Canadian Monarchist News Les Nouvelles Monarchiques du Canada Summer/Été 2019 — No. 46 An occasional Newsletter for members and friends of The Monarchist League of Canada The Monarchist League of Canada / La Ligue Monarchiste du Canada, PO Box 1057, Lakeshore West PO, Oakville, Ontario, Canada L6K 0B2 905-855-7262 (800) 465-6925 www.monarchist.ca THE MONARCHIST LEAGUE OF CANADA – 49th ANNIVERSARY 1970-2019 Monarchist League sole supplier of Colour Lithos of Queen FEDS END QUEEN PICTURE DISTRIBUTION, SUBSTITUTING DOWNLOADS Report & Commentary this way, the visible presence of our by Robert Finch, Mon arch, and so the reflection of Dominion Chairman, the our constitutional reality, have be- Monarchist League of Canada come deeply imprinted on the con- sciousness of our citizenry. For many years, the Government The eve of producing a new “of fi - of Can ada, via the Department of cial” photo portrait of The Queen – Canadian Heritage, and its predeces- the current one dates from 2010, and sor, the Department of Secretary of was taken for the Diamond Jubilee State, has made lithographs – colour celebrations here in 2012 – found photographs printed on coat ed stock Can adian Heritage discontinue its – available without charge to Cana- long standing distribution. In its task dians. Regularly updated to reflect of promoting our heritage, which the inevitable processes of time, these one might have thought was at once constitute the great majority of images a privilege and duty in our Realm – of our Sov ereign which you and I and, citing cost and environmental are accustomed to see in fire halls considerations, the Department told and police stations, municipal council Canadians they would henceforth chambers and Legion halls, our em- need to access its website from which bassies abroad and ports of entry to they could download and then print Canada, not to men tion many other for themselves the picture of The public places and in homes and uni- Queen. versity dorms across the land, and This option had been available for military stations wherever the Can - some years, and no doubt had its adian Forces are doing their duty. In continued on page 2 The official Diamond Jubilee litho of The Queen of Canada – no longer available from Ottawa. IN THIS EDITION OF CMN Proposals for Canada’s next government 4-5 Crowns & Maces 6-7 Lt Col D J Lambert at Camp Eggers, RCRNATO Training Mission, Kabul, Afghanistan, 2013. “The Senate Portraits celebrate Queen’s reign 8-9 Americans with whom I share my office are somewhat bemused by my decision to have a portrait of HM at my desk... I suspect they are somewhat impressed that we would go to a bit of trouble to Monarchists enjoy Rideau Hall event 12-13 display so proudly our heritage and our inheritance.” The UEL Flag sits atop his computer! LITHO... continued from page 1 uses, as for example, in children’s National Post, school projects. However, no rea- From the May 24, 2019 sonable person would compare the image thus produced from a typical NP View: Queen Elizabeth deserves home computer as remotely compa- a place of honour on our walls rable – or suitable for framing and display – to the discontinued lithos. That our system of government has proven remarkably stable is due in part to the And if a government entity, organi- woman who has sat on the throne for the past 66 years zation or individual wished and was You see her from time to time as you go about your business – in public able to afford the quality of a print - buildings, in offices, in the lobbies of towers. Sometimes you see her in ed litho, a big city might allow them schools, where she keeps a watchful eye on the children as they come and to do so – but not the average neigh- Cabinet Minister Gérard go throughout the day. We’re referring, of course, to Elizabeth, queen of Pelletier said no one would bourhood copy shop. Such an under - Canada (and other places, too), whose most recent official Canadian por- know the difference between taking is neither accessible nor af- trait, taken in Rideau Hall on Canada Day of 2010, holds places of pride the faux-arms of a liquor fordable to great swaths of Canada’s across the land. distiller and the Royal Arms widely-dispersed population, Portraits of Her Majesty have long been provided by the government, of Canada The Monarchist League of Canada in collaboration with the Monarchist League of Canada. The league had for many decades been a proud worked with Heritage Can ada to distribute portraits of the Queen, Prince partner in this aspect of Canadian Philip or both together to any Canadian who ordered one. But now, the Heritage’s good work in support of government has decided to discontinue that practice, in favour of making its mandate, It supplied us with the high-resolution versions of the portraits available for download on a web- images at no cost, on the under- site. standing that we would in turn make them available at a charge reflecting It’s all about convenience and efficiency, the government insists. only the expense of the mailing tube In a statement to the National Post, a spokesperson for Heritage Canada and postage. And, unlike CH’s gen- explained, “The predominance of digital technology makes it possible for eral and understandable policy of: Canadians to download, save and print their own portraits and has become one per customer, the League was common practice. Digital availability offers Canadians greater flexibility able to provide as many as required in the format and size they wish to print and makes the portrait univer- – two to five portraits was a typical sally accessible. The volume of requests for the portraits was not a consid- request. Over the years, we distrib - eration.” Robert Finch, chairman of the Monarchist League, said he hopes uted thousands, with no extra staff - the government changes its mind, but in the interim, the league will in- ing, overhead or delay. And that vestigate distributing portraits of Her Majesty itself. modest charge for our real cost (lat- “It’s important for Canadians to see the picture of the Queen on the terly $13) overcame one problem wall,” he told the Post. that had we understand bedeviled We agree. The Queen remains remarkably popular in Canada. More than our friends at Canadian Heritage – 80 per cent of Canadians approve of the job she has done as monarch, an requests from republicans and mis- approval rating any politician would envy. The Queen has given decades The Arms of The Queen in chief-makers, so doubling CH’s ex- of honourable service to this country, and can and should, as the Monar- Right of Canada on former pense when posters sent them were chist League says, serve to unite us. Post Office building façade, returned, postage due. We doubt If the government no longer wishes to cover the costs of providing por- Georgia Street, Vancouver such republicans who exist in Can - traits of the head of state to Canadians, we won’t quibble with that, espe- ada are so ardent as to wish to pay for cially since the Monarchist League is keen to step up. But this is as good their pranks! a time as any to remind Canadians that our system of government has As for cost, the best that can be proven remarkably stable and enduring, and that’s thanks in part to our said is that the inevitable bureaucracy links to the Royal Family, and the woman who has sat on the throne for of the modern state certainly was en- 66 years. So order or print those portraits, and display them proudly. God tangled in the printing and distribu- save the Queen. tion of these pictures: contracting for their printing, providing an em- basic work of government: inculcat- The League does not view this as ployee to handle the requests (typi- ing pride in our nation’s institu- a 1970’s-style plot against the Cana- cally, we were told, about 5,000 a tions. dian Crown, a time, some will recall, year), then more labour and expense Such a view was widely expressed when a Minister of the Crown could to produce, insert the image, pay the across the country when the news of observe that he could put a Schen- Canada’s Heritage promoted postage and mail the cylinders. this abandonment hit the media. A ley’s liquor bottle “arms” on Post Of- by ending distribution of lithos When the announcement of the front-page story in the National Post fices, then a department of govern- of the Head of our Nation? abandonment of physical lithos was of May 23 was followed the next day ment, and no one would know the Comment promouvoir le made, the League contacted its com- with an editorial which we reprint difference (from the Armorials of patrimoine canadien en mettant fin à la distribution mercial printer, for whom our or- above – Queen Elizabeth deserves a place The Queen in Right of Canada). At des lithographies de ders of five or ten thousand pam- of honour on our walls- and, not sur- the same time, the government notre Souveraine? phlets, educational booklets and the prisingly, a flood of orders for the should not be given a pass on its like fall into the very low end of lithos. clumsy handling of an issue which their typical press runs. Its quota- What of the future? At press time, should never have arisen. tion for equivalent lithos, with UV this was unclear.