“I think it would be very difficult,” Alan Hutchinson, a legal theorist and law professor at York University, told CTVNews.ca. “Any change to the arrangements around the Crown would require the unanimity of all the provinces and the federal government. The chances of that happening are not good.” UNANIMOUS MEETING Canada is a constitutional monarchy, meaning that the British sovereign is our ceremonial head of state, represented by the Governor General. After the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Charles III ascended the British throne and also became King of Canada. “It’s really all about wording,” Hutchinson said. “King Charles has no power in Canada.” Countries without monarchies, such as the USA and France, are known as democracies. For Canada to sever its long ties to the Monarchy and become a republic, it would require an agreement between the House of Commons, the Senate and the 10 provinces. Known as a “unanimous consent amendment,” the rule is outlined in Section 41 of the Constitution Act of 1982, which was enacted by then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s government. No contribution from the regions or referendum required. “In 1982 they needed British approval to repatriate the Constitution,” explained Hutchinson, who has written extensively on the Constitution. “I think at the time, if they had made the monarchy a sort of optional feature, that might have been a problem.” Constitutional law expert David Schneiderman believes it would be “virtually impossible” to reach a unanimous consensus on the issue today. “You would have to have an overwhelming consensus in Canadian public opinion that would justify prime ministers passing resolutions in their legislatures calling for the abolition of the Monarchy,” Schneiderman, a law and political science professor at the University of Toronto, told CTVNews.ca. “I don’t see that happening anytime soon.” Most other constitutional changes require the agreement of two-thirds of the provinces if they represent at least 50 percent of the country’s population. Previous major attempts to amend the Constitution have failed, such as the Meech Lake Accord in 1987 and the Charlottetown Accord in 1992. “We know from our own history that changing the Constitution is a little silly,” Hutchinson said. “Once you start opening it up, people are going to say, ‘Well, if we’re going to change the Constitution, what about this? What about that?’ I think it would lead us down a path that is fraught with many challenges.” THE KINGDOMS OF SOCIETY King Charles III now serves as head of state of 15 Commonwealth realms, which include the United Kingdom and former British colonies such as Australia, Belize, Canada, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. Several—especially those in the Caribbean—are reevaluating their ties. In November 2021, Barbados became a democracy and removed the Queen as head of state, the first country to do so in nearly 30 years. His constitution simply required a decision of parliament. Jamaica is also exploring the possibility of becoming a democracy, although experts say the process will take years and require a referendum. Meanwhile, the government of Antigua and Barbuda has announced plans to hold a referendum on the monarchy within the next three years, and the prime minister of the Bahamas has also signaled it is open to a referendum. Such a referendum failed to end the Monarchy in Australia in 1999. Known for his democratic leanings, Australia’s prime minister recently said a referendum was not a priority during his first term as a government. WE WANT SUPPORT While Queen Elizabeth’s death has led to an outpouring of admiration for the monarch herself, recent scandals at the House of Windsor, such as Prince Andrew’s relationship with disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and accusations of racism by Meghan Markle, have tarnished the institution’s reputation. for some. For many Indigenous people in Canada and those who suffered from harsh colonial rule in democracies such as Kenya and Cyprus, the legacy of the Monarchy can also be painful and complicated. An April 2022 poll by the Angus Reid Institute found that 51 percent of Canadian respondents favored abolishing the Monarchy in future generations, compared to 26 percent who favored keeping it and 24 percent who were unsure . Around half of those polled believed the royal family represented outdated values and were “no longer relevant at all”. The poll also found that 65 percent of respondents opposed recognizing Charles as Canada’s king and head of state. Similar surveys from 2021 and 2020 show that Canadians are increasingly questioning our ties to the British throne. According to a report by the Monarchical Association of Canada, these ties cost Canada $58.7 million in the 2019-20 fiscal year. Despite the constitutional challenges, Schneiderman believes Canadians could “imagine an alternative.” “I think we should have thought about our links with the Monarchy even before the death of Queen Elizabeth,” Schneiderman said. “It is a time to reflect on who we have had as head of state and whether we want to continue with a head of state who is hereditary, from a particular family that produces leaders to serve in that role. modern, democratic and multicultural society, perhaps we want a head of state who is a little more representative of the people the head of state serves.” Hutchinson, who grew up and studied in the UK, agrees. “The idea that we have some hereditary head of state is rather sad in 2022 in a so-called democracy,” he said. “I don’t know what we lose by calling the Governor-General something else and then cutting ties with the Monarchy.” Peter McNally is a retired McGill University computer science professor and self-proclaimed “palace guard.” McNally also believes that amending the Constitution would be “extremely difficult,” but when it comes to the Monarchy, he doesn’t want to see Canada try. “The reason Canada exists historically is because of the 18th century belief in the Monarchy,” he told CTVNews.ca. “Today, the Monarchy is the living embodiment of Canada’s parliamentary tradition. It is also a bulwark against American cultural imperialism.” With files from the Associated Press
