Puttin' The Royal Back...

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's recent decision to add the word 'Royal' back to the official titles of the Canadian Armed Forces isn't going over all that well in many quarters. French Canadians are upset because of it's ties to the British Monarchy. Liberal Canadians are upset because it's a reversal of a decades long policy of promoting Canadian independence and nationalism.

The original policy dated back to 1968 when the Liberal Government removed the Royal label and merged the military commands into one, joint command- the Canadian forces- even putting all the services in the same green uniform. That wasn't wildly popular in the military ranks- at the uniform policy was eventually reversed by Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in the late 80s- Harper's change seems to be aimed at a couple of things- one is a nod to history. Canadians that fought and died during WWI and WWII didn't do it under the moniker of the 'Canadian Forces' they were the Royal Canadian Armed Forces. Second, he also seems to be intent on rolling back decades of Liberal rule and destroying the notion that the Liberals are 'the natural party for government' in Canada.

Which is why I'm cautiously in favor of this. Yes, really, at this point, Canada should be more Canadian and the Queen should be an afterthought if anything at all- but there's a growing distance between Ontario and the rest of Canada that could be redressed somewhat by Harper's (albeit ideologically and politically motivated) moves. Ontario has all the money and the population and has been giving gobs of money to Quebec for decades now. The Western Provinces (more Conservative, funnily enough) hate that. Adding the 'Royal' back may piss off Ontario Liberals- but if it convinces Conservative more traditional minded Canadians that someone in Ottawa gives a damn, then Canada as a whole, I think benefits.

And you know what- I'm a little biased, I'll admit, but I'm down with monarchies and Parliamentary democracies. The best argument in favor of both supposedly antiquated institutions: the United States Government. (Seriously- I don't understand when various people in the UK, Canada or Australia bitch about not getting to pick their head of state. We do that every four years and always fuck it up. And if you think an American style Presidential system is more fair, more democratic and more representative of the people- please stop thinking that. History and tradition exist for a reason. Symbols exist for a reason. Someday they might have run their course, I'll grant you that- but it ain't today and you shouldn't throw 'em away on a whim.)