Sixty Joyless De-Britished Uncrowned Commonpoor Years (1949-2009)

Elizabeth II Vice-Regal Saint: Remembering Paul Comtois (1895–1966), Lt.-Governor of Québec
Britannic Inheritance: Britain's proud legacy. What legacy will America leave?
English Debate: Daniel Hannan revels in making mince meat of Gordon Brown
Crazy Canucks: British MP banned from Canada on national security grounds
Happy St. Patrick's: Will Ireland ever return to the Commonwealth?
Voyage Through the Commonwealth: World cruise around the faded bits of pink.
No Queen for the Green: The Green Party of Canada votes to dispense with monarchy.
"Sir Edward Kennedy": The Queen has awarded the senator an honorary Knighthood.
President Obama: Hates Britain, but is keen to meet the Queen?
The Princess Royal: Princess Anne "outstanding" in Australia.
H.M.S. Victory: In 1744, 1000 sailors went down with a cargo of gold.
Queen's Commonwealth: Britain is letting the Commonwealth die.
Justice Kirby: His support for monarchy almost lost him appointment to High Court
Royal Military Academy: Sandhurst abolishes the Apostles' Creed.
Air Marshal Alec Maisner, R.I.P. Half Polish, half German and 100% British.
Cherie Blair: Not a vain, self regarding, shallow thinking viper after all.
Harry Potter: Celebrated rich kid thinks the Royals should not be celebrated
The Royal Jelly: A new king has been coronated, and his subjects are in a merry mood
Victoria Cross: Australian TROOPER MARK DONALDSON awarded the VC
Godless Buses: Royal Navy veteran, Ron Heather, refuses to drive his bus
Labour's Class War: To expunge those with the slightest pretensions to gentility
100 Top English Novels of All Time: The Essential Fictional Library
BIG BEN: Celebrating 150 Years of the Clock Tower

Monday 14 July 2008

Queen Elizabeth - Canadian Icon

In the bleak procession of modernity there are moments, however brief, that give one hope. A recent survey by Canada's Dominion Institute is one of those moments. The survey sought to "create a list of the 101 people, places, symbols, events and innovations that most define Canada." The top three? The Maple Leaf, the Battle of Vimy Ridge and Queen Elizabeth. The choices are both fascinating and heartening. Could there by anything more Old Canada that our ancient emblem, our greatest military victory and our sovereign? For much of the last forty years a culture war has been waged in the "Great Dominion," as Churchill called us, albeit fought in a very Canadian way, politely and largely "under the radar" of public debate. It's protagonists are the Jacobin Left - a presence through out the English speaking world since the Sixties - who seek to remodel the world along rationalists - though rarely rational - lines.

Preaching utopia and modernity they brush aside traditional values and attitudes with slight regard or contempt. The past, to them, is not something to be preserved - here and there - and amended - here and there and even reformed - here and there, it is simply obsolete. It is a totalitarian arrogance. The opponents of the Jacobins are loosely called conservatives, yet this is often a misnomer. Two generations ago many would have passed as liberals or moderates, the differences blurred by the common loss. The Dominion Institute survey is by no means scientific, and the very name "Dominion" hearkens back to the Old Canada, indeed until 1982 Canada was officially known as the Dominion of Canada, the term taken from 72:8 Psalms: "He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth." Our Australian brethren still call themselves a Commonwealth, a relic from their time as a "dominion" of the Empire. We often don't seem quite as grown up as our younger brother, yet this survey provides hope - however small - that the Elder Dominion can still be an adult among the English speaking nations.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

The only problem is, the list that shows the maple leaf, Vimy Ridge, and the Queen as the top three identifiers of Canada was generated by only 874 votes in the online poll. The actual national survey conducted by Ipsos-Reid put the maple leaf, hockey, and the national flag in the top three. Vimy Ridge was at #30 (behind Celine Dion!), and the Queen at #87.