Brandon Sun - PRINT EDITION
A 2009 Maclean’s article by Katie Engelhart on how much the monarchy costs stated:
“According to the latest figures out of Buckingham Palace, while Canadians are shelling out $1.53 per capita, the British are only paying about $1.32. And the Monarchist League’s own numbers show the Canadian cost is skyrocketing.
Over just the last 10 years, the per capita bill for supporting the monarchist framework — including expenses incurred by the royal clan on Canadian soil, as well as the cost of running the offices of the Governor General and our 10 provincial lieutenant-governors — has more than doubled.”
But Tom Freda, national director of Citizens for a Canadian Republic, is not so sure. “Ah, the Monarchists, they love to break it down to per capita and make it sound all nice and rosy,” he says. “But $40 million or $50 million (a year) sure sounds like a lot to me.” The Monarchist League supports that figure, estimating that more than $50 million was spent during the 2006-07 year.
Did you know that one must be a member of the Church of England to represent the Queen in our land of diversity. That if you are a Catholic, Jew or Muslim, you need not apply. How many schools and hospitals can be built with the money that goes from Canada to the monarchy? The Queen is nothing short of a remarkable person and her 90-year-old husband is also. But it is time for us to debate what kind of country we want. Do we not want a Canadian to be the representative of our country. And while we are at it, let’s get rid of the Senate. But us Canadians have a history of lacking the needed backbone to do what is obvious.
With the Diamond Jubilee, it is time for Canada to be an independent nation. Canada believes in a meritorious society against the notion that what you are is based on the family you are born in. This is a country of opportunity and with hard work you will get ahead. Why in the world do we support the outdated notion of royals, who are royals because of who their parents were? This goes against every common value of fairness that Canada stands for.
The next time you are told you have to wait six months for that surgery or are rejected from a college or university because they have no room to accept more students, just remember, if the money that we spend on the monarchy were going towards what you expect your tax dollars to pay for, you might not be in this deleterious position.
The government might then have the cash to give you better public service, rather than attempting to raise cash from lotteries and casinos. Just think how much the monarchy is doing for you.
It is time we grew up and lived in the present — not in the fantasy world of queens, kings, princes and princesses. If you want that, go watch a Disney move!
Alan Levy
Brandon
Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition June 5, 2012
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A 2009 Maclean’s article by Katie Engelhart on how much the monarchy costs stated:
“According to the latest figures out of Buckingham Palace, while Canadians are shelling out $1.53 per capita, the British are only paying about $1.32. And the Monarchist League’s own numbers show the Canadian cost is skyrocketing.
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A 2009 Maclean’s article by Katie Engelhart on how much the monarchy costs stated:
“According to the latest figures out of Buckingham Palace, while Canadians are shelling out $1.53 per capita, the British are only paying about $1.32. And the Monarchist League’s own numbers show the Canadian cost is skyrocketing.
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Posted by:Bandb
June 5, 2012 at 10:11 AM
So we should turn our back on our heritage and only look towards the future? That seems like an ill advised path...