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The Canadian monarchy
Contemporary Review, Oct, 2002 by James Allan Evans
'Why do you go to synagogue?' Deena asked.
'Some things you just do', Daniel said. 'What's wrong with following a tradition simply because it exists, because it's what Jews do and you're one of them?'
Daniel speaks for all those who believe they are what their history has made them. What's wrong with being a monarchist simply because Canada has always been a monarchy? A succession of kings and queens living in London has helped form the ordinary Canadian's self-definition for more than two centuries, and as Daniel said, 'Some things you just do'.
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For the monarchy was there at the creation of Canada. It is the reason why the country exists. Its English-speaking founders were American colonists who were turfed out of the United States for loyalty to the crown. They had a mixture of bloodlines: Huguenot French, Germans, English, Dutch who had settled New Netherlands a century earlier, African ex-slaves as well as a few who were still slaves. They spoke with an American accent and celebrated the American festival of Thanksgiving: some even had ancestors who came over on the Mayflower. (French Canada also has its monarchical tradition but to a different royal house: the provincial flag of Quebec resurrects the fleur-de-lys of the Bourbon kings.) There was no significant immigration from Britain until after the Napoleonic Wars. English-speaking Canada was really a colony of the United States, and if the young United States and her colony had settled into a peaceful relationship, old wounds would probably have healed quickly enough and North America would ha ve reunited. Families which had split in the American Revolution began to get in touch with each other again. But then came the War of 1812, which is forgotten everywhere but in Canada.
In 1812, Napoleon set off on his Russian expedition. Britain's resources were stretched. For the United States, it was a good opportunity to complete the unfinished business of the American Revolution. The conquest of Canada seemed inevitable. And no doubt it would have been conquered, except that Canadians, both French- and English-speakers, and the aboriginal Indians united to support the skeletal British army in the defence of Canada. There is a tale that at the battle of Queenston Heights overlooking the Niagara River, a Canadian volunteer shot an American soldier and looking at the dead man, discovered he had shot his younger brother. He shrugged, helped himself to an antique watch from the man's pocket and went off, saying, 'Serves him right for fighting against King George'. The King was still George III, old, blind and mad -- and very popular.
Loyalty had rewards. For a brief period after the end of the War of 1812, Britain poured money into building defence works in Canada in case the United States attacked again, which she never did. The most conspicuous result now is the Rideau Canal, an immensely expensive waterway that terminates in Ottawa. It was intended to provide the Royal Navy with secure access to the Great Lakes waterway, but the Royal Navy never used it. The canal has become a magnet for private yachts in the summer and in the winter, the longest outdoor skating rink in the world. The sinkhole for the British taxpayers' money over a century and a half ago has been profitably recycled.
