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Ok guys, help me understand this.

What's the relation between Canada and England?
Used to run around up there in the truck, and saw all kind of
British "domain" for lack of a better word.

Royalty on money, crowns on signs, reading here of "Crown Land" (who owns that?)

US was a colony and still tight with England, but we separated from
the royal thing. I don't see actual royalty in Canada.


Is it the way of separation?
We got pissed and fought 2 wars with England, maybe that's the difference.

Guess this highlights our education system or my bad memory.
But knowledge of our neighbor, and closest ally is pretty weak here.

In a nutshell, we carry a lot of baggage from the old days. The King's Highway signs. the Parliamentary system of government, British spelling. I believe that within the next 50 years, we will completely rid ourselves of our British ties. We are doing it using a long, legal process, unlike the US, who revolted and declared their independence.

A self-governing country

In 1931, England put Canada on equal footing with other Commonwealth countries through the Statute of Westminster, which essentially gave its dominions full legal freedom and equal standing with England and one another. However, Britain still had the ability to amend the Canadian constitution, and Canada took time to cut its legal ties to England. Meanwhile, it adopted its own national symbols, like the Canadian flag, featuring the maple leaf, which debuted in 1965.

An independent nation

It took five decades after the Statute of Westminster for Canada to make its final step toward full sovereignty. In 1982, it adopted its own constitution and became a completely independent country. Although it’s still part of the British Commonwealth—a constitutional monarchy that accepts the British monarch as its own. Elizabeth II is Queen of Canada. However, her role is essentially ceremonial, and she does not interfere in Canadian self-governance.

History.com

Dillonbuck;
Good evening to you sir, I hope the day was a good one for you and all is as it should be in your world.

When Canada repatriated it's constitution in 1982 we became totally independent of Great Britain as far as any governance whatsoever is concerned.

We still have Queen Elizabeth on the currency and send the royal family roughly $50 Million per year.

The term "Crown Land" is a tad counterintuitive in that it does not belong to the royal family, but is owned by the people of that province. There are some rules governing access to Crown Land that is for instance leased for grazing or mining, but as a broad statement Crown Land in BC at least can be accessed by anyone for any lawful purpose.

While there are some federal lands here, in my travels on your side of the medicine line - admittedly mostly in western states - I'd suggest there is a larger percentage of US Federal Land there than we have land owned or controlled by our federal government.

Typically here, if the feds control it, it'll be a park or military facility of some sort.

Hopefully that addressed some of your questions sir? Please feel free to ask if I've left something unclear or you have further questions.

All the best to you this fall and good luck on your remaining hunts.

Dwayne

And if you want some fun, ask the people here about ridding ourselves completely of the British yoke.

https://www.monarchist.ca/index.php

This is the Monarchist League of Canada.

Steve and Dewayne,
Thanks, now I don't feel quite so dumb, things were changing while and after
my school days. And it's unfair as heck, but the world turns around the US to
some extent. We arrogantly don't pay attention to other countries, and this
country is important enough that they study it.

So, the $50 million. Why?

And as far as "fun" I will stir the Quebecois pot.

You all have a well deserved reputation for manners, look at Dewayne's
salutations. I found manners in Qubec also. Bad ones. Not all certainly,
but I think some there didn't like me.

Dillonbuck;
Good evening to you again sir, thanks for the reply and kind words, I appreciate both.

The issue of our relationship with the monarchy is, as Steve mentioned, a thorny one to say the very least. It might, I should note, be one of the few places where most of the west and Quebec agree in that we no longer require linking to any monarchy whatsoever.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I had to go to the inner webs to ask why it is we send the money to the royal family and the official reason seems to be stated thusly, "The sovereign similarly only draws from Canadian funds for support in the performance of her duties when in Canada or acting as Queen of Canada abroad".

Again to be clear sir, it's tough for me as a western prairie born and lifelong western Canuck to get too excited about anything related to the Queen or monarchy, so all that to say it might/could be a regional thing? There is no question that I am biased against it so it's tough for me to give anything other, you know?

The interesting thing about Quebecois folks who move out of their home province is that they're not happy with the folks back home as rule either. For all the years we had horses, I think 15 or 17 - our farrier was originally from Sorel, QC and had moved first to the Ottawa Valley shoeing hunter/jumpers and then moved west to work on cow horses and mountain horses.

He was always good for a chuckle when the subject of what Quebec was up to nationally came up. He'd look at me with fire in his eyes and over a lit smoke say, "Where do dey tink the money from de Unemployment Cheque comes from? Idiots!!"

Interestingly though, when our eldest and her husband did a cross Canada trip, they had good luck in the more rural parts of Quebec as far as being made welcome, so hopefully that's changing for the better now? I don't know and can't say for sure.

Hopefully that was useful and if you think of any more questions, please feel free once again.

All the best to you all this fall.

Dwayne

It's not only the west that feels the monarchy is way past its 'best before' date.

I was quite happy when Harry and Meghan decided to head for California. They are welcome to keep them.

I remember crossing the border in sweet grass. My daughter went into the checkpoint with me while I declared a couple firearms. Their it was in all its mighty picture of the queen. My daughter asked questions for 10 miles why did Canada have a pictures of the queen in their buildings.

Different people seem to have different experiences when travelling in Quebec. Years ago we (the wife and I) were travelling in Quebec and had a very poor experience in one of their restaurants. We left very soon thereafter and have never returned.

One of our daughters and her new husband travelled into Quebec and were so impressed (?) they left the Province (I believe the same night) and have never returned.

While camping in Texas one winter there were a group of French -Canadians staying in the same campground. I was told the majority of them were from Manitoba. In any case none of them would even return a greeting when we walked through the campground in the evenings.

I have a friend who was a sales manager for a major company and very accustomed to dealing with people. His last name would seem to identify him as French background. He kept a large power boat docked in south Florida. He said when new people came to the marina and went for a drink he only introduced himself by his first name. He said this was because the French were so disliked in that area.

I'm sure there must be some good ones there but the reputation they have is one they have earned themselves!

Jim

Jim,
I was like a vagabond traveler as a trucker. We weren't even allowed to
haul within Canada, only deliver a load that originated in the US, the pick up one that
had to go back into the US.

So my interactions were with a good many people, for a short time.
I had good interactions with some in PQ. But it seemed they were overall,
worse than our Northeast City Dwellers.

And they dam near got me once.
We started hauling paper from Trois-Rivieres, and they didn't like American companies
pulling that freight. I was sent for a loaded trailer, and went to get it. The rolls were
6-7k# each. Too big around to sit side by side in a 102" trailer and over 8' high.
I could only see the two in the back.

Coming into Montreal, I noticed it felt real bad in a right turn, then noticed tire smoke
going around ramps. Pulled over, and rechecked the suspension, it was fine.

Limped into Massachusetts for the morning, the forklift guy pulled the first roll off
the right and the trailer almost flipped over. That roll and one in the front were
the only ones on the right side, there were 4 or 5 on the left. No wonder it wanted
to roll in turns. That guy took his paper, then reloaded my other stops to make
it safe.

I notified our safety department to hopefully avoid another driver getting a
load like that. Safety thanked me and stated that they believed it was intentional
"boobytrapping" to cause the trucking companies trouble and get rid of them.

Most Quebecois wouldn't do such a thing I'm sure.
But it was done largely due to their ideology.

That's a good question. According the the Monarchist League and the feds, the royals are costing each Canadian a paltry $1.63 each. That's staff salaries, bldg maintenance, office operating expenses, etc. That's your $50 million - $1.63 x 37.6 million, which is actually closer to 61 million annually, but hey, it's not like the politicians themselves are paying the bill!

I do not believe that this is a correct figure. We have a GG and 10 Lieutenant Governors - one for each of the provinces. I do not believe that this takes in the real estate. The 1.63 cost includes maintenance, but what are the values of the official residences, offices and land?

Like the CBC, who syphon off almost 1.4 billion dollars of our tax money every year, the buildings and real estate are worth a lot of money. The Monarchist League argues that we would keep all the CBC (and royal) buildings and real estate. A few perhaps, but most would be sold off. Many of these places are prime real estate. If they were sold off, sales would generate 100s of millions of dollars. Perhaps more.

This recovered money from the CBC, and the savings from not supporting the royals, would go a long way towards better education, health care, and other things that Canadians have to deal with. Like the expenses that resulted from COVID-19 for example.

Whether it's the CBC or the royals, the debates continue. The Monarchist League is losing their argument. Support for the Queen and the royal family continues to erode. The percentage of people who don't care for the monarchy fluctuates, but continues a downward spiral. These are a couple of recent polls.

From Wiki:

A 2005 poll by The Strategic Counsel reported Canadians to be uncertain "about the legitimacy and role of the British monarchy remaining as Canada's head of state". The poll found an equal number—47% supporting and 47% opposed—to retention of the "British monarchy".[73] Two years later, Angus Reid Strategies reported that 53% of respondents to its survey felt "Canada should end its formal ties to the British monarchy", while 35% thought the contrary and 12% were unsure.[74] Angus Reid stated in March 2008 the majority of those it polled believe "it is time to end the country's official relationship with either the British monarchy or the monarchy."[75]

Also in May 2010, an online poll by Leger Marketing for QMI Agency found that a majority (59%) of Canadians said that they had little or no interest in the Queen's visit to Canada, while 39% did. The poll found that 32% of 18- to 34-year-olds had an attachment to the crown. In the 65-and-over group, 46% reported an attachment. One fifth of Canadians said the Queen should stay home, and that furthermore, "Canada should sever its ties with the British Crown".[3]

Wiki - Support for royals in Canuckia

As an ignorant Yank looking in from the outside, if you'll pardon me, the only problems with Canada I see...stem from French speaking socialist bunch. Any burden imposed by the Brit monarchy is pretty minor compared to past decisions of the socialists and their deep and abiding love for the one world government EU mindset.

We have, for the most part, contained the problems with Quebec.

One ongoing concern we have with Quebec is their never ending demand for more power and more money. They might feel that the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

I do not know what amount of money flows from Ottawa to them, but many argue that it is out of proportion with the rest of the country. I will have to look into that some time. On balance, we haven't had that many problems with them the past few years. It will probably flare up again though.

In the 1990s, when I was living on Vancouver Island, a job posting came up for a postmaster at the Black Creek post office. One of the requirements was that the manager had to be bilingual. The position was filled, but several more qualified people were rejected because they only spoke English.

And, as everyone knows, Vancouver Island is full of French speaking people (insert sarcasm here). The need for a French speaker is vital!

Steve;
Good afternoon to you sir, I hope the week has been treating you well and you and yours are where you'd like to be on this first day past half of October.

Thanks kindly both for your clarification that all Canadians east of Winnipeg don't crave supporting a Queen and for the chuckle as well.

While it's been a decade and a half at least, the last time I was in Black Creek was picking up boat gas and groceries as we were staying at a campsite on the Oyster River.

Honestly Steve, unless I'm way, way off, if I was to be forced to bet money on how many residents of Black Creek AND surrounding area are fluent in French, I'd think I'd lose no money saying less than a double handful. As well, if we were to further make it how many spoke only French so as to require bilingual service, I'd keep my hands in my pockets, you know?

We get a fair few young Quebecois kids out here working in the orchards, vineyards and farms in summer as farm labor and it's been that way for at least 40 years.

However, that said and all, I recall one time making the mistake of complimenting a couple young fellows throwing bales onto my pickup at how hard these Quebecois kids could work.

They both quickly assured me they were from the ONLY bilingual province in Canada - which obviously was New Brunswick - and thanks very much but they stated they could work any 3 Quebecois farm kids under because of it!

All the best to you this fall Steve and good luck on any remaining hunts.

Dwayne

Steve, you suggest that if money were to be obtained from disposing of the Monarchy and the CBC many things like health care, etc. could be improved. I think this is a questionable assumption since when have you known a government to handle any money properly. While a bit of good might be done I'm sure most would be frittered away.

Jim

And there's the rub.

The only thing that I can hope for is we would still save some money. Instead of wasting what they have left after funding the CBC and the royals, they would feed some of the savings into needed programs and fritter away the rest. It's too much to ask any government not to spend responsibly. After all, it's not their cash!

I've always enjoyed the quaint connection between CA and the UK, for that matter between the US and the UK, as well, to include deference toward the royal family. In spite of modern global politics and governance I don't regard the monarchy as a worthless relic. Historical roots are best mended in modern times to keep hold of valuable history, nationalism, and contemporary alliances, within reason. Not sure that would put me in the mindset of the 'monarchist' group, but perhaps it does. I am not sure it is worth the 50 mil annual price tag, but, that is for the Canadians to decide.

I can certainly understand the erosion of support, which is clearly evident even within the UK, but there are many things we don't hear about that the royals in England do, perhaps more out of self-preservation than altruism, whatever. The fact is they still hold sway in many parts of the world, and with that they can, and have, made good things happen. Even though the relevency is diminished, I think the remaining benevolent monarchies around the world are institutions to be preserved within the modern context, and the concept is not nearly lost as much outside the West.

love it

In other parliamentary democracies that don't have a monarch , they have presidents, often elected. This does sometimes becomes messy. The position is a ceremonial, and what better way for stuff like that than some crowned head. It works.

Understanding English Canadian and French Canadian relations takes books in volumes to understand , if it even possible to.