OTTAWA | By keeping the portrait of the monarch on our notes and coins, the Trudeau government has missed a good opportunity to modernize Canadian currency to make it more in line with public opinion.
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“By asking King Charles III. Offering the same visibility as Queen Elizabeth II, Ottawa elites show that they are disconnected from public opinion and out of touch with reality,” said Patrick Taillon, a lawyer at Laval University.
After months of hesitation, Justin Trudeau took advantage of the coronation of Charles III on Saturday to commission the Royal Canadian Mint to design coins with the King’s effigy.
- Listen to the interview with François Rufiange, President of the Quebec Numismatic Society, on Yasmine Abdelfadel’s show QUB radio :
In the same breath, the Prime Minister pointed out that the portrait of Charles III. which Elizabeth II will replace on the next $20 bills to be printed by the Bank of Canada.
Justin Trudeau pointed out that the monarch has appeared on our banknotes since 1935 and on our coins since 1908.
AFP
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau at Westminster Abbey for the coronation of King Charles III. and queen consort Camilla.
But Mr. Taillon, a constitutional law expert, reminds that Canadian authorities have no legal obligation to give the monarchy that much visibility.
“It’s not an obligation, it’s a tradition,” he said. We do what we want. We could remain a constitutional monarchy and not put the king on the banknotes and coins.
Anti-monarchy sentiment
Australia has also decided to remove the monarch’s face from its $5 bills and instead feature an indigenous illustration on them. Inhabited by a strong anti-monarchical movement, the country nonetheless retained its political system and remained a member of the Commonwealth.
AFP
“For a Republic – Not my King” protest in Edinburgh, Scotland, on the day of Charles III’s coronation.
A similar movement emerged in Canada two years ago. Although resistance to the Crown in English Canada was not yet as strong as in Quebec, it was growing rapidly.
According to a Léger poll in September 2022, 77% of Canadians said they were unaffiliated with the British monarchy. Quebec even abolished the oath to the king as an obligation to sit in the Quebec National Assembly.
Eric Bolte / QMI Agency
Anti-monarchist protester in Montreal during Prince William and Princess Catherine’s visit in 2011.
Canadian personalities
Against this background, Bloc Québécois MP Rhéal Fortin wrote to Treasury Secretary Chrystia Freeland in December to encourage her to “replace British royal effigies with symbols more representative of the citizens of Quebec and Canada.”
For example, he suggested replacing the portrait of the monarch on our tickets with that of Louis Riel, the Métis leader and founder of Manitoba, known for his fight against the British. An idea endorsed by Manitoba Metis Federation Vice President André Carrier.
Similarly, the Toronto Star suggested replacing the portrait of the monarch with portraits of Canadian celebrities such as singer Celine Dion, environmentalist David Suzuki or even the country’s first black MP, Lincoln Alexander.
But probably none of these proposals will have found their way to the government, which continues to “want to show the monarchy that we remain loyal subjects”, laments Mr. Taillon.
Some personalities for our banknotes and coins:
- Jeanne Mance (1606–1673): co-founder of Montreal, founder of the Hôtel-Dieu and the country’s first lay nurse
- Gaspar Soiaga Kondiaronk (1649–1701): Chief of the Tionontati Nation, initiator of the Treaty of the Great Peace of Montreal
- Louis Riel (1844–1885): Leader of the Métis people, leader of the resistance to Canadian encroachments on Métis lands, and founder of the Province of Manitoba
- Harriet Brooks (1876–1933): First Canadian female nuclear physicist, world pioneer in physics
- Oscar Peterson (1925–2007): internationally renowned Canadian jazz pianist and composer
- Terry Fox (1958–1981): Canadian athlete and research activist dedicated to treating cancer
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