Keep It Royal

This paper assumes that Canada will retain as its head of state, the British king and Queen/Sovereign- perhaps a bold assumption.

Thoughts and Conclusion

When the head of state becomes seriously ill to the point where death is imminent, as in the late Queen Elizabeth2, the nation and its national media outlets engage in national naval-gazing. Should Canada retain the monarchy as its head of state or become a republic like the USA? Under the current system the head of state is represented by the Governor-General. It occurs to the author that the long list of Canadian Governors-Generals has served the country effectively and have shown great distinguishment and have represented Canada’s national diversity with Francophones, Anglophones and

native persons more than adequately representing the head of state and casting a positive light on the

country. When Pierre Trudeau became prime Minister, he achieved many things.

Certainly, the most notable was the repatriation of the Constitution, which had been the British Nort America Act but with Queen Lizabeth 2’s approval, became the Canada Act. This crucial event allowed the Canadian parliament to amend its own constitution without seeking the approval of the British parliament. This became the final step in Canada gaining independence from Great Britain. However, in his zeal Mr. Trudeau believed that Canada should eliminate all reference to “royal” even going so far as to propose to change the famous Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), which had been in existence since the establishment of its predecessor the North-west Mounted police in 1873.

Trudeau was willing to also re-name or dismantle many famous Canadian Army regiments all of whom had fought with great valour. These included the Royal Highland Regiment of Canada (the Black Watch); indeed, he I integrated all of the Armed Services into what was known as the ‘Green Machine”, when the Canadian Army became “Land force Commend and the ROYAL Canadian Navy became “Maritime Command and the Royal Canadian Air Force, became:” Air Command. All 3 were forced to turn in their unique identifiable uniforms and adopt a green uniform; hence the term ‘green machine. As such, as Alberta considers dismissing the RCMP and create its own provincial police force.

The author considers this a great betrayal of the crucial role played by the RCMP in ensuring Canadas west and north were not absorbed into the USA. Therefore, to honor the past while still having its own police service, why not name it the Royal Alberta Constabulary? Newfoundland and Labrador did the same when the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary was formed.

Bibliography

Rise to Greatness – the History of Canada, Conrad Black, 1982