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Battle Royal: Monarchists vs. Republicans and the Crown of Canada
What is the future of the monarchy in Canada?
A strong republican movement in Canada stresses that the monarchy is archaic and anti-democratic, an embarrassing vestige of our colonial past. An equally vibrant monarchist movement, however, defends its loyalty to royalty, asserting that the Queen is a living link to a political and constitutional tradition dating back over a thousand years. But is the monarchy worth keeping?
Battle Royal answers this question and many more: What does the Queen really do? What are the powers of the governor general? Has the Crown strengthened or weakened Canadian democracy? If we abolish the monarchy, what do we replace it with? And will we have to re-open the constitution?
Charles will soon become King of Canada, but a Canada highly ambivalent to his reign. This presents the representatives of the Crown with the opportunity to build a better monarchy in both Britain and Canada, one relevant to the twenty-first century.
A strong republican movement in Canada stresses that the monarchy is archaic and anti-democratic, an embarrassing vestige of our colonial past. An equally vibrant monarchist movement, however, defends its loyalty to royalty, asserting that the Queen is a living link to a political and constitutional tradition dating back over a thousand years. But is the monarchy worth keeping?
Battle Royal answers this question and many more: What does the Queen really do? What are the powers of the governor general? Has the Crown strengthened or weakened Canadian democracy? If we abolish the monarchy, what do we replace it with? And will we have to re-open the constitution?
Charles will soon become King of Canada, but a Canada highly ambivalent to his reign. This presents the representatives of the Crown with the opportunity to build a better monarchy in both Britain and Canada, one relevant to the twenty-first century.
- GenresPolitics
288 pages, ebook
Published January 20, 2018
25 people want to read
About the author
David Johnson
661 books28 followersThere is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base. For the author of the Tucker series, see https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 31, 2018
I would like to point out that Dr. David Johnson was a political science professor of mine as an undergraduate student at Cape Breton University. I will do my best to not let that influence this review. In this book Dr. Johnson attempts to answer the question: what is the future of the monarchy in Canada? He also attempts to explain the role of Queen in Canada as well as the role of the Governor General. Dr. Johnson acknowledges his biases and describes himself as a pragmatic monarchist. He also does his best to fairly represent the arguments presented by Monarchists and Republicans. Monarchists argue that the Queen is merely a figure head and does not hold any power, whereas Republicans would point to the King-Byng Affair as a governor general overstepping their powers. Monarchists also argue that the Queen is a link to Canada’s constitutional tradition. There are many loyalist cities in Canada such as Saint John and Kingston that have this connection to the monarchy. Monarchists also raise the point if the monarchy is abolished in Canada what takes its place? Furthermore if they are replaced does it mean reopening the Constitution, which has not gone very well in recent history. Take the Meech Lake Accord and The Charlottetown Accord as examples. Republicans assert that monarchy is not a group that Canadians should want to be associated with. When people such as Edward Cornwallis and Jeffrey Amherst carried out their actions they were doing so on behalf of the monarchy. If you would like to read more about this debate, learn more about the role of the queen and governor general as well as their future in Canada Battle Royal is the title for you.
January 17, 2019
Not only does this very repetitive book stretch an essay's worth of material into 300 pages, I let myself be convinced to read the whole thing because it kept hinting at more interesting material to come. It never came. Here's a summary to read so that you can move on to better books:
The "real" power of governors general has come into play about three times in the last century. Most Canadians say they want to get rid of the Queen as head of state, but that will probably never happen because the prime minister and the provincial premieres each have personal veto power over constitutional changes, and opening up the constitution would be a Pandora's box filled with endless other changes and demands provincial leaders would want fulfilled before they ever agreed to oust the monarchy. But that's a good thing. It's nice to have a Royal Family to stand permanently and impartially above the fray.
The cocktail party tidbits:
- The Queen and governors general aren't physically allowed into the legislative assemblies.
- The future Edward VIII crowd-surfed at a 1919 post-WWI celebration in Toronto.
- Queen Elizabeth's funeral is already being planned and has the operational name of "London Bridge".
- During the next coronation ceremony the Archbishop of Canterbury will apply anointing oil to Prince Charles' bare chest.
The "real" power of governors general has come into play about three times in the last century. Most Canadians say they want to get rid of the Queen as head of state, but that will probably never happen because the prime minister and the provincial premieres each have personal veto power over constitutional changes, and opening up the constitution would be a Pandora's box filled with endless other changes and demands provincial leaders would want fulfilled before they ever agreed to oust the monarchy. But that's a good thing. It's nice to have a Royal Family to stand permanently and impartially above the fray.
The cocktail party tidbits:
- The Queen and governors general aren't physically allowed into the legislative assemblies.
- The future Edward VIII crowd-surfed at a 1919 post-WWI celebration in Toronto.
- Queen Elizabeth's funeral is already being planned and has the operational name of "London Bridge".
- During the next coronation ceremony the Archbishop of Canterbury will apply anointing oil to Prince Charles' bare chest.
February 25, 2018
Very readable for the average person, not overly academic, really lets one see what is involved in how the British Crown and Canada are intertwined. There is much more to the issue than mere popular sentiment for or against the monarchy would have you believe. An eye-opener for sure.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews