Canadian Independence Thread

[Drake Tungsten]

Lucky for Canada...

[dannubis]

Ah well, the yellow man is eating you for breakfast anyway.

[OzzyKP]

Canada needs to man up.

I'm not saying that. I'm fine with Canadians remaining part of the British orbit if that's what they want. I just find it annoying when Canadians claim to have been earning their independence from Britain or other such nonsense when they were really just fighting for the glory of the British Empire like the Aussies, Kiwis, Indians, etc. They remain a part of the British Empire (under its new name) to this very day.

I like Canada though. Because I like them I think they should enjoy the full blessings of independence and stop pretending to be a pseudo-colony.

[KrazyHorse]

Lucky for Canada...

Come try us.

140 years and counting since we got a chance to shoot at Yanks.

[Drake Tungsten]

What's the point? The British Empire just isn't the challenge it once was.

[KrazyHorse]

The truth on this one is pretty simple: we were too difficult a nut to crack, so you turned your attention to mucking about with the brown people to the south of you...

[Drake Tungsten]

No, the truth is that your masters in London decided not to **** with us again after the War of 1812, so we never had an excuse to add a few more North Dakotas to the Union.

[Dracon II]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitutional_history_of_Canada

Seriously Drake, not even the UK is Governed by the Queen...

[Ben Kenobi]

If I had to choose a republic I'd choose America.

The Queen is the only thing I like about Canada.

[Dracon II]

Also... having the Queen for our Sovereign, nations like Canada, Australia etc are by no means subjects of Britain. The Canadian and Australian constitutions are now completely patriated (i.e. cannot be modified by British Parliament), as is the Sovereign. The Queen is Queen of Canada, Queen of Australia, Queen of the United Kingdom. Think of it as a Queenshare scheme.

... and if you think we're still British subjects because the Queen is British, well, she is actually from the house of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, which was a Duchy in Germany. They changed their name in 1917 to Windsor, for obvious reasons.

The Queen's role as Queen of the UK is distinct from her role as Queen of Canada or Australia (or the many other nations that recognize her as their Sovereign). One obvious example is that as Queen of the UK she serves as head of the Church of England, which is defunct within the Australian Constitution, for example, which prohibits the establishment of any religion. In matters concerning the Government of Canada, or Australia, she (or her representatives - chosen by 'colonial' PMs, BTW) act on the advice of the Canadian or Australian PM, not the British PM.

.... and furthermore, if we are still just colonies of Britain, why the **** would they have allowed Australia to have a constitutional referendum on becoming a Republic? Australia wouldn't have the power to constitutionally declare itself a republic if it wasn't genuinely autonomous. Sure, we voted no... but we could have voted yes.

The Queen and British Parliament have a lot less control over what Australia does than the Presidents of the US or China. Does that make us their colonies too?

... don't answer that!

[Japher]

I will never understand Canada. Especially the French parts.

[KrazyHorse]

Well, Drake, at least you got the booby prize.

[Boris Godunov]

If I had to choose a republic I'd choose America.

Canada wins this round.

[Drake Tungsten]

The Canadian ... constitutions are now completely patriated (i.e. cannot be modified by British Parliament)

Yes, since 1982.

[Dracon II]

So what? Does that mean you're going to laugh at East Timor for not achieving independence until 1999?