QS to pledge allegiance
Québec solidaire is going to swear the oath to the king with the ultimate aim of abolishing the practice.
I honestly do not see what improvement such a change will make in the lives of Quebecers – even if Quebec can change this unilaterally as part of Canada, which I doubt.
Also, wasn’t it just as “bad” for them when it was the Queen? The monarchy has the same conceptual role in Canada regardless of the individual wearing the shiny hat, but only since the death of the Queen has this become such a hot potato. Some of the MNAs who’ve recently resisted the oath have taken it before, in some cases several times.
Blork 09:22 on 2022-11-03 Permalink
I think it’s natural that the discussion would happen now.
When the Queen was the monarch there were many entrenched admirers; those who admired her as the monarch and those who admired her as a global political figure. She was also quite likeable. Sort of like the world’s grandma. While many people complained about the Crown, not so many people wanted to make a stink about grandma personally.
And then along comes Charles. While he’s got some good things going for him (ecological stuff, etc.) he doesn’t attract admiration the way his mother did. Plus he’s new to the role. Those two things make it much easier to get up in his face.
It’s a time of great change in the monarchy, so it seems natural that the periphery of the monarchy would also jump on the bandwagon of change.
GC 09:35 on 2022-11-03 Permalink
It was arguably “worse” do it under the Queen, because we can point to specific crappy things she did in the past. But, as Blork said, she was likeable and lots of people had a soft spot for her even if they didn’t really want the monarchy. That’s why I roll my eyes extra hard at QS and the PQ. If making the stand were so important, they would have also done it when there was a popular monarch. Instead, they just waited for the best moment for their political theatre.
Kate 10:11 on 2022-11-03 Permalink
GC, that’s mostly what I’m saying. If it’s a conceptual problem now it should always have been a conceptual problem.
Anyway, it’s all grandstanding. The whole legal system here is based on the Crown. The CAQ can’t make that go away with a bit of stage magic flimflam.
Blork 11:35 on 2022-11-03 Permalink
Of course. It has always been a conceptual problem, but human nature and other “soft” factors play into when and how the reaction to the problem manifests. This is normal, and is seen over and over.
GC 12:39 on 2022-11-03 Permalink
As you said, Kate–I think in another thread–the MNAs all (should) know that it’s fruitless. But they are counting on some of their base not to know that, so the grandstanding will score points with them. If there’s anything that the “freedom” convoy proved, a lot of Canadians have a stunning lack of understanding about how our government actually works.