Mail/Report on Business is worth a quick read … causing a “head in hand” situation. 🤦♀️ https://globe2go.pressreader.com/article/281956023715885
In my mid 20's I took two courses on the sociology of law at Carleton University. Fascinating They
started in pre Norman times ended with the Statute of the Statute of Westminster, 1931 which was a pivotal act that granted Canada and other Commonwealth Dominions legislative independence from Britain. It enacted recommendations from the Balfour Report of 1926, which had declared that Britain and its Dominions were constitutionally “equal in status” and in 1982, with the Constitution Act, that Canada fully severed its legislative dependence on Britain.
Oliver Cromwell's beheading of the King was a shocker as was Charles Dickens impact on the interpretation of family law. Laws can be interpreted differently from their intent. Who knew!
It was such an important course to support my career and to understand Canadian government and how it took several centuries to create the democracy we once enjoyed.
Every Canadian young and new should be required to take a course on our English and French legal history and about how our federal government and provincial governments are meant to work. At least it should be required of journalist who are letting Ford especially get away with massive retraction of Citizen voice and the politicization of the public service and judiciary. He has even used the Charter for disenfranchise voters in Toronto. Yet not one journalist has provided a composite picture of his stealth Trumpian moves.
I'm intrigued by your mention of Dickens's impact on the interpretation of family law. Can that be summarized briefly and simply for a layperson (me) here, or if not is there something you can recommend that I read?
Looks like Starmer/Mandelson have said 'Yes please Mr President, make the UK one of your vassal states'. Although Trump probably doesn't even know what 'vassal' means Starmer/Mandelson should at least have some inkling of what 'Partnership' means in Trump-speak. It has nothing to do with Make the UK Great Again.
The proof will be in the UK signing up for Altman's "OpenAI For Countries" and "World" identity management, and building all this on Ellison's Oracle and Palantir's outrageously expensive technology as tribute to the US Broligarchy. Rather than leveraging open-source and supporting UK innovation"
Sad for Britain, but I trust that AI Minister Solomon - with guidance from PM Carney & Industry Minister Joly - will avoid this trap and keep Canada an independent country.
Well done sir! Yes I listened to that pod cast and was similarly surprised by Mr. Mansbridge's statement. I am not quite as strong the Monarchist as you, though I did purchase a silver minted coin with the King's portrait - stamped 2025 just because he is coming to Canada to read the Throne Speech. You've given me a lot to look up and review from your article which I will get on top of right away. Thanks.
Thank you for that rant, Dan. Peter Mansbridge should return to his quiet retired life in sleepy Stratford, Ontario and advertising for CHIP reverse mortgages, one of the biggest scams in Canada swindling desperate seniors out of whatever home equity they may have accumulated throughout their many decades of living in their homes. As for Mme Hébert, well, if she loves being a Republican so much, maybe she should consider emigrating south of the 49th. Now for Mr. Rob Russo, why in heaven’s name does CBC continue to entertain his supposedly “informed” opinions on programs like Power and Politics just because once in the ancient history of that growingly questionable media organization he held the post as their Ottawa bureau chief? You are quite right that King Charles III does what his elected governments headed by Prime Ministers in various Commonwealth countries including Canada’s and Great Britain’s instruct him to do. He will be reading Canada’s Throne Speech written by Prime Minister Carney who requested him to come and read it as another means of asserting clearly to President Trump Canada’s sovereignty and complete independence from political interference from that same president.
I think most Canadians get the broad outlines of Constitutional Monarchism better than you're giving us credit for, at least us older folks. Peter Mansbridge is an aging nincoompoop and should have kept his mouth shut. When King Charles acts on behalf of Canada he does so at the request of our Prime Minister, not Sir Creepy Stammer whose position is considerably hamstrung by Brexit and decades of British genuflection in the direction of the White House and the Pentagon. Did you know that the UK's small nuclear arsenal is so integrated with that of the US that it cannot be used independently of American cooperation? Unlike France who said pffftt! to that when DeGaulle was still President. Also remember that Mr. Carney and the King go way back to pre-Brexit days when Mr. Carney was saving the British economy from the worst effects of its own political stupidity and Charles' Mum was still Queen. Justin and Charles have known each other since Justin's father was Prime Minister. Sir Stammer was at that time employed as a delivery boy for Mark's and Spencer. The King, like the Queen before him, LOVES Canada. I'm pretty sure that Mr. Carney at his Machiavellian best is cocking a snoot at BOTH the Dumpster AND Sir Stammer by inviting the King to grace us with his presence for the Throne Speech. I say all this as someone who wishes we could drop these ties to Britain altogether and respect the presence of the superb human being who is currently the first Indigenous Governor-General in Canadian history, Mary Simon, but I get lambasted by monarchists when I suggest this. Loved your article.
King Charles did his duty to Canada by all the small symbols he used or wore to various events that he attends as his role requires, this is how Queen Elizabeth carried on and the King follows in the ways of his mother. If we are not aware and proud of our history I worry for the future. This stuff must be taught in school to have any hope of success as an independent country. 👍 🇨🇦 🇬🇧
First, I'm glad your saner driver did not steer you into a moose, or any other currency dwelling Canadian icon. Animal-loving monarchists everywhere, and no small few writer-loving readers, breath easier.
Second, while I might have expected the wonderful CH to align the pigeons here and speak truth, and it surprises me that she didn't, the others' misadventures are - sadly - a yawn. (The 'shaking Bowel's hand' quip, btw, had me very nearly losing mine in mirthful spontaneous combustion!) Mansbridge, his calming tones and nationalist passions notwithstanding, is no Anne Applebaum, Fintan O'Toole, Fareed Zakaria, or Scott Galloway. Expecting erudition from him on any subject, much less constitutional politics and the state/government conundrum that is the glorious, and gloriously impenetrable, heritage tapestry we all know and hate reading about in PolSci 101, is a high bar. Like, Methuselah with a cane trying for gold in the Olympic high jump high kind of bar. I feel a soap box materializing, unbidden, beneath my feet with 'state of Canadian journalism' emblazoned on its side, so I'll dodge on, with perhaps a slim apologetic for Peter: maybe his anger got away from him, and he left things unsaid? I know that feeling, usually when I'm clawing away from the purple air around the TV on any Canadian commemorative broadcast, rife with rubbish, including some of those I'm actually on!! (".....and at Vimy Ridge, Canadians fought for the first time under Canadian command....!!" Sigh. Change channel.)
Third, your Starmer comments are the real business, and dead on in every respect. I understand the man, and the country, are in a spot of bother, post-Brexit self-inflicted insanity and such, but Jennifer Welsh of McGill nailed British silence recently in 'The Guardian'. To paraphrase her, and perhaps to amp it up with my own boundless indignation at Britannia's coarse ingratitude: exactly how many Canadian bodies might have constituted a downpayment sufficient to elicit a "we've got you" response from Britain's new ass-kisser in chief? Some of those who lost comrades were back in Europe this spring, and will be again in two weeks: if Sir Keir professed thanks to a crowd I was standing, with the soldiers, sailors, and fliers who helped save the UK and democracies everywhere twice, I think I'd throw a boot at him. Evidently, we fought two world wars to stiffen someone else's resolve against fascism and unprovoked aggression and the deliberate, systematic evisceration of democracy and liberal values: astonishingly, that someone else appears to be Germany!
Finally, I reminisced at the May 24th description and making wet retreats a day early. Too true. Traditionally, in Newfoundland the trout fishing season opens on the 24th weekend. In the days before Internet etc., you never knew the ice conditions before heading to the bush, so it was normal to bring along boat and ice augur, track pants and snow pants. Sometimes, you used them all across 72 hours.
Keep up the great work, Dan. Love these contributions, even if I don't always have the time to etch in a comment.
Born and raised in northeastern Ontario but I could have written almost every word of this: “In the days before Internet etc., you never knew the ice conditions before heading to the bush, so it was normal to bring along boat and ice augur, track pants and snow pants. Sometimes, you used them all across 72 hours.”
"Canadians angry at his silence should have been angry with the then-Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau."
It's ironic that at a time when virtually everything bad in the universe was being blamed on Justin Trudeau, one thing that *was* his fault was blamed on King Charles. I think we could all use some rigorous civics classes.
I also wonder: if Starmer says, "Be quiet and don't anger Trump", and Trudeau says, "Stick up for us." Who does the king oblige?
You don’t have to use his name. You can do like we Americans and say TCF (the convicted felon) or TFG ( that F’ing guy) or el Caudillo del Mar a Lago.
I believe that most of the elites in this country hold the monarchy in disdain because they realize that none of them can ever be the top of Canadian society. At best, they can hold out for Governor General, and it really bothers them.
I’ve always found the Liberal Party to be institutionally republican, but they realize it’s constitutionally impossible to change that so they opt to neglect it. They remove the portraits of HM, they appoint Governors General who refer to themselves as “Canada’s head of state” rather than his loyal representative, they replace symbols of monarchy with a bland maple leaf logo…in effect, they usually ignore it and don’t encourage people to learn basic civics. Then when people learn that we have a monarch, they are surprised and ask why we have an anachronistic institution.
I’m sure there are many individuals in the Liberal Party who are monarchists, but as a governing institution, they tend to neglect it as a sop to the nationalists (who are usually left-wing anti-Brit, anti-American types).
Is Carney different? I don’t know, but I like what I’m seeing.
Who are the 'elites' to which you refer?
God save the King! From another ridiculous monarchist.
I gave up on Mansbridge a few years ago. He has full blown Trump Derangement Syndrome and has expressed anti-monarchist sentiments since the Markle debacle. I know he’s no longer a journalist but he’s so biased towards to Liberals it’s infuriating to listen to. Classic Boomer.
Continuing the list of the elected Canadians who do not understand our constitutional monarchy, this article by Tony Keller today in The Globe and Mail/Report on Business is worth a quick read … causing a “head in hand” situation. 🤦♀️ https://globe2go.pressreader.com/article/281956023715885
I only discovered Keller a few years ago. He’s still a bit of a hidden gem among our commentariat isn’t he?
In my mid 20's I took two courses on the sociology of law at Carleton University. Fascinating They
started in pre Norman times ended with the Statute of the Statute of Westminster, 1931 which was a pivotal act that granted Canada and other Commonwealth Dominions legislative independence from Britain. It enacted recommendations from the Balfour Report of 1926, which had declared that Britain and its Dominions were constitutionally “equal in status” and in 1982, with the Constitution Act, that Canada fully severed its legislative dependence on Britain.
Oliver Cromwell's beheading of the King was a shocker as was Charles Dickens impact on the interpretation of family law. Laws can be interpreted differently from their intent. Who knew!
It was such an important course to support my career and to understand Canadian government and how it took several centuries to create the democracy we once enjoyed.
Every Canadian young and new should be required to take a course on our English and French legal history and about how our federal government and provincial governments are meant to work. At least it should be required of journalist who are letting Ford especially get away with massive retraction of Citizen voice and the politicization of the public service and judiciary. He has even used the Charter for disenfranchise voters in Toronto. Yet not one journalist has provided a composite picture of his stealth Trumpian moves.
Civics Reigns!
I'm intrigued by your mention of Dickens's impact on the interpretation of family law. Can that be summarized briefly and simply for a layperson (me) here, or if not is there something you can recommend that I read?
My greatest difficulty with Charles III is that he is male…
After singing “God save our gracious Queen, long live …” for my entire sentience, I have immense difficulty changing gender.
But, like Winnie-the-Pooh, I am a bear of little brain.
I always appreciate reading your lessons and reminders of how a constitutional monarchy actually works. It’s easy to forget these days.
Brilliant! As a dual Canadian/Brit and a lapsing monarchist I'm back in the fold :)
Re Starmer and the 51st state, in remembrance of your post on Vassal Politics I posted the following on Carol Cadwalladr's article at
https://broligarchy.substack.com/p/a-secret-us-uk-sweetheart-tech-deal
"Canada said no being the 51st state.
Looks like Starmer/Mandelson have said 'Yes please Mr President, make the UK one of your vassal states'. Although Trump probably doesn't even know what 'vassal' means Starmer/Mandelson should at least have some inkling of what 'Partnership' means in Trump-speak. It has nothing to do with Make the UK Great Again.
The proof will be in the UK signing up for Altman's "OpenAI For Countries" and "World" identity management, and building all this on Ellison's Oracle and Palantir's outrageously expensive technology as tribute to the US Broligarchy. Rather than leveraging open-source and supporting UK innovation"
Sad for Britain, but I trust that AI Minister Solomon - with guidance from PM Carney & Industry Minister Joly - will avoid this trap and keep Canada an independent country.
Well done sir! Yes I listened to that pod cast and was similarly surprised by Mr. Mansbridge's statement. I am not quite as strong the Monarchist as you, though I did purchase a silver minted coin with the King's portrait - stamped 2025 just because he is coming to Canada to read the Throne Speech. You've given me a lot to look up and review from your article which I will get on top of right away. Thanks.
Also, the King is “His Majesty” NOT His Royal Highness. FWIW!
Yeah, I tend to screw up protocol, too, so I self-servingly decided to give that a pass....
Thanks for pointing that out! I was just about to.
Thank you for that rant, Dan. Peter Mansbridge should return to his quiet retired life in sleepy Stratford, Ontario and advertising for CHIP reverse mortgages, one of the biggest scams in Canada swindling desperate seniors out of whatever home equity they may have accumulated throughout their many decades of living in their homes. As for Mme Hébert, well, if she loves being a Republican so much, maybe she should consider emigrating south of the 49th. Now for Mr. Rob Russo, why in heaven’s name does CBC continue to entertain his supposedly “informed” opinions on programs like Power and Politics just because once in the ancient history of that growingly questionable media organization he held the post as their Ottawa bureau chief? You are quite right that King Charles III does what his elected governments headed by Prime Ministers in various Commonwealth countries including Canada’s and Great Britain’s instruct him to do. He will be reading Canada’s Throne Speech written by Prime Minister Carney who requested him to come and read it as another means of asserting clearly to President Trump Canada’s sovereignty and complete independence from political interference from that same president.
I think most Canadians get the broad outlines of Constitutional Monarchism better than you're giving us credit for, at least us older folks. Peter Mansbridge is an aging nincoompoop and should have kept his mouth shut. When King Charles acts on behalf of Canada he does so at the request of our Prime Minister, not Sir Creepy Stammer whose position is considerably hamstrung by Brexit and decades of British genuflection in the direction of the White House and the Pentagon. Did you know that the UK's small nuclear arsenal is so integrated with that of the US that it cannot be used independently of American cooperation? Unlike France who said pffftt! to that when DeGaulle was still President. Also remember that Mr. Carney and the King go way back to pre-Brexit days when Mr. Carney was saving the British economy from the worst effects of its own political stupidity and Charles' Mum was still Queen. Justin and Charles have known each other since Justin's father was Prime Minister. Sir Stammer was at that time employed as a delivery boy for Mark's and Spencer. The King, like the Queen before him, LOVES Canada. I'm pretty sure that Mr. Carney at his Machiavellian best is cocking a snoot at BOTH the Dumpster AND Sir Stammer by inviting the King to grace us with his presence for the Throne Speech. I say all this as someone who wishes we could drop these ties to Britain altogether and respect the presence of the superb human being who is currently the first Indigenous Governor-General in Canadian history, Mary Simon, but I get lambasted by monarchists when I suggest this. Loved your article.