The King will open the Parliament and give the Speech from the Throne, the first time the monarch has done so since Queen Elizabeth in 1957.
Sounds like the Speech will address housing and crime issues, two things that played well for the Tories in the election.
How is 45/47 going to react to another monarch conducting matters of high statecraft, pomp & circumstance for his own kingdom so close the Palace of White & Gold?
Not well, I would assume.
Trump would do well to remember that Black Rod, who is sent to summon the Commons for the King’s speech, is ignored on his first two knocks on the Commons’ door. Only on the third knock is he admitted. This signifies that the people are in charge of their government, not the monarch; and the people, as represented by their elected representatives, do not do the monarch’s bidding, just because he says so.
At any rate, it is nice to see that the Speech from the Throne will be given by the King. Thanks for the heads-up!
What is the procedure followed in Canada for the Sate Opening of Parliament?
Sorry, I’m not understanding. “Sate” opening? Is that a typo? (No snark, and I’m sure it is a typo, but I just want to make sure of what you meant.)
Well, the King will dip his hands in the butterscotch pudding, as is tradition.
It’s a formal occasion with the GG or Sovereign reading the Speech from the Throne with the Government’s plan for the upcoming session. They are not as fancy as the British version and rarely get television time other than 60 seconds on the news. I expect this one will be picked up widely by the media.
I’m looking forward to at least some American media treating any policy announcements on Canada-US relations as the King’s very shocking personal opinion on Donald Trump. Much as whenever the Canadian mission to the UN buys a condo for the ambassador, there’s usually someplace that reports it as OMG King Charles just bought a new house in Manhattan.
I’d bet that Carney will have written into the speech, fairly early on, something like “My government remains dedicated to the maintenance and strengthening of Canada’s sovereignty”.
With any luck someone in the White House will see that as KC3 being “nasty”, and cancel the state visit to the UK.
I was going to mention this in the Canadoper thread but it probably deserves its own thread. King Charles is coming at the request of Carney, and it’s clearly a significant political statement – a symbolic assertion of sovereignty. King Charles is the King of Canada and its ultimate Head of State, although the Governor General usually has that role as a matter of practicality.
I hope Carney’s meeting with Trump goes well. So far, Carney seems to have been able to thread the needle, Lord only knows how. Trudeau clearly irritated Trump, Carney apparently does not. Trudeau seems to have inherited some of this father’s arrogance and could sometimes be a bit of an ass; Mark Carney seems consummately professional and thoroughly inoffensive.
Americans have an overinflated vision of what the King actually does in terms of Canada. He actually does nothing, and is pretty toothless. Yes he (via the Governor-General) has some extraordinary powers, but as a wise person once said, “He can only use them once. Then, he gets deposed.”
Yet, Americans still think the King can say, “Off with his head,” and somebody dies. No, while the King can say, “Off with his head” as much as he likes, the Parliament of Canada can say, “No.” And that’s that. No beheading, no matter what the King says. And it’s the same for most things: Parliament says No, and the King has to respect that.
I would disagree. Trudeau was the wimpy kid in the playground, that the bully could beat up. Blackface, Indian garb, “sunny ways” and so on, just wishing that everybody could get along; sing “Kum-Ba-Yah” while holding hands and smiling. Trump pounced on that, seeing Trudeau as a weakling, and we all know how Trump respects strength. Trudeau was a wimp (and yes, I, as a Canadian see him as such), and Trump the bully, picked on the weakest kid in the schoolyard: Trudeau.
Now, he’s facing Carney. A worldwide respected economist, former governor of the Bank of England and the Bank of Canada, maybe not a career politician, but neither is Trump. Trump apparently graduated from the Wharton School of Business at Penn; we’re not sure if somebody pulled some strings there. Carney has a solid and verifiable resume in economics worldwide. Trump does not, because (IMHO) he has not the slightest clue about how economics works. If Trump and Carney meet, expect Carney to play hardball.
That’s a good perspective, thank you. Justin was, in fact, sometime prone to smartass quips just like his dad, but you’re right, for the most part I think characterizing him as a “sunny ways” naif is accurate. Your description of Mark Carney is spot-on. We’re lucky to have him.
We can but hope
Trump is seriously irritated by inoffensiveness.
No, Trump respects people who pretend to be strong. Usually very poorly.
I think that the “naif” label is extremely accurate. I do believe that his heart is in the right place but that he lacked something in the realm of a realistic world view and “street smarts”. I personally, truly believe that he was a puppet of Gerald Butts and Katie Telford. Claims by critics that Carney is simply more of the same strike me as incredibly laughable; Carney is a totally different beast who, to some extent (IMHO), could even be considered to be a Progressive Conservative.
I really look forward to what I expect will be a lot of pragmatic patriotism.
I’ve seen comments that’s he’s a Blue Liberal.
I feel that a speech delivered by King Charles can be seen as an expression of the opinions of King Charles.
Not the speech at a State Opening of Parliament, at least at Westminster, and I would guess in Ottawa too (and Canberra too, if it came to that): that would be a fairly dry list of the government’s priorities and legislative proposals for the session. The King might have something more personal to say, but it would be cleared with the PM first.
A few weeks ago, the King mentioned in an unrelated speech that he was King of Canada and for a monarchy that usually limits expressing opinions to the colour of a tie, or the brooch worn at an event, it was seen as a huge statement against Trump and his 51st state nonsense. This is even bigger, I think, at least among people who care what the King is doing. I think it’s certainly a “fuck you” to Trump, but just ultra-diplomatic.