EDITORIAL: He’s no foreigner, he’s King Canuck
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Tuesday’s opening of Parliament will have a royal twist, as King Charles III makes an historic visit to Canada to deliver the Speech from the Throne.
Some are churlish about his attendance. There are perennial rumblings from the usual MPs, especially the Bloc Quebecois, that they don’t want to swear allegiance to a foreign king.
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Chacun à son goût, as they say in Quebec.
But Charles is not a foreign king. He’s the King of Canada and our head of state. We’re a constitutional monarchy, with the emphasis on constitutional. When U.S. President Donald Trump was threatening to annex Canada, calling this country the 51st state, many voices asked Charles to open Parliament, to demonstrate to Trump that we’re not for sale and we have our own head of state.
There may be a time for a discussion about that in future. Now’s not the moment. We invited him here and insisted he come. The 76-year-old monarch, who’s suffering from cancer, hastily put aside his other kingly duties and rushed to our defence. We should rise to the occasion and welcome him warmly.
In his brief time as king, Charles has demonstrated that he, too, can use the soft power of the monarchy to show support for causes he cares about. After Volodymyr Zelenskyy was ambushed at the White House, Charles welcomed the Ukrainian President to Sandringham House to show support.
Trump likes and admires the monarchy. When U.K. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was at the Oval Office, Trump appeared immensely flattered when Starmer, with great flourish, produced a personal invitation from Charles for a second state visit to Britain.
It’s important to remember that the speech Charles delivers is not one he wrote. He will be reading the agenda of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s new government.
The speech is not the message. What Charles’ presence in Canada says to Trump is that we have our own unique form of government. The work of our courts and our legislatures is all done in the name of the Crown. It gives it dignity and gravitas. It’s a system that’s served us well and given us the strong, just and democratic society we enjoy today.
When and if we change direction, it will be for Canadians to decide. Just not today.
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