History of the monarchy

Which party leader, prime minister, or premier is one day going to address the question of the monarchy?

The monarchy claque will have some heavy lifting to do in the next few weeks. Srsly, can anyone in Canada get excited about these two dropping in? (Well, yes, actually, some, but their effusions do seem more and more eccentric.)

At some point, someone among our elected representatives is going to have to step up and say the part no one seems prepared to say aloud: Who are these people, and what do they have to do with us and our institutions?

I can see the reasons politicians are leery around the issue. Moving ahead on the head of state question is going to be more complicated in Canada than in Barbados, Jamaica, or the many former or about to be former monarchies around the Commonwealth. We have a constitution that sets a high bar on constitutional change, and a political situation that sets it even higher. Even if we start the conversation now, Charles will probably live out his own reign before the work is done. 

But in the end, leadership in raising the thing people are thinking about is often the right political move.

Update, April 13:  Russ Chamberlayne responds:

Mightn't the Royals drift into total benign neglect in Canada? The roles maintained, but the people in them all but forgotten.

Who pays attention to the Governor General or any of the Lieutenants Governor? The British contingent sub-topical. Rarely reanimated fossils. Even their scandals.

In the photo, Charles reminds me of so many portraits I see on the Georgian Lords twitter site (@GeorgianLords). Two-tone face, hat-protected above and burnt red below.

Russ, you appal me. Surely the royals have already drifted into "total benign neglect in Canada." But a real head of state would be a good thing for Canada. It's the second-rate status imposed by the increasingly ghostly royals that prevents us from taking the governors-general seriously. 

(But you are not alone. During the Payette scandal, support for abolishing the monarchy soared, but most of them wanted to do away with the governor-general as well.) 

The appropriate means of selecting a Canadian head of state remains uncertain. I like the idea of nominations from any province or territory plus the Assembly of First Nations (or equivalent body), with the final selection made by a council of First Nations elders, followed by a Canadian inauguration ceremony. 

Update, April 19:  CBC News reports the federal government will not bother to hold a distribution of Queen's Jubilee Medals for the platinum anniversary this year. Baby steps, baby steps.