Queen Elizabeth poses with leaders for a family photo at the 2015 Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Valletta, Malta. In Canada, the queen’s death will likely spark discussions about getting rid of the monarchy, as well as responses that the country’s system works well and would be too difficult to change, said Jonathan Malloy, a political science professor at Carleton University. “The queen’s longevity has perhaps allowed us to postpone some discussions” and some will see her death as an opportunity for change, he said on Friday. The monarchy is anachronistic and represents values ​​that no longer align with the direction of Canada, but the system “actually works quite well … and it would be extremely difficult to change,” he said. For example, the Crown is at the heart of our legal and political systems and cutting ties with it would undermine, among other things, treaties with Indigenous nations, he said. The provinces also probably like the current system because it allows them to claim their own direct relationship with the Crown, and the change would require them to overhaul their systems, Malloy said. There would also be questions about how to choose a new head of state and the risk that removing the Crown would open the door to other attempts to change the Constitution, he said. “No government wants to be consumed by constitutional talks and changes,” he said, pointing to the constitutional crises of Meech Lake and Charlottetown several decades ago. Not everyone in the diaspora was critical of the Queen and the British monarchy on Friday. Reuben Wong, 73, who grew up in poverty in Hong Kong before immigrating to Canada in the 1970s, said he would not be where he is today without the Queen and the British system. Hong Kong has not been part of the Commonwealth since the 1997 handover to China, but some in its Canadian diaspora continue to embrace the monarchy. “The spirit of the queen lives in my blood,” the Richmond, B.C., retiree said Friday. read more Do you have an opinion? Send it to [email protected]