Richard Berthelsen: A Platinum Jubilee toast to the Queen of Canada

Feb. 6 marks the official start of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee year.

The Queen succeeded at the moment of the death in 1952 of her father, George VI. As Princess Elizabeth, she was in Kenya at the start of an extensive Commonwealth Tour. As she was not with her parents and sister at the time and place, over the past 70 years, she has wished to be at Sandringham on this day in remembrance of him and in private contemplation.

While a Jubilee year is the time of celebration, it started in bereavement -- and this year's Accession Day will be particularly poignant for the Queen, as it is the first she has spent without Prince Philip. In fact, there are few members of the Queen’s inner circle with whom she will be able to reminisce, so she will be alone this year in a way she has not been before.

The Queen is philosophic rather than boastful about these milestones, as she said in September 2015 (on becoming the longest reigning Sovereign): “Many ... have also kindly noted another significance attaching to today, although it is not one to which I have ever aspired. Inevitably a long life can pass by many milestones - my own is no exception”

The Queen succeeded to the Throne shortly after her first Canadian tour, when she stood in for her father, in late 1951. Canada is a country which has played an important part of her working life and, after the U.K., there is no place where she has spent as much time given its geographic closeness to the U.K., its shared history, as well as its size and seniority within the Commonwealth.

There are increasingly few Canadians who can remember anyone else but Elizabeth the Second as Queen, while the country has changed almost unrecognizably over the course of her reign. The Queen, who has travelled extensively from its large cities to small places, by every means of transport imaginable, has been a witness to these changes as well as participating in in most of the major developments in the country since 1951.

Over 22 visits, the Queen has also presided over major celebrations for Canada’s 100th and 125th birthdays, milestone anniversaries in provinces, territories, as well as many cities and towns. For many years, when an historic civic milestone was celebrated, the Queen was asked to cut the cake. She has been with us for major events like the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway, major military and Regimental occasions and international sporting events. She travelled in the north to assert Canadian sovereignty when it was in question and laid cornerstones at place like courts and museums. Between 1951 and 2010, the Queen was in Canada almost every three years. Most places in Canada have a link to her or citizens whose memories extend to the day the Queen came to town.

Thirteen governors general have been in office over this reign, with the first, Vincent Massey, also the first Canadian to hold this office. Since then, it is accepted that the Queen’s representative must be a Canadian. 11 prime ministers have come and gone, and the Queen is on her 12th, who is the son of her fourth and longest serving, Pierre Trudeau. The Queen seems to have enjoyed particularly good working relationships with all of them, winning over a doubtful Trudeau, who softened his views over time about the Crown and the Queen herself.

The Queen signed a new constitution for Canada in 1982, bringing a close to protracted discussions about amendments to this basic law and a new Charter or Rights. Over the course of her reign, she has given her seal of approval and helped to end debates on Canadian initiatives such as the national flag and establishing Canadian honours with the Order of Canada as its centrepiece supported by bravery and military medals.

The transfer of heraldic powers gave Canada its own powers over symbols while placing in the governor general's hands almost all the Queen’s powers and authorities with respect to Canada. The governor general is now Canada’s highest-ranking representative abroad when Canada’s head of state is required on the world stage. All of this has been done with the Queen’s clear support and enthusiastic participation. Far from being one to cling to a former empire and centralized authority, the Queen has embraced the full sovereignty of people in their own countries.

The relationship between the Crown and Indigenous peoples is complex, given how treaties were structured and how the courts have interpreted the role of the Crown, and thus the government, to act with honour in their fulfillment. The Queen has seen and heard firsthand the frustrations of Indigenous Peoples, and this has been articulated more directly to her over the years.

Last September, on the first National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, she more directly addressed this than she has in the pas, saying: "I join with all Canadians on this first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to reflect on the painful history that Indigenous peoples endured in residential schools in Canada, and on the work that remains to heal and to continue to build an inclusive society."

Always offering a chance to help where she could with intractable issues, particularly national unity, identity, and constitutional matters, the Queen was a great collaborator with former prime ministers Pearson, Trudeau and later, Mulroney. In 1987, the Queen delivered speeches in Canada which were tacitly in support of constitutional amendments proposed via the Meech Lake Accord.

On Canada Day, 1990, following the collapse of the Accord, she said: "I am not just a fair-weather friend and I am glad to be here at this sensitive time. I hope my presence may call to mind those many years of shared experience and raise new hopes for the future. The unity of the Canadian people was the paramount issue in 1867 as it is today. There is no force except the force of will to keep Canadians together."

In international affairs, the Queen’s role in keeping the Commonwealth together in challenging times has been critical. In this, she has been a key ally of most Canadian prime ministers, sometimes in opposition to the views of her British prime minister. The Commonwealth had a key role in decolonization of Commonwealth countries and the Queen happily wished them well as many became republics, as with Barbados recently. The Commonwealth has taken principled positions in the difficult transitions to majority rule in what is now Zimbabwe and in South Africa.

In the last few decades, the Commonwealth has been searching for a clearer sense of purpose and has stayed together based on historical bonds to benefit international co-operation, cultural and sport exchange, largely due to the strength of the personal efforts of Elizabeth II. Canada, as a country which has embraced multilateral organizations, has played a key role in this, and the Commonwealth will be seen as one of the Queen’s key accomplishments over the course of her historic lengthy reign.

Since 2010, the Queen has not been in Canada, the longest period in which she has not personally participated in events in this country. As a result, many Canadians hear of her through media reports of controversies in the Royal Family or undertaking duties in the U.K.. Other members of the Royal Family have not been here as often given the demands on their time as there are fewer working Royals.

Technology and the media’s role in amplifying the work of the Royal Family has changed beyond recognition in the past 70 years, and while it has enabled us to see the Queen on Zoom, it has also brought scrutiny to an institution which sometimes cannot answer back and seems remote from daily life here. With changes in public attitudes and the reckoning of historic injustices, the future of the monarchy in Canada after Elizabeth II, will be a decision for future generations in their time. As the Queen has made clear, the Crown exists as a servant of the people and it is for them to decide if it continues.

Seventy years on, the Queen continues to reign, and many will raise a glass to her continued good health in these twilight years. For us, she seems like a much-loved great grandmother we may not have seen as often during the pandemic years.

The Queen continues to dedicate her life to her role as Queen, and reflected in 2010 on this at the end of her last visit to Canada, saying: “In my lifetime, Canada’s development as a nation has been remarkable. This vast, rich and varied country has inspired its own and attracted many others by its adherence to certain values. Some are enshrined in law but I should imagine just as many are simply found in the hearts of ordinary Canadians.

Commitment to freedom, fairness and the rule of law are commonly and rightly associated with this nation. These are just some of the attributes that animate Canadians at home and abroad, not least in the service of peace. I shall continue to take the greatest pride in being your Queen, now and in the years to come.”