Faced with Trump’s threats to annex Canada, Mark Carney turned to a strange savior: the King of England. King Charles III was invited to deliver the Speech from the Throne on May 27 to “underscore the sovereignty” of Canada, in the words of the Prime Minister. There’s nothing like turning to the British Crown to assert Canada’s sovereignty!
This whole circus is all the more absurd when you think of all the epithets that liberals have hurled at Trump: fascist, dictator, enemy of democracy! What better way to defend our beautiful democracy than a good old hereditary monarch?
Rather than defending our sovereignty, this visit reminds us that Canada is still not a true democracy. Canada’s political system, with its unelected Senate and Governor General representing a foreign monarch, has inherited the old feudal institutions of Britain. Only a few months ago, Trudeau’s Liberal government called on the Governor General to prorogue Parliament in order to prevent an election taking place.
Although in practice the Prime Minister exercises executive power, it remains formally in the hands of the King. If democracy were to go too far, for example by giving power to a communist party—the horror!—the monarchy would serve as an anti-democratic emergency mechanism to protect the capitalist status quo. The bourgeoisie may have conceded the vote to the plebes, but there must still be limits to democracy!
While resorting to this symbolic gesture of defiance, Carney gives in to Trump’s demand to increase the military budget to two per cent of GDP and join his delusional “Golden Dome” anti-missile system project. What hypocrisy!
Far from demonstrating Canada’s “sovereignty”, the Charles III tour symbolizes nothing more than the prostration of its ruling class. Having clung to American petticoats for decades, Canadian capitalists now find themselves betrayed by their masters—and turn to the hated symbol of their previous masters! They’re as archaic and outdated as the monarchy. Throw them all into the dustbin of history!
Read more: How to abolish the monarchy in Canada?
