Whenever there is a royal visit there is always a certain level of debate, but the way I see it, is the british monarchy is an important part of our history. You can tak till the end of the world about the horrible attrocities that the British committed in their settling of Canada, but what I always think of is a term my College of the Rockies history professor Marcel told our class once; historical empathy.
What the term means is understanding that while terrible things have happened in the past, they are no longer accepted and we need to look back on these things as something to study, in hopes that we do not make the same mistakes again. We need to learn from things.
I read on CBC today that one Acadian is bitter that they are visiting and not issuing an apology for the atrocities that were done upon the Acadians in the 1700s. In the late 1700s there was a "burying of the hatchet" ceremony following the end of the battle between the British colonists and the Acadians. But this man says, it isn't enough. He thinks the Queen should apologize for the things done to the Acadians over 300 years ago, despite the two sides literally burying a hatchet to close the dispute. wtf?
The issue was closed 300 years ago man, you're a little late.
I always take historical empathy and apply it to many modern apologies for historical attrocities. At the time, it was okay to rape and pilage communities of people. Now, it is not. I think the empathy should be applied to now. Yes, there is some black marks in how Canada was developed, but we have moved forward and created a pretty awesome country to live in in 2010.
I think the entire country needs to have some historical empathy for the British monarch. It is an outdated system of government that is mostly symbolic now. The Queen does not have any real governing authority over what we do in Canada, besides a ceremonial one. How I feel about the Queen is that she reminds us of where we have come from. We were born from the empire of Britain, and we should remember that.
For those people that want to protest and complain about the Queen visiting, and the cost it has for us, I think they must be misinformed about our history. The Queen represents how Canada became a country to me. We should celebrate her coming here, and welcome her. Without the monarchy we would not be the country we are today. And whether we would have been better off without the British involvement is up for debate, but I must say I am pretty happy they got involved, because I exist today in a country I love.
So thanks, Queen Elizabeth. Welcome back to Canada. I only wish she were coming as far as the Yukon, because she has awesome hats. Perhaps more on the Queen as a fashion icon later. Also, Prince Phillip is totaly rad.
I think I'm just rambling here, and there is no real research to any of this. But seriously, get over it naysayers. The Queen is coming. Leave your car at home and take a freaking bike to avoid the road closures.
Annalee.
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