Are you a monarchist?

[HEyHEY]

I'm certainly not.

[Caradoc]

1. I am.

I'm a monarchist. Let's just say 'it runs in the family'.

[daleo]

2. I am basically indifferent

But I think the political and social energy that would go into changing the situation would be better spent on other things, such as proportional representation.

[Spazito]

3. Don't care either way

wrt the issue in Canada.

[IntravenousDemilo]

4. I certainly am. Card-carrying, too, for a while.

I like a system in which the powers of Head of State belong to someone other than the head of government. It's safer. "Confound their politics, frustrate their knavish tricks" are the lines in "God Save the Queen", and I agree with them. Sometimes I think the monarchy's the only thing that would keep Stephen Harper from turning into George Bush if he had Head-of-State power. And remember, as a mere Chancellor, Hitler wasn't nearly the threat to the world that he became after he arrogated the powers of Hindenburg to himself and became Fuehrer.

There aren't a lot of very-left-wing monarchists, but I'm one of them.

[thenam]

7. Why have elections? n/t

[iverglas]

9. well, slightly more grudgingly ...

I'm a don't fix it if it isn't broken monarchist. For all the same reasons. Just not with quite the enthusiasm. ;)

I haven't been able to imagine a system that would work better, and hey, if I can't, who could?

There are symbolic benefits as well as the practical ones we do agree on that you have listed.

Some sort of embodiment of the collective entity of "the people" and the state seems to be needed. A piece of parchment or hunk of fabric doesn't quite do the trick. Nor does a George Bush. Some sort of authority has to be attached to it. The authority of the Crown is illegitimate if it is considered in its human embodiment, but legitimate when considered as the expressed will of the people -- as it now is for us, in the 1982 Constitution.

[Canadian_moderate]

5. I had to say a slight fib...

when I became a naturalized Canadian citizen in 1986. I have no allegiance to the English Queen and monarchy whatsoever. I was born in the Netherlands and I'm not a big fan of their monarchy either. I would prefer a demovratically elected head of state, and preferably a Canadian one for Canada.

[Bassic]

6. No, I most assuredly am not. nt

[thenam]

8. No.

As it stands, the Governor-General is a pointless rubber stamp. At least the G-G is Canadian these days, as this was not always the case!

It would be easy (in theory) to replace the G-G with some sort of elected executive. It does not have to be an American-style executive, which is something I think many Canadians are afraid of when it comes to reforming government here. We could make it, well, whatever we wanted to make it.

With that said, right now we cannot figure out how to elect senators, even though many would like to see it happen. Constitutionally, I can see any effort to get rid of the monarchy becoming very messy, and bogged down in things that have nothing to do with the main issue!

[sorrywrongemail]

10. I'd say so

seems to provide a lot of change compared to the rigidity of a presidential system esp. with the current possibility of a coalition government. Look at the responsivity of our system to the electorate versus the current lame duck US President. I think it's very important to note as well that the very Canadian Parliament itself comprises the Senate, the House of Commons-- and the Crown.

Rather than have a head of state that feeds on lobbyist donations, someone immune to that yet also restricted by constitutional convention is nice.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

11. No way

I think Canada (and other Commonwealth Realms) should convert the G-G post into an elected Presidency much like the what come of the Republic of Ireland's 1949 constitutional settlement.

Whereby you have an elected head of state, but whom stands above the political fray most of the time acting out a ceremonial but uniting role over a Parliamentary executive and the electorate.

[thenam]

12. Agreed

This is essentially my own position, too. There is some (justified) fear that things could end up looking like the US system, but we can mitigate that by limiting presidential powers to begin with.

[carpetbagger]

13. I was in college in the U.S.

The University of Maryland Student Government went Monarchist in the 1980s. I worked on the campaign that brought King James I to the throne. The programme was to bring cows back to campus (they were being relocated to an ag farm 20 miles away), and build a giant beer moat around campus.

Oddly enough, we were turned from power in a very early demonstration of the perils of electronic voting, where the old ballots were replaced by this computer thing, where basically the greeks went in and watched their folks vote.

But back in the day, we could truly say, "Only in America can a little boy grow up and become King".

[ncabot22]

14. No

I think the head of state should be Canadian and not some English queen thousands of miles away. After EII dies, I'd like to see Canada revert to a republic.

[Wabbajack_]

15. Monarchy is fucking stupid

go for a ceremonial President I say.

[Captain Hilts]

22. But choosing a president is inherently a partisan act. It would be yet another post...

like governor general that people can argue about.

The fact that QEII wasn't chosen is one of her assets as head of state. Neither side chose her.

[thenam]

23. And that's why her role in a democracy is illegitimate. n/t

[Sandrine for you]

16. I give my loyalty to the King Of the Poutine.......

Mummm.... de la poutine....arrrgh !!!

But the Queen, I don't give a shit.

[thenam]

17. Danse la poutine!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz89dO1F7fs

I can get behind this much more than the Queen.

[Sandrine for you]

18. crazy video..

:headbang: :headbang:

[Spazito]

19. I have now gone from being neutral on the question to supporting Canada becoming

independent in ALL senses given the actions of the GG today. The office of the GG has now become merely a lapdog mouthpiece for any minority government under stress due to their own actions and is, imo, now a threat to the practice of a Parliamentary system as it is intended to be.

[thenam]

20. Where do we go from here?

I could certainly get behind a move to reform our system. Does anyone have some recommended resources for this, such as existing groups that are working to this end?

The fact is, the G-G was going to anger one group today, it was just a question of which. I think that many Canadians are apathetic when it comes to the Monarchy, because they don't really notice it, or see how it affects them. Now they can see it, and today it is making stomachs turn.

[Captain Hilts]

21. Yes. I like the link to history.

And I like Liz.