Reader calls for proportional representation, nonhereditary head of state

May 31, 2018 · 0 Comments

(Re: Brock’s Banter, May 17)

Having read Brock Weir’s lament about missing big moments in royal history, I propose we switch places.
I vividly recall one-dollar bills and pocket change with the image of King George VI, and I remember watching Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation the next day, after the film had been flown from England for broadcast on CBC-TV.
I’d trade those experiences gladly for the gift of being “reborn” about 40 years later and thus adding four decades to my life expectancy. The downside for Brock, however, might be that longer exposure could lead to losing personal interest in the melodramatics of the world’s most famous dysfunctional family.
I’m no strident republican. I understand the value of constitutional monarchy more than Stephen Harper, who bullied a timid, inexperienced Governor-General into inappropriately proroguing parliament in 2008-2009 to save his career after it became obvious that he’d lost the confidence of the House.
In better hands, the Crown and Parliament are useful and, unlike the American system, would have rid us of “Prime Minister” Bill Clinton at the drop of a pant leg, and would hardly have allowed “Prime Minister” Trump to assume office at all; however, Mr. Weir’s sentimental attachment to the Saxe-Cobourg-Gotha clan is lost on me.
Only when we finally adopt proportional representation and an elected, non-hereditary head of state will I weep genuine tears of joy.

Howard A. Doughty
Oak Ridges