Republicanism in Canada
Encyclopedia
Canadian republicanism is the appreciation amongst Canadians for the replacement of the Canadian system of constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution...

 with a republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...

an form of government in the sense of the state headed by a president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...

. These beliefs are expressed either individually generally in academic circles or through the country's one republican lobby group, Citizens for a Canadian Republic
Citizens for a Canadian Republic
Citizens for a Canadian Republic is a not-for-profit Canadian organization founded in 2002 that advocates the replacement of the Canadian monarchy with a head of state who would either be chosen through a general election or elected by parliament...

. Though they have no preferred model of republic, such individuals are driven by various factors: a perceived practicality of popular power being placed in the hands of an elected president, and a different manifestation of the modern nation and the independence it achieved in 1982. As with its political counterpart
Monarchism in Canada
Canadian monarchism is the appreciation amongst Canadians for, and thus also advocacy for the retention of, their distinct system of constitutional monarchy, countering anti-monarchical reform as being generally revisionist, idealistic, and ultimately impracticable...

, strong republicanism is not a prevalent element of contemporary Canadian society. The movement's roots precede Canadian Confederation
Canadian Confederation
Canadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces...

, and it has emerged from time to time in Canadian politics, but has not been a dominant force since the Rebellions of 1837
Rebellions of 1837
The Rebellions of 1837 were a pair of Canadian armed uprisings that occurred in 1837 and 1838 in response to frustrations in political reform. A key shared goal was the allowance of responsible government, which was eventually achieved in the incident's aftermath.-Rebellions:The rebellions started...

, a continuation of which Canadian republicans consider their efforts to be.

Since the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

, there have also been various, less popular movements advocating joining
Annexationist movements of Canada
From the Independence of the United States of America until today, various annexationist movements in Canada have campaigned in favour of U.S. annexation of parts or all of Canada...

 the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

National identity

Republicans in Canada assert that their country's monarchy, due either to its popular associations with the United Kingdom, its shared nature, or both, cannot be representative of the Canadian nation. Their position is that because of its hereditary
Heredity
Heredity is the passing of traits to offspring . This is the process by which an offspring cell or organism acquires or becomes predisposed to the characteristics of its parent cell or organism. Through heredity, variations exhibited by individuals can accumulate and cause some species to evolve...

 aspects, the sovereign's role as Supreme Governor of the Church of England
Supreme Governor of the Church of England
The Supreme Governor of the Church of England is a title held by the British monarchs which signifies their titular leadership over the Church of England. Although the monarch's authority over the Church of England is not strong, the position is still very relevant to the church and is mostly...

 (in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 only), and the provisions of the Act of Settlement, 1701, that currently bar Roman Catholics
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 from the line of succession, the monarchy is inherently contrary to egalitarianism
Egalitarianism
Egalitarianism is a trend of thought that favors equality of some sort among moral agents, whether persons or animals. Emphasis is placed upon the fact that equality contains the idea of equity of quality...

 and multiculturalism
Multiculturalism in Canada
Multiculturalism in Canada was adopted as the official policy of the Canadian government during the prime ministership of Pierre Elliot Trudeau in the 1970s and 1980s. The Canadian government has often been described as the instigator of multiculturalism as an ideology because of its public...

. Further, though it diverges from both the official position of the Canadian government
Government of Canada
The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...

 and the opinions of some judges, legal scholars, and members of the Royal Family themselves, republicans deem the King or Queen of Canada to be either a solely British or English individual representing a British institution foreign to Canada. Founded on this perception is the republican assertion that national pride is diminished by the monarchy, its presence negating the country's full independence achieved in 1982, and makes Canada appear colonial and subservient to the United Kingdom, under which they feel Canadians suffered "military, economic, and cultural subjugation." Instead, equating anti-monarchism with patriotism
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...

, they desire a Canadian citizen
Canadian nationality law
Canadian citizenship is typically obtained by birth in Canada, birth abroad when at least one parent is a Canadian citizen and was born or naturalized in Canada, or by adoption abroad by at least one Canadian citizen. It can also be granted to a permanent resident who lives in Canada for three out...

 to act as head of state
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...

, and promote the national flag
Flag of Canada
The national flag of Canada, also known as the Maple Leaf, and , is a red flag with a white square in its centre, featuring a stylized 11-pointed red maple leaf. Its adoption in 1965 marked the first time a national flag had been officially adopted in Canada to replace the Union Flag...

 and/or the "country
Country
A country is a region legally identified as a distinct entity in political geography. A country may be an independent sovereign state or one that is occupied by another state, as a non-sovereign or formerly sovereign political division, or a geographic region associated with a previously...

" as a more fitting locus of allegiance.
This questioning of the monarchy's role in Canadian identity
Canadian identity
Canadian identity refers to the set of characteristics and symbols that many Canadians regard as expressing their unique place and role in the world....

 arose as a part of wider cultural changes that followed the evolution of the British Empire into the Commonwealth of Nations
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...

, the rise of anti-establishment
Anti-establishment
An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958, by the British magazine New Statesman to refer to its political and social agenda...

ism, the creation of multiculturalism as an official policy in Canada, and the blossoming of Quebec separatism
Quebec sovereignty movement
The Quebec sovereignty movement refers to both the political movement and the ideology of values, concepts and ideas that promote the secession of the province of Quebec from the rest of Canada...

; the latter becoming the major impetus of political controversy around the Crown. Quebec nationalists agitated for an independent Quebec republic such as the Marxist
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...

 form desired by the Front de libération du Québec
Front de libération du Québec
The Front de libération du Québec was a left-wing Quebecois nationalist and Marxist-Leninist paramilitary group in Quebec, Canada. It was active between 1963 and 1970, and was regarded as a terrorist organization for its violent methods of action...

and the monarchy was targeted as a symbol of anti-Anglophone demonstration, notably when assassination threats were in 1964 made against Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

 and Quebecers turned their backs on her procession when she toured Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

 that year. In a 1970 speech to the Empire Club of Canada
Empire Club of Canada
The Empire Club of Canada is a Canadian speakers' forum. Established in 1903, the Empire Club has provided a forum for over 3,500 speakers.Through a variety of presentation formats, the Empire Club invites local, national and international leaders and other change-agents to address the topical...

, Former Governor General Roland Michener
Roland Michener
Daniel Roland Michener , commonly known as Roland Michener, was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and diplomat who served as Governor General of Canada, the 20th since Canadian Confederation....

 summed up the contemporary arguments against the Crown: From its opponents, he said, came the claims that monarchies are unfashionable, republics other than those with oppressive regimes offer more freedom, people are given greater dignity from choosing their head of state, the monarchy is foreign and incompatible with Canada's multicultural society, and that there should be change for the sake of change alone.

However, though it was later thought the Quiet Revolution
Quiet Revolution
The Quiet Revolution was the 1960s period of intense change in Quebec, Canada, characterized by the rapid and effective secularization of society, the creation of a welfare state and a re-alignment of politics into federalist and separatist factions...

 and the period beyond should have inspired more republicanism amongst Canadians, they did not. Reg Whitaker blamed this on a combination of Quebec nationalists having no interest in the monarchy (as full sovereignty and their own form of government was their ultimate goal) with the remainder of the population simultaneously struggling with "bilingualism, dualism, special status, distinct society, asymmetrical federalism, sovereignty-association, partnership, and so on." Even the rise in multi-ethnic immigration to Canada in the 1970s did not inspire any desires to alter or remove the role of the Crown in Canada, the ethno-cultural groups not wanting to push constitutional change over a matter they had little concern for.

Instead, until the appointment of Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...

 as Prime Minister, successive governments made subtle efforts to diminish the stature of the Canadian monarchy as David Smith said: "the historic Crown with its anthem, emblems, and symbolism made accessible a past the government of the day rejected" though never, since the reaction to some of Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...

's proposals for alterations to the monarchy and its role in Canada, publicly revealing their stances on the Crown.

The notion of a republic was raised publicly in the early 1990s, when Peter C. Newman
Peter C. Newman
Peter Charles Newman, CC, CD is a Canadian journalist and writer.Born in Vienna, Austria, Newman emigrated from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia to Canada in 1940 as a Jewish refugee. His father, Oscar, was a self-made wealthy factory owner. Newman was educated at Upper Canada College, where he was...

 wrote in Maclean's that the monarchy should be abolished in favour of a head of state "who would reflect our own, instead of imported, values." Then, in 1997, Deputy Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister of Canada
The Deputy Prime Minister of Canada is an honorary position in the cabinet, conferred at the discretion of the prime minister. There is currently, , no deputy prime minister....

 John Manley
John Manley (politician)
John Paul Manley, PC, OC is a Canadian lawyer, businessman and politician. He served as Liberal Member of Parliament for Ottawa South from 1988 to 2004, and a Cabinet Minister from 1993 to 2003. He is presently President and CEO of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives.-Background:Manley was...

 echoed Newman when he expressed at the end of a television interview his opinion that Canada should abolish its monarchy, citing Australia's contemporary discussions around the Australian Crown. Then, in December of the following year, the Prime Minister's press secretary, Peter Donolo
Peter Donolo
Peter Donolo is a political strategist and former Chief of Staff to former Liberal Party of Canada leader Michael Ignatieff. From 1993-99, he was the Director of Communications in the office of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien....

, who also complained that the monarch made Canada appear as a "colonial outpost", unaccountably announced through a media story that the Prime Minister's Office
Office of the Prime Minister (Canada)
In Canada, the Office of the Prime Minister , located in the Langevin Block, on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, is one of the most powerful parts of the government. It is made up of the prime minister and his or her top political staff, who are charged with advising the prime minister on decisions,...

 was considering the abolition of the monarchy as a millennium project, though no definitive plans had been made. Donolo later supported Manley when, on Victoria Day
Victoria Day
Victoria Day is a federal Canadian public holiday celebrated on the last Monday before May 25, in honour of Queen Victoria's birthday. The date is also, simultaneously, that on which the current reigning Canadian sovereign's official birthday is recognized...

 2001, Manley said on CBC Radio that he believed that hereditary succession was outdated, and that the country's head of state should be elected. Then, just prior to the Queen's pan-country tour to celebrate her Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II
The Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II was the international celebration marking the 50th anniversary of the accession of Elizabeth II to the thrones of seven countries, upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February 1952, and was intended by the Queen to be both a commemoration of her 50...

 the following year, Manley (at that point the designated minister in attendance for the sovereign's arrival in Ottawa) again stated his preference for a "wholly Canadian" institution to replace the present monarchy after the reign of the Queen; he was rebuked by other Cabinet members, a former prime minister, and the Leader of the Opposition, as well as a number of prominent journalists. Then, in 2002, just prior to the Queen's pan-country tour to celebrate the Golden Jubilee, Manley (at that point the designated minister in attendance for the sovereign's arrival in Ottawa) stated: "I continue to think that for Canada after Queen Elizabeth, it should be time to consider a different institution for us, and personally I would prefer a wholly Canadian institution."

Lawrence Martin called for Canada to become a republic in order to re-brand the nation and better its standings in the international market, he cited Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

  a constitutional monarchy as an example to be followed.

In 2002, the group Citizens for a Canadian Republic
Citizens for a Canadian Republic
Citizens for a Canadian Republic is a not-for-profit Canadian organization founded in 2002 that advocates the replacement of the Canadian monarchy with a head of state who would either be chosen through a general election or elected by parliament...

 was established to promote the abolition of the Canadian monarchy in favour of a republic, at approximately the same time The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...

newspaper began a campaign against the monarchy, with three republican journalists on staff Margaret Wente
Margaret Wente
Margaret Wente is a columnist for Canada's largest national daily newspaper, The Globe and Mail and a director of the Energy Probe Research Foundation. She has received the National Newspaper Award for column-writing twice....

, Jeffrey Simpson
Jeffrey Simpson
Jeffrey Carl Simpson, OC , is a Canadian journalist. He has been The Globe and Mails national affairs columnist for almost three decades...

, and Lawrence Martin though the editorial board argued Canada could dispose of its monarchy without becoming a republic. Tom Freda, chairman and co-founder of Citizens for a Canadian Republic, called for simply replacing the monarchy with the Governor General, saying that he's not in favour of destroying Canada's identity or cultural institutions: "All we're advocating is that the link to the monarchy, in our Constitution, be severed. Our governor general for the past 60 years has performed all the duties of a head of state, and there's no reason we shouldn't make our governor general our official head of state."

Such calls issued in 2009, at the time of the tour of Canada by Prince Charles, Prince of Wales
Charles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...

, and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, were critiqued by Maclean's
Maclean's
Maclean's is a Canadian weekly news magazine, reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events.-History:Founded in 1905 by Toronto journalist/entrepreneur Lt.-Col. John Bayne Maclean, a 43-year-old trade magazine publisher who purchased an advertising agency's in-house...

journalist Andrew Coyne
Andrew Coyne
James Andrew Coyne is the national editor for Maclean's, a weekly national newsmagazine in Canada. Previously, he was a columnist with the National Post and an editor-in-chief of the University of Manitoba's newspaper, The Manitoban.-Background:Coyne was born in Ottawa, Ontario, the son of Hope...

 when he wrote: "The [anti-monarchy] view is on parade again, in all its preening, modish finery, as it is on the occasion of any royal visit. It is a kind of custom, a ritual show of disloyalty as hoary in its way as any gathering of the Daughters of the Empire
Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire
The Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire is a women's charitable organization based in Canada. The club was originally titled the "Federation of Daughters of the British Empire", which was founded by Margaret Clark Murray in 1900...

. Scarcely have the Queen or Prince Charles set foot on Canadian soil before they are greeted with a 21-gun salute of newspaper columns complaining at the outmodedness of it all. Here we are in the 21st century, and still a monarchy? Well, yes. And while we're at it, isn't democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...

 getting a little long in the tooth as well? How long has it been, 2,000 years? And that system of English common law
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...

, whew, isn't it time we replaced the liner on that?"

Democratic principles and governmental role

Republicans view the Canadian monarchy as "outdated and irrelevant," and an undemocratic institution because the incumbent sovereign is neither elected and nor a citizen once on the throne; republicans will phrase this argument as "no Canadian citizen can become head of state." Without the democratic legitimacy they personally desire, some anti-monarchists refuse to recognize the authority of the Crown, expressing this through, for example, vandalism of royal symbols or ignoring the enforcement of traffic law by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...

.

Colonial era and Confederation

Reformists began to emerge in the Canadian colonies during the early 19th century and by two decades into that century had begun to cohese into organized groups, such as the York Central Committee. The idea of political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 was viewed by a number of British North Americans as an innovation of the United States, being "anti-British and of a republican tendency." Changes such as these were being brought about, colonists were warned, by "a few individuals, who unfortunately, are led by those, whose hostility to the British constitution is such, that they would sacrifice any and every thing to pull it down, in order that they might build up a Republic on its ruins." It was believed that the persons agitating for republican change, and their supporters, were of American origin and had been taught to admire republican government as the best in the world and ridicule monarchism.

The first open uprisings in Canada against the monarchical system came in 1837, with the Lower Canada Rebellion
Lower Canada Rebellion
The Lower Canada Rebellion , commonly referred to as the Patriots' War by Quebeckers, is the name given to the armed conflict between the rebels of Lower Canada and the British colonial power of that province...

led by Louis Joseph Papineau and his Parti Patriote
Parti canadien
The Parti canadien or Parti patriote was a political party in what is now Quebec founded by members of the liberal elite of Lower Canada at the beginning of the 19th century...

and the Upper Canada Rebellion
Upper Canada Rebellion
The Upper Canada Rebellion was, along with the Lower Canada Rebellion in Lower Canada, a rebellion against the British colonial government in 1837 and 1838. Collectively they are also known as the Rebellions of 1837.-Issues:...

led by William Lyon Mackenzie
William Lyon Mackenzie
William Lyon Mackenzie was a Scottish born American and Canadian journalist, politician, and rebellion leader. He served as the first mayor of Toronto, Upper Canada and was an important leader during the 1837 Upper Canada Rebellion.-Background and early years in Scotland, 1795–1820:Mackenzie was...

. Though their main motives were for more representative government in their respective colonies, Mackenzie was inspired by the American model and wished to establish the same in Canada, and Papineau, who originally expressed loyalty to the Crown in his Ninety-Two Resolutions
Ninety-Two Resolutions
The Ninety-Two Resolutions were drafted by Louis-Joseph Papineau and other members of the Parti patriote of Lower Canada in 1834. The resolutions were a long series of demands for political reforms in the British-governed colony....

, turned when the British parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

 instead adopted The Earl Russell
John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, KG, GCMG, PC , known as Lord John Russell before 1861, was an English Whig and Liberal politician who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century....

's Ten Resolutions, which ignored all 92 of the requests from the Parti Patriote. Most colonists, however, did not espouse a break with the Crown, and the rebellions ultimately failed. Mackenzie fled Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 with 200 supporters and established, with the help of American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 sympathizers, the short-lived and never recognized Republic of Canada
Republic of Canada
The Republic of Canada was a declared government proclaimed by William Lyon Mackenzie on December 13, 1837. The self proclaimed government was established on Navy Island in the Niagara River in the latter days of the Upper Canada Rebellion after Mackenzie and 200 of his followers retreated from...

 on Navy Island
Navy Island
Navy Island is a small island in the Niagara River in the province of Ontario, managed by Parks Canada as a National Historic Site of Canada. It is located about upstream from Horseshoe Falls, and has an area of roughly...

, in the Niagara River
Niagara River
The Niagara River flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the Province of Ontario in Canada and New York State in the United States. There are differing theories as to the origin of the name of the river...

, while Papineau and other insurgents fled to the United States and proclaimed the Republic of Lower Canada.

After living in the US in order to avoid arrest in Canada, Mackenzie eventually became dissatisfied with the American republican system and gave up plans for revolution in the British North America
British North America
British North America is a historical term. It consisted of the colonies and territories of the British Empire in continental North America after the end of the American Revolutionary War and the recognition of American independence in 1783.At the start of the Revolutionary War in 1775 the British...

n provinces, though he theorized, near the end of his life, on Canadian annexation into the United States, should enough people in the former country become disillusioned with responsible government
Responsible government
Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability which is the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy...

. Similarly, by 1849, Papineau was advocating the absorption of the Province of Canada
Province of Canada
The Province of Canada, United Province of Canada, or the United Canadas was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham in the Report on the Affairs of British North America following the Rebellions of...

 (formed in 1840) into the American republic to the south. He echoed a significant minority of conservatives in Upper Canada who critiqued Canada's imitation of the British parliamentary
Westminster System
The Westminster system is a democratic parliamentary system of government modelled after the politics of the United Kingdom. This term comes from the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....

 constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution...

 as both too democratic and too tyrannical, theorizing that it simultaneously destroyed the independence of the appointed governor and legislative council, and further concentrated power in the Cabinet. Instead, these "republican conservatives" preferred the American federal-state system and the US constitution, seeing the American model of checks and balances as offering Canada a more fair and conservative form of democracy. They debated constitutional changes that included an elected governor, an elected legislative council, and a possible union with the US, within this republican framework.
Prior to the union of the Canadas
Canadian Confederation
Canadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces...

 in 1867, the Fathers of Confederation unanimously chose constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution...

 to be the foundation of the new polity's form of government, and the elected legislatures of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

, New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...

, and the Province of Canada
Province of Canada
The Province of Canada, United Province of Canada, or the United Canadas was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham in the Report on the Affairs of British North America following the Rebellions of...

 approved. Republican ideals by their wider definition did, though, still have influence during the setting period following Confederation, when the use of laws and the institutions formed by them was moulded by popular attitudes coexistent with monarchical preference. For instance, against the intentions of those who framed the constitution, the provinces began to regard themselves as homogeneous communities, each with a right to a certain amount of self-governance
Self-governance
Self-governance is an abstract concept that refers to several scales of organization.It may refer to personal conduct or family units but more commonly refers to larger scale activities, i.e., professions, industry bodies, religions and political units , up to and including autonomous regions and...

 founded on a co-sovereign crown
Monarchy in the Canadian provinces
The monarchy of Canada forms the core of each Canadian provincial jurisdiction's Westminster-style parliamentary democracy, being the foundation of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government in each province...

, a notion that was eventually cemented in the 1882 Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is one of the highest courts in the United Kingdom. Established by the Judicial Committee Act 1833 to hear appeals formerly heard by the King in Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is one of the highest courts in the United...

 case of Maritime Bank vs. Receiver-General of New Brunswick.

Some decades later, in 1869, a rebellion in the Red River
Red River Rebellion
The Red River Rebellion or Red River Resistance was the sequence of events related to the 1869 establishment of a provisional government by the Métis leader Louis Riel and his followers at the Red River Settlement, in what is now the Canadian province of Manitoba.The Rebellion was the first crisis...

 area of Rupert's Land
Rupert's Land
Rupert's Land, or Prince Rupert's Land, was a territory in British North America, consisting of the Hudson Bay drainage basin that was nominally owned by the Hudson's Bay Company for 200 years from 1670 to 1870, although numerous aboriginal groups lived in the same territory and disputed the...

 erupted under the leadership of Louis Riel
Louis Riel
Louis David Riel was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political and spiritual leader of the Métis people of the Canadian prairies. He led two resistance movements against the Canadian government and its first post-Confederation Prime Minister, Sir John A....

, who established in the Red River settlement a provisional government
Provisional government
A provisional government is an emergency or interim government set up when a political void has been created by the collapse of a very large government. The early provisional governments were created to prepare for the return of royal rule...

 under John Bruce
John Bruce (Canada)
John Bruce was the first president of the Métis provisional government at the Red River Settlement during the Red River Rebellion of 1869.- External links :*...

 as president, with the intent of negotiating a provincial relationship with the federal government of Canada. As negotiations proceeded, Riel was eventually elected as president by the provisional government's council, and his delegation to Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

 was successful in working out with the federal Crown-in-Council
Queen-in-Council
The Queen-in-Council is, in each of the Commonwealth realms, the technical term of constitutional law that refers to the exercise of executive authority, denoting the monarch acting by and with the advice and consent of his or her privy council or executive council The Queen-in-Council (during...

 an agreement on which the province of Manitoba was founded in 1870, with a parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution...

 framework of governance, the same as that in the other provinces
Monarchy in the Canadian provinces
The monarchy of Canada forms the core of each Canadian provincial jurisdiction's Westminster-style parliamentary democracy, being the foundation of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government in each province...

.

Post-Quebec sovereignty movement

The Parti Québécois
Parti Québécois
The Parti Québécois is a centre-left political party that advocates national sovereignty for the province of Quebec and secession from Canada. The Party traditionally has support from the labour movement. Unlike many other social-democratic parties, its ties with the labour movement are informal...

 rose to power in Quebec on the support of nationalists, and thereafter demonstrated an attitude towards the monarchy that ranged from hostility to indifference. Republican options were discussed following the sovereigntist Parti Québécois
Parti Québécois
The Parti Québécois is a centre-left political party that advocates national sovereignty for the province of Quebec and secession from Canada. The Party traditionally has support from the labour movement. Unlike many other social-democratic parties, its ties with the labour movement are informal...

' (PQ) election to power in Quebec, but only specifically in relation to the province; in February 1968, during the first meeting of the Constitutional Conference
Constitutional convention (political meeting)
A constitutional convention is now a gathering for the purpose of writing a new constitution or revising an existing constitution. A general constitutional convention is called to create the first constitution of a political unit or to entirely replace an existing constitution...

 in Ottawa, delegates from Quebec indicated that a provincial president might suit the province better than the an appointed viceroy
Lieutenant Governor of Quebec
The Lieutenant Governor of Quebec : Lieutenant-gouverneur du Québec, or : Lieutenant-gouverneure du Québec) is the viceregal representative in Quebec of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the ten other jurisdictions...

. Two years later, Parti Québécois members of the National Assembly
National Assembly of Quebec
The National Assembly of Quebec is the legislative body of the Province of Quebec. The Lieutenant Governor and the National Assembly compose the Parliament of Quebec, which operates in a fashion similar to those of other British-style parliamentary systems.The National Assembly was formerly the...

 refused to recite the constitutionally mandated Oath of Allegiance
Oath of Allegiance (Canada)
The Canadian Oath of Allegiance is a promise or declaration of fealty to the Canadian monarch, taken, along with other specific oaths of office, by new occupants of various government positions, including federal and provincial viceroys, appointees to the Queen's Privy Council, Supreme Court...

 to the sovereign before taking their seats in the legislature, and souverainistes complained about the Queen's role in officially opening the 1976 Montreal Olympics
1976 Summer Olympics
The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1976. Montreal was awarded the rights to the 1976 Games on May 12, 1970, at the 69th IOC Session in Amsterdam, over the bids of Moscow and...

, with Quebec Premier
Premier of Quebec
The Premier of Quebec is the first minister of the Canadian province of Quebec. The Premier is the province's head of government and his title is Premier and President of the Executive Council....

 René Lévesque
René Lévesque
René Lévesque was a reporter, a minister of the government of Quebec, , the founder of the Parti Québécois political party and the 23rd Premier of Quebec...

 asking Elizabeth to turn down the advice of her federal prime minister, Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...

, and not open the games. This attitude led to the role of the monarchy in Canada coming under scrutiny during constitutional conventions in the lead up to the patriation
Patriation
Patriation is a non-legal term used in Canada to describe a process of constitutional change also known as "homecoming" of the constitution. Up until 1982, Canada was governed by a constitution that was a British law and could be changed only by an Act of the British Parliament...

 of the Canadian constitution
Constitution of Canada
The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law in Canada; the country's constitution is an amalgamation of codified acts and uncodified traditions and conventions. It outlines Canada's system of government, as well as the civil rights of all Canadian citizens and those in Canada...

 in 1982. However, proposals for change were thwarted by the provinces, including Quebec.

In contrast to monarchist arguments, those against the Crown assert that it is possible to have such an elected head of state be an apolitical individual, further theorizing that trends in transparency will make the result even more possible, and that he or she would not clash with the Prime Minister due to possible differences in the selection process for each office, though some desire an empowered chief executive who could hold the Cabinet in check. Others feel an appointed Canadian president would be more democratic than the Crown. The range of often contradictory proposals highlights the fact that Canadian republicans are not fully united on what sort of republican form of government they believe the nation should adopt. The Westminster-style parliamentary republican model, which is advocated by other Commonwealth republican movements, has been embraced by Citizens for a Canadian Republic as the preferred model for Canada.
Towards that end, Citizens for a Canadian Republic proposed in March 2004 that the federal viceroy
Viceroy
A viceroy is a royal official who runs a country, colony, or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. A viceroy's province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty...

 be made an elected position, as a first step towards some form of republic. As the normal channels of appointment would follow after the election, no constitutional reform would be necessary. However, as monarchists point out, the scheme does not take into consideration any provincial input, especially concerning the relationship between the provincial and federal Crowns, and thus the Lieutenant Governors
Lieutenant Governor (Canada)
In Canada, a lieutenant governor is the viceregal representative in a provincial jurisdiction of the Canadian monarch and head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, who resides predominantly in her oldest realm, the United Kingdom...

; an issue that would weigh heavily in any constitutional debate on the Crown, regardless of the selection process of the Governor General. At approximately the same time, the editors of The Globe and Mail began calling for the Governor General to be made head of state under the guise of "patriating the monarchy", and arguing that Canada could rid itself of its Crown without becoming a republic, and backing their journalist Jeffrey Simpson
Jeffrey Simpson
Jeffrey Carl Simpson, OC , is a Canadian journalist. He has been The Globe and Mails national affairs columnist for almost three decades...

's preference for the Companions of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...

 to choose the head of state in a Canadian republic.
Then, some weeks later, Quebec sovereignty again collided with the monarchy, when Quebec separatists threatened to mount demonstrations should the Queen be in attendance at the ceremonies for the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City; Mario Beaulieu, Vice-President of the Société Saint-Jean Baptiste
Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society
The Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society is an institution in Quebec dedicated to the protection of Quebec francophone interests and to the promotion of Quebec Sovereignism. Its current President is Mario Beaulieu....

announced that the Queen's presence would be a catalyst for action, saying: "You can be sure that people will demonstrate in protest... We are celebrating the foundation of New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...

, not its conquest. The monarchy remains a symbol of imperialism and colonialism. Her presence will not be welcomed", and Gérald Larose, president of the Quebec Sovereignty Council, stated that the monarchy was "the most despicable, appalling, anti-democratic, imperial, colonial symbol against which all social and individuals rights were obtained through the course of history."

Activities

As abolition of the monarchy would require a constitutional amendment made only after the achievement of unanimous consent amongst the federal parliament
Parliament of Canada
The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa. Formally, the body consists of the Canadian monarch—represented by her governor general—the Senate, and the House of Commons, each element having its own officers and...

 and all ten provincial legislatures, republicans face difficulty in achieving their goal. Further, though republicans have pointed to Ireland and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 as models that could be adapted to Canada, no specific form of republic or selection method for a president has been decided on, and the Canadian populace remains largely indifferent to the issue.

To date, most republican action has taken the form of protests on Victoria Day
Victoria Day
Victoria Day is a federal Canadian public holiday celebrated on the last Monday before May 25, in honour of Queen Victoria's birthday. The date is also, simultaneously, that on which the current reigning Canadian sovereign's official birthday is recognized...

the Canadian sovereign's official birthday in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, lobbying of the federal and provincial governments to eliminate Canadian royal symbols
Canadian royal symbols
Canadian royal symbols are the visual and auditory identifiers of the Canadian monarchy and the monarch's viceroys, in both the country's federal and provincial jurisdictions...

, and legal action against the Crown, specifically in relation to the Oath of Citizenship
Oath of citizenship (Canada)
The Oath of Citizenship, or Citizenship Oath , is a statement recited and signed by candidates who wish to become citizens of Canada...

 and the Act of Settlement 1701
Act of Settlement 1701
The Act of Settlement is an act of the Parliament of England that was passed in 1701 to settle the succession to the English throne on the Electress Sophia of Hanover and her Protestant heirs. The act was later extended to Scotland, as a result of the Treaty of Union , enacted in the Acts of Union...

.

One constitutional scholar, Ted McWhinney
Ted McWhinney
Edward Watson "Ted" McWhinney, QC is a Canadian lawyer and academic specializing in constitutional and international law. He was a Liberal Party Member of Parliament from 1993 to 2000 for the electoral district of Vancouver Quadra....

, has argued that Canada can become a republic upon the demise of the current Queen by not proclaiming a successor; according to McWhinney, this would be a way for the constitution to evolve "more subtly and by indirection, through creating new glosses on the Law of the Constitution as written, without formally amending it." However, Ian Holloway, Dean of Law at the University of Western Ontario
University of Western Ontario
The University of Western Ontario is a public research university located in London, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus covers of land, with the Thames River cutting through the eastern portion of the main campus. Western administers its programs through 12 different faculties and...

, criticised this proposal for its ignorance of provincial input, and opined that its implementation "would be contrary to the plain purpose of those who framed our system of government."

See also

  • Debate on the monarchy in Canada
    Debate on the monarchy in Canada
    Debate between monarchists and republicans in Canada has been taking place since before the country's Confederation in 1867, though it has rarely been of significance since the rebellions of 1837. Open support for republicanism only came from the Patriotes in the early 19th century, the Red River...

  • Monarchism in Canada
    Monarchism in Canada
    Canadian monarchism is the appreciation amongst Canadians for, and thus also advocacy for the retention of, their distinct system of constitutional monarchy, countering anti-monarchical reform as being generally revisionist, idealistic, and ultimately impracticable...

  • Constitutional monarchy
    Constitutional monarchy
    Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution...

  • Republicanism
    Republicanism
    Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...


Further reading

  • Ajzenstat, Janet and Peter J. Smith. Canada's Origins: Liberal, Tory, Or Republican? Montreal: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, 1995. ISBN 0886292743
  • Caccia, Fulvio, Daniel Sloate and Domenico Cusmano. Republic Denied: The Loss of Canada. Translated by Daniel Sloate and Domenico Cusmano Toronto: Guernica Editions, 2002. ISBN 155071144X
  • Smith, David E. The Republican Option in Canada, Past and Present. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999. ISBN 0802044697
  • Vaughan, Frederick. The Canadian Federalist Experiment: From Defiant Monarchy to Reluctant Republic.Montreal: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, 2003. ISBN 0773525378

External links

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