Last week, I finally got confirmation that I passed the rigorous citizenship test. I'll be swearing allegiance to the Queen of Canada at the Italian Cultural Centre in a couple of weeks. I love it.
I was in Whistler for the weekend and tried to visit a record store I've heard a about a few times, but it was closed. 1-7pm Wednesday-Saturday? Mike, I respect your hours.
Posted by tim at February 16, 2004 06:55 PMheh, i love my hours. of course, when you work sunday - thursday full time and your business partner works even more, you only stay open as much as you can. when vlink (the company i work for now) finally moves to vancouver, i'll prolly open the store on sunday and tuesdays as well. right now, we just don't get enough business on those days to make it worthwhile being open. sorry to hear i missed ya, though. i've met too few of the antiflux crew in person. if you're up here again and need a place to crash: 604.932.2916, the couch is almost always open.
Posted by: mike on February 17, 2004 12:37 PMoh yeah, congratulations on being an "official" canadian.
Posted by: mike on February 17, 2004 04:18 PMI hope they taught you in that citizenship test that she's the Queen of England, not the Queen of Canada... we don't have a ruling queen here, just a prime minister.
And congratulations on becoming Canadian.
Posted by: jackiefg on February 22, 2004 10:29 AMI must disagree. The Oath (or Affirmation) of Citizenship clearly states "I swear (or affirm) that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada [...]"
Good thing you didn't have to take the test.
Posted by: tim on February 22, 2004 11:27 AMYes but in 1876, Canada became her own country not governed by the Queen.
The Dominion Acts of 1867, which granted Canada limited autonomy, the British could, if it wanted to, still run Canadian affairs. For one, the Dominion Acts only applied to domestic affairs; the British Empire still controlled Canada's foreign affairs. Thus, on August 3, 1914, at 10:30 p.m., King George V met in Privy Council in Buckingham Palace and declared war on Germany. With this simple declaration, all of the British Empire, including Canada, automatically entered the First World War. Without any consultation, Canadians found themselves bound to support the "Mother Country."
From 1867 until 1931, each law passed by the Canadian Parliament had to be formally approved by the British Parliament, and technically, although this was rarely done, any could be vetoed. In addition, this independence only applied to select domestic policies - the British Empire retained control of all foreign and military policy pertaining to Canada.
This all changed after the First World War. During the First World War, many heroic services were provided by Canadian troops, especially at the battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917. At the Versailles Treaty Conference, the Canadians were separate participants, and after the war, an ambitious politician, William Mackenzie King, became Prime Minister.
One of King's major goals was virtual independence of Canada from the British Empire.
Five years later, this Statute of Westminster was enacted and Canada finally had its "Declaration of Independence".
How long was that? Good thing I didn't have to take that test though - they might have failed me!
Posted by: jackiefg on February 23, 2004 06:42 PMDisagree!
Queen Elizabeth II is the Queen of Canada (and New Zealand, Australia, etc.). The BNA Act (now the Constitution Act, 1867) was enacted by the British Parliament as a deliberate choice of the Fathers of Confederation(tm), who "freely, deliberately and unanimously chose to vest the formal executive authority in the Queen, 'to be administered according to the well understood principles of the British constitution'"(1).
Although the Statute of Westminster, 1931 prevented Acts of the British Parliament from extending to "[Canada] as part of the law of [Canada]"(2), it wasn't until the Constitution Act, 1982 that anything other than an Act of British Parliament could ammend the Canadian Constitution.
As it stands, the Canadian Constitution (Constitution Acts, 1867 to 1975) entrenches the monarchy; the office of the Queen and her representatives can only be ammended by the combination of the Senate, the House of Commons, and the Legislature of every province.
Thus, the Queen is Canada's head of state, and she (or one of her representatives) has the power to act against the advice of Ministers of the government (for instance to prevent the Ministers from "bludgeon[ing] he people into submission by a continuous series of general elections"(1)).
I heartily recommend Senator Eugene Forsey's "How Canadians Govern Themselves" (see below) to all current and aspiring Canadians.
References:
(1) "How Canadians Govern Themselves", Eugene Forsey, 5th edition, Library of Parliament, Canada, 2003,
http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/idb/forsey/How_Canadians_Govern_Themselves-5th_Ed.pdf
(2) "Statute of Westminster, 1931", Chapter 4 of the Statutes of the United Kingdom 22 George V, 1931,
http://www.gov.ns.ca/legislature/legc/westmins.htm
P.S. I also heartily recommend that Tim enable hyper-links in comments.
Disagree! (How long has it been? Probably too long . . .)
I am against any changes to the system that would potentially grant more power to the pornobots.
The Queen business, though, sounds as I remember it. I didn't realize we had to get the House, Senate (ha, ditch them while we're at it) and all the provinces to agree to get rid of her, though. Maybe all these new Australians moving in (okay, I personally know of two) can help us work toward our own referendum? Or maybe this Commonwealth club is just too exclusive to pass up?