Stephen Copeman, who is Young ACM Convenor, has passed on to this opinion column by Robert Finch, who is the Young Adult Coordinator of The Monarchist League of Canada.
It is well worth reading, so I would like to share it with you.
“When I began to survey local candidates in the upcoming federal election about their position on the monarchy, I was expecting to be able to count the number of responses on one hand.
But, I was pleasantly surprised to receive responses from most candidates. I was even more happy to to see that virtually every response was pro-monarchy.
Complete results of the survey are posted on the Hamilton branch website; Monarchist League of Canada’s Hamilton & District Branch.
So, what exactly does this mean? Is it just a fluke that Hamilton-area politicians and wanna-be-politicans just happen to be monarchists?
If you take a glance at the comments some of the candidates gave and that are now posted online, not only do they support our constitutional monarchy – they give it a ringing endorsement!
Only one – I repeat, ONE – candidate (from the Communist party) said he was not pro-monarchy. Still, even the communist didn’t say he’d support or advocate abolishing the monarchy.
And, if there are republicans amongst those few candidates who did not respond, they surely didn’t want to go on record.
Of course, who could blame them? It is quite clear that republicanism is simply not a winner amongst Canadian voters. Ah, that’s what all this means.
That’s right, ladies and gentlemen…republicanism is a non-winner in Canada. That is why none of the major national parties (Liberal, Conservative, NDP, or Green) advocate abolishing the monarchy in favour of a republic.
That is why one – the Conservatives – even lists its “belief in our constitutional monarchy” as one of its founding principles.
That is why one of the smaller parties, the Christian Heritage Party says this in its party policy: “We affirm our allegiance to Her Majesty the Queen of Canada and her heirs and successors according to law. We affirm also that the Crown is the chief political and legal symbol of Canada’s sovereignty and independence.”
That is why the New Democrats balked at the idea of adopting a pro-republican initiative several years ago.
That is why former prime minister Jean Chretien said he had enough trouble fighting separatists in Quebec and didn’t want to fight monarchists in Ontario
And, guess what? It is also one of the major hiccups facing former deputy prime minister John Manley if he wants to persue the Liberal party leadership.
According to the CBC,anyway: http://www.cbc.ca/canadavotes/leadersparties/kings.html
I have long insisted that if Canadians wanted a republic they’d already have one. The fact remains, though, there is very little support for abolishing the monarchy in Canada.
Despite what republican activists say, there is NO republican movement in Canada.
Canadians just aren’t interested.
Polls show that. The parties’ policies show that. The views of Hamilton-area candidates show that.
Republicanism is a non-winner in Canada!
Until next time,
Bob Finch”