{"id":19804,"date":"2018-02-08T12:00:09","date_gmt":"2018-02-08T17:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=19804"},"modified":"2018-02-08T12:00:09","modified_gmt":"2018-02-08T17:00:09","slug":"brocks-banter-heir-conditioning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/brocks-banter-heir-conditioning\/","title":{"rendered":"BROCK’S BANTER: Heir Conditioning"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

There seems to be a tradition here every time the Prince of Wales is set to return to Canada.
\nInevitably, the chorus that vocalizes for just such occasions come out to perform, and their refrain is often the same: he\u2019s stodgy, he\u2019s not popular, he doesn\u2019t connect with young Canadians and, alarmingly for anyone who knows a lick about our constitution, why doesn\u2019t he step aside for William and Kate?
\nDuring such times of visits to any parts of our country or, indeed, whenever Prince Charles or a member of his family is in the news cycle \u2013 whether it is his parents, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, his sons William and Harry, or his daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law-to-be, or grandchildren \u2013 these choristers are trotted out to receive their requisite airtime, and boy do they get it!
\nFor those who haven\u2019t seen these people in action, it might seem like an attractive argument but, for those of us who have been on the ground, the evidence just isn\u2019t there.
\nThis past weekend, I was thinking about last year\u2019s Canada 150 Commemorations.
\nOn June 30, the eve of Canada Day and the ultimate centrepiece of a national celebration that felt like it came in like a lion and went out like a lamb, I was on the ground in Wellington, a small but lovely community in Prince Edward County.
\nPrince Charles and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, were due in the rural village for a visit to the local Farmers\u2019 Market, part of a day of activities in the Prince Edward County\/Bay of Quinte area.
\nIt might not sound like the most exciting of events, particularly as it was a particularly rainy morning and beach umbrellas emblazoned with the Canada 150 logo were the day\u2019s hottest commodity at the local Home Hardware.
\nAnd yet, there was a buzz in the air.
\nAn estimated 200 metres of the main thoroughfare had been prepared for the occasion. About half of this was cordoned off to traffic, but the entire length was bordered by crowd barriers outlining the general vicinity in which Charles and Camilla would be visiting.
\nDespite the rain, this entire length of street was dotted with a solid line of people.
\nThe rain continued, and so did the flood of humanity.
\nBefore long, the rain broke and, under the suddenly blazing sun, the crowds were four or five deep along almost the entire length of the route.
\nYou might think that certain demographic trends would have been evident in this crowd; perhaps an audience which skewed largely WASP-y, or a crowd of Boomers or older adults who were born just a little bit ahead of the Boomer curve. If you thought that, you would be wrong. Well, perhaps aside from a woman who, from head to toe, was dressed as Queen Victoria.
\nPeople young and old, regardless of background, took the time to come out that day. Their reasons might not have been universal \u2013 some might have wanted to see their future king in action, for some there might have been a little bit of stardust \u2013 but it seemed everyone who had the chance to meet and shake hands with Prince Charles that day, and he must have pressed the flesh of a good 400 \u2013 500 people, seemed to be enthralled and left with a lasting positive impression, even if they were left with just a few words.
\nI was thinking about this on Sunday during an event I attend every year marking Accession Day, the anniversary of the Queen\u2019s Accession to the Throne, following the death of her father, King George VI, on February 6, 1952.
\nEach year at this event, which is hosted by the Monarchist League of Canada in Toronto, there is often a set theme bolstered by a guest speaker who delivers. This year, however, there were two themes: the Crown\u2019s relationship with Canada\u2019s Indigenous peoples and the Prince\u2019s Charities Canada.
\nWords on the Prince\u2019s Charities Canada were delivered by a young man named Andreas who served as an intern at the charity over 2017.
\nHis time with the organization was as varied as getting word out about the organization itself during the heat of Charles and Camilla\u2019s Canada 150 Tour to getting \u201cdown and dirty\u201d in ankle-deep mud shearing sheep highlighting the Prince\u2019s Charities efforts to stimulate the wool business.
\nThese facets of the Prince\u2019s Charities were evident after the couple left Wellington and people had the opportunity to get into the Farmers\u2019 Market. Each of the vendors seemed to have a connection to one of the areas on which the Prince of Wales focuses through his charitable endeavours and these themes can be found at just about every Farmers\u2019 Market I\u2019ve had the pleasure to visit.
\nThe Prince\u2019s Charities Canada has programs in place to promote responsible business through the Prince\u2019s Canadian Responsible Business Network which increases employment opportunities for youth in underserved communities, programs that provide entrepreneurial opportunities for Canada\u2019s veterans, and initiatives providing the wherewithal for businesses shift towards sustainability.
\nThere is also an educational component for Canadians of all ages, including initiatives to support the revitalization of our Indigenous languages, ensuring traditional art forms \u201cendure and evolve,\u201d facilitating the development of young leaders making positive changes in their communities, and so forth.
\nAurora has been a recipient of the Prince of Wales Prize for Municipal Leadership, one program which is among the organization\u2019s varied initiatives that look at Canada\u2019s \u201cbuilt heritage\u201d while efforts towards global sustainability include the aforementioned Campaign for Wool, the Pollinator Project highlighting \u201cthe crucial role bees play in our ecosystem\u201d and the Prince of Wales Prizes for Sustainable Forestry.
\nIn my view, each of these programs feel the pulse of so many causes close to the hearts of Canadians, but the work of the organization \u2013 and indeed opportunities to participate and get involved \u2013 are sadly flying under the radar.
\nThe remarkable 66th anniversary of the Queen\u2019s reign this week seems like the perfect opportunity to highlight this work and the efforts the Prince and everyone involved in the organization are doing to support so many stitches of the Canadian tapestry.
\n\u201cWorking with the veterans was really powerful,\u201d said Andreas. \u201cWe heard a lot about the issues the veterans were having and how government policies aren\u2019t working. The veterans I was helping had been on four or five tours in the Middle East and that changes people. With the sacrifice that is made, I think the [Prince\u2019s Charities Canada] is helping them to move forward because they need a future, they deserve one. They [need this support from] this country they have already given so much to.
\n\u201cCanadians know Charles and I think most Canadians really appreciate him and they should get to know him better. I think he will be a really great king for Canada, if the work of the PCC (Prince\u2019s Charities Canada) is any indication.\u201d
\nTo see for yourself, take a look at www.princescharities.ca. <\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir There seems to be a tradition here every time the Prince of Wales is set to return to Canada. Inevitably, the chorus that vocalizes for just such occasions come out to perform, and their refrain is often the same: he\u2019s stodgy, he\u2019s not popular, he doesn\u2019t connect with young Canadians and, alarmingly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[29,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-columns","category-opinion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-59q","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-11 15:12:47","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19804\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}