Jeremy Selwyn via Associated Press A poll by Angus Reid revealed on Monday that 60% of Canadians oppose the recognition of Charles III as King.
Whatever the Bloc Québécois, or the majority of Quebecers and Canadians think, Justin Trudeau's government will officially recognize King Charles III as the “King of Canada” in its budget bill.
Ten days before the coronation of Charles III, the Bloc Québécois came to denounce that the Liberals had inserted in their bill implementing the last federal budget an article updating the wording of royal titles. The son of the late Queen Elizabeth II will henceforth be formally designated: “Charles the Third, by the grace of God, King of Canada and of its other realms and territories, Head of the Commonwealth”, states the article inserted on the 325th page of the voluminous bill.
An “act of monarchical recognition [which] has no place in a budget bill,” quipped Bloc Québécois House Leader Alain Therrien in a missive to his Liberal counterpart. The Bloc demanded that the government split this bill, in order to exclude the recognition of King Charles III, in order to devote a full debate to it in itself. “And especially to make the voice of Quebecers heard,” argued Mr. Therrien.
A false debate, says the PLC
Liberal Mark Holland, however, dismissed the Bloc request out of hand. “If we withdraw this article, we also do not recognize the reality,” replied the House leader of the government at Devoir, Wednesday. “The sun will rise tomorrow, it will set tomorrow. We now have a king who is a man, and no longer a queen who is a woman. It's just a simple acknowledgment of reality,” he told the Bloc, accusing them of still wanting to “provoke a debate on the monarchy.”
Justin Trudeau's Quebec lieutenant, Pablo Rodriguez, was more incisive. “Not only is that the only thing [that the Bloc Québécois] retains from the budget, but what it retains from the budget also requires that we make it a constitutional debate,” criticized Mr. Rodriguez. “Is that the Bloc's priority?” Someone should talk to him! “, he launched.
A majority of opponents to the King
A survey by Angus Reid revealed on Monday that 60% of Canadians oppose recognizing Charles III as King, whether by acknowledging him as head of state, swearing him in or displaying his portrait on the Canadian currency. Two-thirds of Canadians also do not wish to recognize his wife Camilla as Queen.
Furthermore, 52% of respondents across Canada and 66% of respondents in Quebec believe that the Canada should not “remain a constitutional monarchy for future generations”.
Bloquiste leader Yves-François Blanchet accused the Trudeau government of “crass hypocrisy” by discreetly inserting this recognition of King Charles in a bill of more than 400 pages.
“As long as we have a change, we might not have a ruler!” “, he claimed, in vain. “The government put it in the budget implementation act because they wanted to give the world a little quickie, because the world is not in favor of the monarchy,” he charged.
In a letter sent in turn to his Bloc counterpart, Mr. Holland stressed that the modification was only administrative and necessary, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. “The measure is simply intended to update the title of Canadian sovereign by removing elements that are no longer considered relevant or desirable in the modern Canadian context,” Holland wrote, cutting the discussion short. Elizabeth II's royal title also recognized her as “Queen of the United Kingdom” as well as “Defender of the Faith”—both denominations that were removed from King Charles III's royal title.
The former Minister Trudeau had refused to engage in a debate on the constitutional monarchy, following the death of the Queen, or to review the obligation to take the oath to the King. The latter had been officially recognized as head of state by Canada a few days after the death of his mother.
Visibly moved, last year, Mr. Trudeau had canceled all his activities in the days following the death of Elizabeth II. His office announced on Tuesday that he would travel to London on May 6 to attend the coronation ceremony of King Charles III.
