When did Canada become fully independent?

[SW VandeCarr]

First there was the French province of Québec which was conquered by the British in 1763. Later came the loyalists from those rebellious colonies to the south who settled in what would become the province of Ontario. This was the beginning of Canada. In 1867 the British North America Act gave Canada internal autonomy (but not all the territory it has now).

Internationally Canada remained tied to the UK. When the UK went to war, Canada went to war. Canada didn't get its own full ambassador to the US until 1943. To this day, Canada is represented in London by a High Commissioner, not an ambassador. Elizabeth II remains the Queen of Canada represented in Ottawa by the Governor General and in each province by Lieutenant Governors. These are mere formalities, or are they? Canadians need to study what happened in Australia in 1975 where a sitting Prime Minister was fired by the Governor General. There was no vote in Parliament. The GG did it all by himself and it stuck. Subsequent elections brought in a new government. (The Queen was not personally involved.)

I understand PM Stephen Harper is studying a bill to take the final step to total absolute independence. Will he pull it off? Whose face will be on the Canadian two dollar bill?

 

[arildno]

Actually, Canada is NOT independent at all.
Leiv Eriksson appropriated it as a Norwegian colony 1000 years ago, and it is going to stay that way.

In our generosity, Canadians are allowed to make a mess for themselves, until they come to their senses and humbly submit to their rightful king.

 

[SW VandeCarr]

Actually, Canada is NOT independent at all.
Leiv Eriksson appropriated it as a Norwegian colony 1000 years ago, and it is going to stay that way.

In our generosity, Canadians are allowed to make a mess for themselves, until they come to their senses and humbly submit to their rightful king.

So will the King of Norway be on the Canadian two dollar bill? Has PM Harper seen the light?

 

[Pengwuino]

Canada is a country?

 

[arildno]

So will the King of Norway be on the Canadian two dollar bill? Has PM Harper seen the light?

King Harald V is your rightful king, since usurpers like the Windsors, Hanovers, Stuarts, Tudors&Plantagenets never have had any rightful claim to the Norwego-British throne.

 

[SW VandeCarr]

Canada is a country?

There are similarities between Canada and Belgium. Is Belgium a country? At least Canada has a government.

 

[SW VandeCarr]

King Harald V is your rightful king, since usurpers like the Windsors, Hanovers, Stuarts, Tudors&Plantagenets never have had any rightful claim to the Norwego-British throne.

I guess that means Harald V will be on the Canadian two dollar bill. I hope his image is more current than the young woman that I last saw on Canadian currency. I haven't seen it lately. Is that young woman who no longer exists still on the bill? (By the way, Herald V is not my rightful king. I'm not Canadian. You guys will never rule over me!)

 

[Pengwuino]

The US should just invade and get it over with.

 

[arildno]

You guys will never rule over me!)

My predecessors probably raped your umpty-great-grandmother (or -father, they weren't that particular about it).
That gives me claims on your obedience.

 

[SW VandeCarr]

The US should just invade and get it over with.

Why?

 

[phinds]

The US should just invade and get it over with.

No, no ... that's a terrible idea. If we did that, then we would not longer have the refrain "blame Canada" and we would have to blame ourselves. We Americans would never put up with THAT.

 

[Pengwuino]

No, no ... that's a terrible idea. If we did that, then we would not longer have the refrain "blame Canada" and we would have to blame ourselves. We Americans would never put up with THAT.

*looks down south*

 

[SW VandeCarr]

No, no ... that's a terrible idea. If we did that, then we would not longer have the refrain "blame Canada" and we would have to blame ourselves. We Americans would never put up with THAT.

I don't know about that. With the exception of parts of the states along the northern border and parts of Florida, my impression is that Americans think about Canada at least once a day on about 0.1% of days and Canadians think about the US at least once a day on about 99.9% of days.

I would really like to hear from Canadians about the issues I brought up in my first post. I know you're out there. When do you think Canada became truly independent: 1867, 1931, 1983, some other date or never? If never, what do you want to do about it? (Remember Australia 1975).

EDIT: I actually know (of) Americans who think Avril Levigne is American. So when they think about her, they are not thinking about Canada.

 

[Newai]

The US should just invade and get it over with.

We have to find it first.

 

[Pengwuino]

I don't know about that. With the exception of parts of the states along the northern border and parts of Florida, my impression is that Americans think about Canada at least once a day on about 0.1% of days and Canadians think about the US at least once a day on about 99.9% of days.

Why do you think about us so much?

EDIT: I actually know (of) Americans who think Avril Levigne is American. So when they think about her, they are not thinking about Canada.

You guys gave us Beiber. We invaded your country once. I think we're settled.

 

[Vanadium 50]

King Harald V is your rightful king, since usurpers like the Windsors, Hanovers, Stuarts, Tudors&Plantagenets never have had any rightful claim to the Norwego-British throne.

Nonsense - the Norwegian union dissolution referendum was too close to call: only 368,392 in favor of the dissolution and 184 opposed. And did the Canadian Parliament uphold the abdication of King Oscar II from the throne of Norway? I think not. King Carl XVI Gustaf is obviously the rightful monarch.

 

[SW VandeCarr]

Why do you think about us so much?

Well the number might be exaggerated, but most Americans don't appreciate how "in your face" things American are in the world, but especially in Canada. By the way, as I said, I'm not Canadian although I have lived there. American culture is hard to avoid unless you don't listen to music, go to movies, eat fast food, watch TV, read, shop, use the internet, or just converse with people. Somebody will eventually bring up something related to the US. A lot of it is negative, but that goes with the territory when the USA has such a high profile.

Now, since no Canadians have responded, when do you think Canada became independent? The US had to fight for its independence. There's no doubt the US declared its independence on July 4, 1776 and made it a fact. Canada sort of drifted toward independence over many years and it's not clear when it happened, if ever. There's something very Canadian about that. I just want someone to tell me.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Legally, 1982. That's when the British Parliament said "Canada is no longer our concern." De facto, as you said, long before that.

 

[SW VandeCarr]

Legally, 1982. That's when the British Parliament said "Canada is no longer our concern." De facto, as you said, long before that.

You must be Canadian to know that. That was the repatriation of the British North America Act (BNA). I was living there at the time. PM Pierre Elliot Trudeau (PET) tried to make a big deal of it, but the public reaction was basically "So what?" People were tired of PET and he was soon out office. It was largely regarded as a publicity stunt although legally it did dissolve the last connection between the British Parliament and Canada. However, this connection only existed because western Canadian politicians wanted to keep it in place after the 1931 Statute of Westminster eliminated nearly all other government level connections. They wanted to be able to appeal laws that were passed with the votes of the eastern provinces which held the majority of seats in both houses of parliament. The occasion never arose afaik.

However, as I said in my first post, so called "reserve powers" still exist. These powers were the basis for the 1975 Australian "coup" against the Whitlam government which had two years before it had to call elections.

Although the Queen was not personally involved in this "coup", the reserve powers of the Crown were invoked. The Queen is the ideal constitutional monarch. She rarely states her opinion on anything and is certainly not an activist. On the other hand the heir apparent has opinions on everything and has made them known over the years. It's really quite unclear how an opinionated activist king might be able to use reserve powers in concert with the politicians of a commonwealth member. That's why I'm interested in whether the Harper government may take action to make Canada totally independent; that is, a republic with an ambassador, not a "High Commissioner" in London.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Canadian, eh?

Actually, I believe technically the Monarch of Canada can dissolve Parliament. At present, the person who happens to hold that office is also the Queen of England. Canada could, at least in theory, replace HM Elizabeth II with a monarch of its own choosing. There is Commonwealth precedent for that - Brunei, Malaysia, Swaziland, Tonga and maybe one or two others.

Because Canada does not need British permission to change the Monarch, I would argue that it is truly independent today, de jure as well as de facto.

Since the French title is "Chef du Canada", I was going to suggest former hockey player and restauranteer Tim Horton as the new monarch. Pity he's no longer around.

 

[SW VandeCarr]

Canadian, eh?

Because Canada does not need British permission to change the Monarch, I would argue that it is truly independent today, de jure as well as de facto.

I didn't think that Canada would be able to change its monarch. However, I suppose if it could vote to become a republic, it could just as well vote to remain a monarchy, with a different monarch. In that case, I say Avril Levigne for Queen (it even rhymes), not that I have any say in the matter.

Since the French title is "Chef du Canada", I was going to suggest former hockey player and restauranteer Tim Horton as the new monarch. Pity he's no longer around.

Clearly a good choice if he were still alive. He was already a symbol of Canada. I've had more than a few of those donuts. Then there's the King of Norway. I think he might be a safer bet than Charles III. But Elizabeth will probably live to be 100 like her mother.

 

[Alfi]

I understand PM Stephen Harper is studying a bill to take the final step to total absolute independence. Will he pull it off? Whose face will be on the Canadian two dollar bill?

what's a two dollar bill? lol


This Canadian chuckles at how much people understand about Canada.

 

[SteamKing]

I'm confused. So is Canada now an autonomous collective or an anarcho-syndicalist commune? And who are the Britons?

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Everybody talks about Canada, but nobody does anything about it.

Edit: Never mind. Nobody talks about it either.

 

[SW VandeCarr]

what's a two dollar bill? lol


This Canadian chuckles at how much people understand about Canada.

So that's gone too! You guys have no sense of tradition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CAD_2_dollar.jpg

 

[Proton Soup]

We have to find it first.

it's been found. huge amounts of oil in the tar sands.