Mark Carney wants to send an international message of strength. But that message could be double-edged.
By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on May 26, 2025.
OTTAWA—Long live the King. Maybe.
When it comes to Canada, there are few more controversial issues than whether we should continue with the monarchy.
French-Canadians and the Irish, in particular, are not happy to have a head of state which reminds them of past travails.
In the case of Quebecers, the defeat by the English on the Plains of Abraham is seen as the beginning of the end of a sovereign French nation.
As for the Irish, those who come from the south have already split from the United Kingdom and see no reason to pledge fealty to the same monarchy that they rejected in their own country.
Battle-scarred opponents of the monarchy are more vocal than those who support the institution. When Queen Elizabeth II was nearing the end of her life, Canadian pundits were suggesting that she would be our last monarch.
King Charles III would never make it to the throne because most people respected his mother and did not have the same feeling toward him.
Then the King took over in 2022, and has spent the last several months showing people exactly why he is the right person for the times.
Divorced—an unheard-of marital state in the last century, but pretty common with commoners in this century. So he is a little bit like all of us.
He also has a sense of humour and is totally prepared to laugh at himself, something that was not in the character of the Queen.
The King is prepared to participate in the quirky and the bizarre.
Just last month, he was filmed playing a carrot—yes, a carrot—with the London Vegetable Orchestra. One cannot imagine the Queen putting her lips around the top of a taproot to make music.
But King Charles was always the quirky one. He was interested in organic food long before it became popular with the general public.
When he visited Canada in 1996, he got what was described as a “rock star welcome” in my hometown of Hamilton, Ont. We spent the visit together, and I was able to personally observe the depth and breadth of his interests. He visited an Indigenous school in Manitoba, and was given the honorific title of “Leading Star.”
Long before the public was engaged, the King soaked up knowledge about Indigenous challenges and spent much time reflecting on how to improve things.
During this week’s visit, a group of Indigenous leaders has asked to meet with him to discuss the issue of a separation threat by some citizens in Alberta.
Just as Prime Minister Mark Carney wants the King to stay out of American politics, so do the Indigenous leaders want the King to wade into Alberta politics.
Indigenous leaders have told Premier Danielle Smith that they oppose the province’s decision to simplify the rules for a separation referendum.
Smith is of the view that Indigenous leaders’ votes will be counted in any referendum, but the chiefs believe their territory’s integrity cannot be impacted by any provincial referendum.
As their treaties have been with the Crown, the King is obviously in a position to support their claims.
But he also has to be cautious when getting involved in domestic politics.
Reading the Speech from the Throne is an exception because the sovereign will only be repeating a message already approved by the prime minister and his office.
And taking a position in favour of one commonwealth country may cause problems in another.
Take King Charles’ second invitation to United States president Donald Trump to visit the United Kingdom.
Carney was very unhappy with the invitation and, in a surprising move, he made it known publicly. In an interview with British Sky News, about the invitation, Carney said Canadians were not impressed by that gesture “given the circumstance. It was a time when we were being quite clear, some of us were being quite clear, about the issues around sovereignty.”
The King’s invitation was delivered by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who was in the midst of negotiating a free trade agreement with the U.S.
In supporting British political objectives, the monarch was forced to bypass Canadian interests.
Such is the challenge of a king. In the same vein, the Canadian prime minister has to be cautious about King Charles’ trip to Canada. It could provide fodder for Quebec separatists who see the crown as a symbol of everything they do not want in a country.
Carney wants to send an international message of strength. But that message could be double-edged.
Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.
