Hcheh

It is not always about what has happened. It is also about the possibility of what could happen.

I beg to differ. I like it much better up here.. In my opinion, the system is much more stable - with the parliament and the monarch.

Say what you will, it has not been much different in other countries.. You think that the American system is perfect? The difference is that the constitutional monarchy has decades of experience over the American government.

As I said, it has evolved through many years. It is only through years of experience, turmoil and even tyranny, that a political system is able to adapt and change - so that hopefully, it may learn from it's mistakes.

Yes.. However, both political philosophies value the same things. A person's rights and freedoms. The fact that one election can turn the US into a "People's Republic" only shows the shaky ways of their government. Oh well, whatever works for their people - that is why we are in Canada and they are in the United States.

If anything, she is a symbol of how a political system, such as the constitutional monarchy, has survived and evolved throughout all these years - protecting the rights and freedoms of many people.

It is called the Coronation oath

Yes, I do yearn to learn as much about other cultures as much as possible.. HOWEVER, there is a line when it comes to this whole "multicultural" thing. We have appeased the non assimilated immigrants too much! Of course we respect and honour different cultures and heritage.. but they can't come around, become a citizen and trample on the Canadian identity and heritage! That is the line that has been crossed, I am not specifically pointing out the Crown hating thing; for example, the Islamic extremists who set up a democracy hating club. It is our duty and obligation to uphold the Canadian identity and heritage - not to have to torn apart by non conforming immigrants.

Yes, I believe that the ability of banding together, with many people from many nations, to unite under one entity is a much greater feat than how people are just "accepting and multicultural". It is great to know different languages, cultures and all.. but when it comes to my allegiances and my nationality - I am Canadian, nothing less.

I don't believe that the actions of Trudeau and Chretien rightfully justifies the media "hatred" that Harper has.. An honest and straight forward politician (notice that I didn't say "good", you don't have to be honest to be "good" at politics) should not be afraid of the press. If the press lays ridiculous claims, send an honest rebuttal right out - I believe that this would be a great strength, something that I would like to see in a politician.

really? I would suspect that the queen would have me bow down and have my head chopped off

that doesn't have to do with anything related to "self-imposed segregation" as Alta calls it.. and an excellent term for this situation.

lol , despite the fact that it has been stated a million times, he can't wrap his head around the fact that the queen is the queen of CANADA

Why shouldn't you be able to keep your language and knowledge of your cultures? You can keep your languages and the knowledge of your culture.. However, Canada comes first. One of the responsibilities of a Canadian citizen is to protect the Canadian heritage.

You don't have to bow to the queen

Read about the Magna Carta

I agree completely and wholeheartedly. Dief the Chief once had a vision of what Canada should be like: "I am the first prime minister of this country of neither altogether English or French origin. So I determined to bring about a Canadian citizenship that knew no hyphenated consideration....I'm very happy to be able to say that in the House of Commons today in my party we have members of Italian, Dutch, German, Scandinavian, Chinese and Ukrainian origin -- and they are all Canadians." -- John Diefenbaker, March 29, 1958 The only way we can unite as a county is if everybody drops their "nationalities" dictated by their ancestors. You don't get to choose where you were born. However, you were able to choose to live on this great land under this great nation - be proud that you are here. You don't come to Canada to live off of our institutions and free health care, you come here to be Canadian. If you looked at the colour of my skin, or the colour of my hair, you could say that I come from a Chinese background. Raised and educated in this country since the tender age of 3, I have been Canadian all my life. Chinese by birth and Canadian by choice. I do not consider myself a "Chinese-Canadian", I am just a Canadian.

Yes, and he gets all the credit for doing something so great.. He should have left it alone, hes only making things worse

Well, to an educated mind, American, Canadian, British, French histories are all pretty "common knowledge". It just depends how in-depth you go with it.

only speculations..

I believe that you get "social studies/geography" in grade 9, in grade 10 you get Canadian history, and then in grade 11 and 12, you get American and World history courses. Gr.11 American and World history courses both have gr.12 follow-ups, while Canadian history doesn't have a follow up. I'm not saying the teachers don't know it, I am saying there is a lack of courses offered.

It may not have been the best example.. Nonetheless, the crown has reserve veto powers to use when things are dire. That is the point

I would rather have a leader who keeps his cool during a time like this.. Running and pulling your hair out is a job for the average citizen. The leader should be able to rise above the mess and take care of things. I don't believe that Layton or Dion is not capable of this, however, using this fear as a campaign method is quite dishonest..

I don't see why anyone is saying that the constitutional articles were not written by the people.. They were written by PM's, people in parliament.. etc. Are those not Canadian people? You think the American constitution was written by random people off the street?

She is involved with our country so when some jackass comes around and tries to do something "unconstitutional" or something of major harm to the country - the queen can veto his/her decisions. For example, what if Bush was the prime minister, and he wanted to start a war with Iraq against the wishes of the UN. The queen can veto his decisions. However, he is the president, no one has higher authority - who is to stop him?