Majority of Canadians support cutting ties to British monarchy: poll
A majority of Canadians would like Canada to cut ties with the British monarchy when Queen Elizabeth II’s successor takes the throne, according to a new poll.
Despite a bump in popularity in this country since the 2011 marriage of Prince William and his recent visits to Canada with his family, 53 per cent of those polled online by Ipsos Reid earlier this month agreed that this country should put an end to the constitutional monarchy when Elizabeth’s reign comes to an end.
“The fact is that Canadians are gradually coming to the conclusion that in a modern-day democracy and in a country that has grown to become independent in the world and independent from Britain it just doesn’t make sense to have a head of state that we share with Britain,” Tom Freda, director of the group Citizens for a Canadian Republic, told Yahoo Canada News.
“That doesn’t take away from our good relationship with Britain or even our good relationship with the Royal family.”
Men were more likely than women to support severing the link (57 per cent, compared to 49 per cent) and millennials were more likely than older generations (58 per cent, compared to 50 per cent), according to the poll conducted for Global News.
Predictably, the sentiment was highest in Quebec, where 73 per cent of those surveyed would like to see the end of ties to the House of Windsor. Support was lowest in Ontario, with 44 per cent.
The online poll of 3,004 was conducted by Ipsos for Global News between Dec. 15 and 21, 2016. The online poll is accurate to within plus or minus 2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadian adults been polled.
“It is interesting to note that a majority of Canadians now hold this view, despite very high approval ratings of the Queen’s performance as monarch,” Sean Simpson, vice-president of Ipsos, wrote in a statement announcing results.
Eight out of 10 poll respondents agreed that Queen Elizabeth has done a good job as monarch and two out of three people polled agreed the Duke of Cambridge will help keep the monarchy relevant to Canadians.
But Freda says the personal popularity of the reigning monarch is irrelevant to the debate.
“It doesn’t matter about their popularity. It’s inconsequential. We get them whether we want them or not,” he said.
“Whether or not Prince Charles is popular or unpopular, or whether or not the Queen herself is popular, isn’t relevant.”
It is also unfortunate that this poll and the broader debate is often tied to the end of Elizabeth’s reign, he said.
“We shouldn’t be in a situation where we have to decide this as the Queen is getting older and frail and possibly ailing,” he said. “I wish we could be dealing with this now.”
There are 37 nations have removed the Queen as head of state, including, most recently, Gambia in 2013. The Republic of Ireland, India, Malta and Trinidad and Tobago have also done so.
Similar discussion has taken place in recent years in Jamaica, Australia and New Zealand, where one recent poll found 59 per cent of New Zealanders support an independent head of state, compared to 34 per cent who support preserving ties.
On social media, reaction to the latest poll was mixed.
“Majority of Canadians want to cut ties. Absolutely. Royalty doesn’t fit with a modern, progressive country,” Meanwhile in Canada wrote on Twitter.
Others felt that an option like “a sloppy US-style republic” makes the ties to the British monarch look not so bad.
“Tradition is important,” @CatcherPhoto wrote on Twitter.
