07.05.2011 06:57 AM

In today’s Sun: Brangelina, the royal heir

Prince Brad Pitt? I beg your pardon?

It was Canada Day, you see, and I was on the radio with a republican-type fellow. Vancouver’s CKNW had thought it would be fun to have me debate the monarchy with an anti-monarchy person.

A person then proceeded to declare Prince William and Kate — more properly referred to as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge — were about as relevant to modern-day Canada as movie stars.

Why not make Brad Pitt our head of state, then, the republican asked?

17 Comments

  1. Paul R Martin says:

    Speaking of “Royal Jelly”, I just saw another internet ad on the Toronto Star’s web site for Ruby Dhalla. It seems that she still wants to be a MP even though she was soundly defeated by the voters in the last election. It appears that she does not realize that her chances of being re-elected to Parliament in the next election are very slim.

    • Bill M. says:

      She should have taken the Larry Smith / Fabian Manning path to victory.

      Leave Senate.

      Lose election.

      Rejoin Senate.

  2. James Bow says:

    I don’t feel a particular connection with the British monarchy, but I do like the fact that we have a Governor General rather than a President, and that he or she is appointed rather than elected.

    I think the Governor General fills an important position as an a-political head-of-state who takes on national duties without political taint. I think it’s more appropriate, say, for the Governor General to officially preside over whatever ceremony takes place when Canadian soldiers return from Afghanistan. I mean, some Canadians support the troops and support the mission. Some Canadians support the troops but DON’T support the mission. With the Governor General honouring the troops, she speaks for all Canadians’ desire to honour our troops. It has little connection with the Prime Minister’s political decision to put our troops in Afghanistan. If the Prime Minister were front and centre at these ceremonies, then the honouring of the troops gets tied in with the mission.

    Our Governor General is an important figure to keep the Prime Minister somewhat humble. A good way to explain this is to say that the Governor General speaks for Canada, but the Prime Minister (like the Leader of the Opposition) SERVES Canada. The two functions are very different, and keeping them apart is good for our democracy.

    The thing is, we don’t need the connection with the British crown to accomplish this. We could, theoretically, name our own head of state to five year terms — basically keeping the Governor General without the crown. I think individuals like Wayne Gretzky or Joe Clark could fill this roll with distinction.

    Yes, William Shatner would be kind of cool.

    • VH says:

      What? No one outside of Canada believes “the GG speaks for Canada”. Very few inside Canada believe that.

      And you prefer head-of-state appointments than elections? I don’t what the problem is with some of you “political” folks but either you are for democracy or you are against it.

      James, is this parody?

      What?

      • Loraine Lamontagne says:

        I don’t equate democracy strictly with voting. Not voting is also democratic. Isn’t the freedom of a citizen to do as he pleases an expression of democracy? Or is the freedom of a citizen less democratic than the power of the elected who won an electoral contest? I vacationed abroad recently – I didn’t have to get the permission of the government to leave the country and no Canadian agent at the border asked me why I wanted to leave. If I lived in a non-democratic country, like China and Cuba, I wouldn’t be able to do this. Our head of state is an apolitical arbiter, but that doesn’t mean Canada is not a democracy. Our head of state swears an oath to ensure that the governance of our country will be done in respect of the laws and customs determined by our elected representative. That is democracy.

        • VH says:

          Well, no. You can personally redefine the meaning of words and concepts all you want … it’s a free country.
          Unless, of course, you also want to redefine the meaning of “free”, which apparently you also want to do.

      • James Bow says:

        We can talk about how we choose the GG. As someone pointed out to me, Ireland’s president is elected, but it too fills the “weak executive” position that Canada’s GG provides. The bulk of the power still resides with the PM, there.

        I do think it’s important that we separate the head of state from the PM, The two are not synonymous, and we should not make them so. I like the fact that our prime minister sits in the House of Commons and answers questions from other MPs, and changing our PM to a president would remove that level of accountability, such as it is.

    • Derek Pearce says:

      It’s obvious by what I’m about to point out that I am in fact an ardent monarchist, but, I tire of people talking about the “British” monarchy to begin with. (And man, on my Mum’s side of the family is it EVER Irish-nationalist so I piss her and others off mightily this way– forgive but don’t forget is the best Irish advice I ever got from my Grandad but that’s another story). Anyhow, our monarchs are not British monarchs here. Queen Elizabeth is in fact the Queen of Canada. Look it up, it’s constitutional folks. Wills and Kate will (among 16 other countries, true) be King and Queen of Canada, *specifically*, some day. Has no one looked at the inside page of their passport ever? Long live the Queen of Canada!

  3. Loraine Lamontagne says:

    Why not make Conrad Black our head of state? According to an elite of The Fourth Estate Canada owes Black a debt of gratitude for financing the revival of conservatism in this country. Sorry couldn’t help this.

    Brad Pitt is a well-known supporter of the Democrats, including John Kerry in 2004. He is far from being apolitical. I still regard the Queen and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as apolitical. If they have pursued political causes, let me know.

  4. James Bow says:

    P.S. Prince Brad Pitt? Nah. I’d call him Pitt the Elder.

  5. Marc Laverdiere says:

    Prince Brad Pitt? I’ll say this: becoming an international movie star is not an easy task. It requires dedication, talent, judgement and great skills.

    Becoming the king of England? no requirements whatsoever (just have the right mother).

    Let’s at least recognize that Brad Pitt (or any other actor, really) is more deserving of whatever they have than any ‘royal’.

  6. steve says:

    Enough off with their hats and for gods sake Kate, we dont wear hose in the summertime!
    http://thinkingaboot.blogspot.com/2011/07/enough-of-will-and-kate.html

  7. ok says:

    at least Prince! Bret Pitt work hard for his money

    http://www.break.com/usercontent/2008/8/We-work-Hard-for-your-money-552601

    He did not heritate wealth for ever doing nothing

    just change cloth and
    made RCMPT and cloth maker rich ONLY here

  8. ok says:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TKQcWEXSKU&feature=related

    At least Prince! Bret Pitt and Princess Anglenia has worked hard for their money

    http://www.break.com/usercontent/2008/8/We-work-Hard-for-your-money-552601

    He did not hesitate wealth for ever doing nothing

    just change cloth supermodal show and
    made security guards officers and cloth maker rich ONLY here

  9. ok says:

    obss wrong again

    This one:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TKQcWEXSKU&feature=related

    At least Prince! Bret Pitt and Princess Anglenia has worked hard for their money

    He did not hesitate wealth for ever doing nothing

    just change cloth supermodal show and
    made security guards officers and cloth maker rich ONLY here

  10. allegra fortissima says:

    Hell no – if you really want to torture me, tie me to the kitchen chair and make me watch a Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie movie.

    I’d rather reside in the White Tower for a year or so.

  11. Marc-Andre Chiasson says:

    Prince Bradley Pitt Unia and Princess Angelina la Belle et très Jolie. Nice ring to those, don’tcha think?

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