Royal tour tab: Canadian taxpayers likely to pay big bill

[soleiltropiques]

Royal tour tab: Canadian taxpayers likely to pay big bill

Canadian taxpayer should expect to pay a healthy bill for Prince William and Kate’s whirlwind royal tour of British Columbia and Yukon later this month.

Comments

[donaldjdrumpf]

I would support Canada in a civil war against the UK if y'all agree to give me the tar sands!(By "me" I mean The Trump Organization, not the US, fuck that).

Re:

[moonshaz]

Oh hey, there. Haven't seen you in a while, Donnie. All ready for the big debate tonight?

[donaldjdrumpf]

I KILLED IT!!! YASSSSSSSS!

[nutmegdealer]

i'm an american who's confused as to what the governor general actually does. they're more powefrul than the pm, right? but do they have any real power or is it just ceremonial? what is the point? yes, i am googling...

[amw]

Technically the governor general is like the executive branch in America. Except, unlike the American president, they are not commander-in-chief of the military or responsible for any federal agencies. I believe all they can do is veto bills and dissolve parliament, but I am not sure if that has ever happened in any of the modern Commonwealth states. So, yes, mostly ceremonial.

[lozbabie]

John Kerr did it in Australia in 1975. Massive breach of his powers.

[soleiltropiques]

Interesting! I looked that up, BTW.

There are many parallels between Australia and Canada with regards to political systems, so this was very interesting. I was just looking it up and it seems the Australian Senate members are elected though, which is an important difference. Our Senate in Canada is just ridiculous.

[amw]

I was born in England and am a Canadian citizen, and I think the monarchy is ridiculous in both countries. Which isn't to say I necessarily support restructuring the government to a more American-style republic, since that would create new bureaucracy that would likely benefit no one besides paper pushers, but I do find state-sponsored celebrity worship pretty silly. Since the Queen just rubber-stamps everything that comes through parliament anyway, her political position is nothing more than a formality. They are without question a rich and famous family, and can certainly be celebrated as an important piece of colonial history, but I don't think they need state support anymore.

[soleiltropiques]

Yeah I agree.

Then again I have (1) French Canadian and (2) Irish Catholic roots so... yeah I realize I'm biased, LOL. :)

PS: I just wanted to add that the climate in my province (Quebec) is rather different which is why royal visits tend to avoid coming here (=each time they come there is, unfortunately, a riot of some kind)...

[invisiblegirlx]

we shouldn't have to foot the bill for royal trips imo but the Royals are technically our head of state so unless we dump them we are responsible for them when they come here.

[soleiltropiques]

Interesting! Thanks for your opinion. :)

It is interesting to consider also the role of history: an interesting fact which may contribute to Canada's attachment to the royal family is the role of the descendants of Loyalists who came here: " Tens of thousands migrated to British North America during and after the revolutionary war - boosting the population and heavily influencing the politics and culture of what would become Canada." (From this reference: http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/loyalists/)

Sorry for going on there - I just find history really interesting, LOL. :)

[invisiblegirlx]

yes we do have a long history with the monarchy that ties us to Britian, which is why I think if it went to a referendum we would probably vote to keep the Queen/her descendants as the head of state. Also it would require a rejigging of the constitution and some messy stuff in order to get rid of the monarch. In Canada we are very wary of trying to open up the constitution cause it's so hard to change it, and Quebec and Indigenous communities will want to put in their own desired changes if we were to go back to the negotiating table at any point.

[soleiltropiques]

Yeah, it's funny, I'm French Canadian and a Quebecquer myself, but I've been quite horrified by the racism of the separatist side. (The so-called charter of values comes to mind.)

As far as Indigenous nations putting their oar in however, that would only be just and fair as far as I'm concerned. Also getting rid of the racist Indian Act altogether and replacing it with something aimed at giving opportunities to Indigenous peoples would be a great step IMO. :)

[screamingintune]

not Canadian -- well my dad was from Montreal and I have citizenship -- but I live and was born and raised in the US. And I used to think the royal family was frivolity, but tbh, this 2016 presidential election + the opinions of some Canadian friends I've talked to + my old poli sci classes has made me see the value of a symbolic head of state. It's a better idea to expel all that celebrity energy on the queen or the prince or whatever and leave the actual ruler's job to someone who isn't purely a figure of celebrity. I mean we have one candidate this election who is only relevant because of celebrity.

[soleiltropiques]

Interesting! Thanks for your opinion. :-)

It is pretty incredible to think that, if it wasn't for reality television, Trump might have gotten exactly nowhere, IMO.

(The references all discuss -at least in passing- Trump's reality TV career.)

-http://time.com/4268109/donald-trump-reality-television-apprentice-dancing-stars/
-http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/obama-trump-economics-reality-politics-1.3573379
-http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/how-america-made-donald-trump-unstoppable-20160224