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VedsDeadBaby t1_iu1xuz6 wrote

Reply to comment by [deleted] in Canada: Quebec separatist party calls for split with British monarchy - BBC News by chemistrynerd1994

Anyone who thinks ditching the Crown makes sense for Canada is profoundly ignorant of our political system. They have no real authority here and it would cause the biggest inter-provincial clusterfuck in decades as provinces tried to extract concessions for providing their assent. That's not even getting the mess it would cause with indigenous tribes who have signed treaties with the Crown.

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Anon_throwawayacc20 t1_iu2f2jl wrote

Solution: pass an amendment making the oath optional.

Alternatively: pass an amendment clarifying that the monarch of canada is a fictional entity, and change how the governor general is chosen.

Done.

It's like swapping one variable in X for another variable in X. You can keep the same general formula otherwise. Or in legal terms, you won't have to rewrite the constitution.

Would that not be a viable solution?

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VedsDeadBaby t1_iu2j9e9 wrote

That would require the assent of every province due to the ay our constitution is structured, and every indigenous tribe with a treaty signed by the Crown because one party to a treaty can't unilaterally alter the terms like that. That would make it every bit the shitshow that totally removing the Crown would be.

The only way something like this could happen would be if the monarchy tried to pull some bullshit like they did in Australia. That would cause a constitutional crisis of epic proportions and create the political will to remove them entirely. I don't think it's a realistic thing, though. The monarchy know damned well that we're only content to leave this can of worms unopened because they don't interfere with us.

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doiwinaprize t1_iu5ywz2 wrote

Not to be that guy but technically if they didn't have any power why would getting rid of them be so detrimental? I don't understand this logic...

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VedsDeadBaby t1_iu5zipv wrote

If you don't understand how opening up the constitution could turn into a massive clusterfuck then I'd suggest you do a little research into the controversies surrounding the Constitution Act of 1982 and its passage without the assent of Quebec.

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doiwinaprize t1_iu61z02 wrote

No I understand that, I just don't understand how you can say the monarchy has no power when you obviously understand how intrinsically woven into our political system they are.

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VedsDeadBaby t1_iu62vg2 wrote

What power do you think they have? What real, tangible things do you think they can they do?

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doiwinaprize t1_iu68ec6 wrote

I mean, we literally print their face on our currency. There was a federal holiday for the queen's funeral. Just because they don't have any involvement in immediate decision making doesn't mean they don't have a big influence on Canadian society that is beneficial to them, it's certainly not by accident.

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VedsDeadBaby t1_iu68zfp wrote

What I'm taking away from that response is that you know quite well that the monarchy have no real power in Canada.

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mais_de_mort_lente t1_iu241hi wrote

If your country can't even consider the possibility of changing its constitution for fear it would lead to its implosion, maybe your country is just not working.

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VedsDeadBaby t1_iu24e4e wrote

It's unlikely that it would cause the country to collapse, the issue is that it would be a massive boondoggle, cost a fortune, and inevitably fail, all for the sake of making a pointless statement. Why on earth would we want that?

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Oil_slick941611 t1_iu2k2f4 wrote

The actual monarch has as close 0% percent effect on our country as you can get. I agree its more of a hassle to remove it than it is to keep it.

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