NP View: Justin Trudeau lets King Charles down, again
The PM has a long history of whitewashing the symbols and institutions that connect us with our history
Published May 19, 2024 • Last updated 3 hours ago • 4 minute read
The federal Liberals wasted no time scrubbing Canadian passports of national symbols and bucking King Charles’ choice of the Tudor Crown in favour of a Canadianized version featuring Maple Leafs and a snowflake, but when it comes to releasing updated imagery of our head of state, the government seems to be in no hurry whatsoever.
On Monday, Canadians in most provinces will celebrate Victoria Day, a commemoration of Queen Victoria’s birthday that was proclaimed in 1845, making it Canada’s oldest national holiday. Those buying a 2-4 on their way to cottage country or a hot dog at an outdoor festival may notice that the likeness of the late Queen Elizabeth II still adorns our $20 banknotes, rather than the reigning monarch, who was coronated a year ago this month.
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And they better get used to it: according to the Bank of Canada, new bills featuring King Charles won’t be in circulation until 2027 — four years after he ascended to the throne.
The Bank of Canada says it’s still in the process of designing the new note, which “includes historical and visual research and talking to experts and the bank’s Indigenous Advisory Circle.” It will need to go through R&D, design and production phases, including testing new security features and educating the public about them, which the bank estimates will take another three years.
Our central bankers were clearly caught off guard when the 96-year-old Queen died so suddenly. Who could have seen that one coming?
Well, the British could. They’ve been working on updating their currency for the past decade and will release new five, 10, 20 and 50 pound notes featuring images of the King on June 5.
Similarly, the United Kingdom released an official portrait of King Charles back in January and has been distributing them free of charge to every public body in the country (this is separate from the official painting of the King, which was unveiled this week). In Canada, however, courthouses, municipal buildings, schools and other government offices still display a picture of the late sovereign.
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Canadian Heritage’s website says the department “requested from Buckingham Palace an official Canadian portrait of His Majesty King Charles III,” and that, “Further information on availability and distribution will be shared in due course.”
The portrait of the monarch hanging in this country usually does feature unique Canadian imagery. The Queen’s portrait, for example, shows her wearing Canadian insignia. But the Monarchist League of Canada, which in the past has helped distribute royal portraits to Canadians, maintains that it shouldn’t be so hard to get one.
“It’s been a year and a half since the accession, almost a year since the coronation. A lot of time has passed and there’s still no portrait,” Robert Finch, the Monarchist League’s chairman, told CBC News in March. “Maybe I’m too simplistic or I’m missing something, but have a picture taken, get it done. I don’t know why we need to complicate things. I can go over there with my phone if it’s necessary.”
It would be easy to chalk these delays up to the bureaucratic sluggishness we have become accustomed to in Ottawa, or this country’s chronic inability to get anything done — problems that have been exacerbated by the Trudeau Liberals instituting requirements such as “Indigenous Advisory Circle” consultations. Yet Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has a long history of downplaying the significance of, or flat out whitewashing, the symbols and institutions that connect us with our history.
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Last year, the Liberals quietly changed King Charles’ title, dropping references to the “United Kingdom” and “Defender of the Faith.” Then, the government decided not to adopt the King’s chosen crown for the Royal Coat of Arms, instead designing a new Canadian crown, unveiled on the morning of his coronation.
To make matters worse, when the new passports were released — replacing iconic images of the National War Memorial, Terry Fox, Mounties and Parliament with cartoonish renderings of nature scenes — they featured the coat of arms used under Elizabeth II because the government couldn’t get its act together in time. New passports with the updated coat of arms won’t be released until after the new $20 bills come out.
It’s hard to imagine that Trudeau, whose government is formed in the King’s name, is intentionally snubbing his constitutionally designated boss. But the prime minister’s actions are in keeping with his view of Canada as the world’s “first post-national state” — one with “no core identity.”
Since coming to power, Trudeau has done his utmost to denigrate Canadian history, rather than have a frank conversation about what we did wrong, but also what we got right. The effect has been to disassociate Canadians, especially younger generations, with our traditional values and our shared history, of which the monarchy plays an integral role.
This is at least part of the reason why so many Canadians now feel as though they have licence to take to the streets and occupy university campuses, spewing messages of hate and support for terrorism.
It’s high time to start reversing course on Trudeau’s post-national vision. And that should start by showing King Charles III the respect he deserves by getting his face on banknotes and hanging in government offices throughout the land.
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