{"id":20815,"date":"2018-05-31T11:59:35","date_gmt":"2018-05-31T15:59:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=20815"},"modified":"2018-05-31T11:59:35","modified_gmt":"2018-05-31T15:59:35","slug":"reader-calls-for-proportional-representation-nonhereditary-head-of-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/reader-calls-for-proportional-representation-nonhereditary-head-of-state\/","title":{"rendered":"Reader calls for proportional representation, nonhereditary head of state"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Re: Brock\u2019s Banter, May 17)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Having read Brock Weir\u2019s lament about missing big moments in royal history, I propose we switch places.
\nI vividly recall one-dollar bills and pocket change with the image of King George VI, and I remember watching Queen Elizabeth II\u2019s coronation the next day, after the film had been flown from England for broadcast on CBC-TV.
\nI\u2019d trade those experiences gladly for the gift of being \u201creborn\u201d 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\u2019s most famous dysfunctional family.
\nI\u2019m 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\u2019d lost the confidence of the House.
\nIn better hands, the Crown and Parliament are useful and, unlike the American system, would have rid us of \u201cPrime Minister\u201d Bill Clinton at the drop of a pant leg, and would hardly have allowed \u201cPrime Minister\u201d Trump to assume office at all; however, Mr. Weir\u2019s sentimental attachment to the Saxe-Cobourg-Gotha clan is lost on me.
\nOnly when we finally adopt proportional representation and an elected, non-hereditary head of state will I weep genuine tears of joy.<\/p>\n

Howard A. Doughty
\nOak Ridges
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Re: Brock\u2019s Banter, May 17) Having read Brock Weir\u2019s 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\u2019s coronation the next day, after the film had been flown from […]<\/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":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-letters-opinion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-5pJ","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-26 05:09:10","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\/20815","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=20815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20815\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}