Canadians are ready to rethink ties with the monarchy poll finds

It's been over a year since the death of Queen Elizabeth II and most Canadians seem to be ready to reconsider this outdated piece of their political past according to a new poll. 

The country’s largest Canadian-owned market research company Leger has discovered from polling that a majority of respondents were ready to rethink ties with the monarchy. 

Roughly 63% of people polled said they thought it was time for the country to rethink its ties with a monarchy, a number up seven points from March according to Global News. 

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An overwhelming majority of respondents (81%) also stated that they didn’t feel any ties toward the monarchy compared to 14% of people who said they did six months ago. 

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The results of Leger’s polling come at a time when Canada as a whole is facing a crisis of political identity as the country attempts to claw itself back from the brink of its issues. 

Prince Charles ascended to the throne in September 2022 following the death of Queen Elizabeth but grumblings about the monarchy in Canada had already begun to surface.  

Just one week after King Charles’ coronation, a poll from Angus Reid found that 51% of Canadians did not want the monarchy to persist as the country’s ceremonial figurehead. 

That number was up by 45% from polling in January 2020 according to a Reuters report that also noted a Leger poll from the period showed 77% of people felt no attachment to the British Monarchy. 

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"Canada is the only G7 country whose head of state is another country's citizen," Flavio Volpe, President of Canada's Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association told Reuters. 

Volpe explained he preferred to have someone from the city of Windsor as the country’s head of state rather than someone from the House of Windsor and added that the nation needed to have a serious conversation about finding a Canadian to fill the post. 

More and more Canadians seem to be coming around to Volpe’s line of thinking when it comes to the role the monarchy should be playing in the politics of the country and now more than half of people (51%) see the monarchy as outdated according to Leger’s poll.  

Interestingly, 52% of Leger’s respondents reported that they thought the monarchy was a positive symbol for the country while a nearly equal amount (48%) said they thought it was a negative symbol for the country. 

Only 33% of respondents thought the monarchy was an important part of Canada’s past and believed it should be preserved, which means that a very small minority of Canadians see the monarchy as important in the modern world. 

Regardless of how Canadians are feeling about the monarchy, Governor General Mary Simon put out a statement on September 15th to celebrate the one-year anniversary of King Charles’ ascension to the throne and addressed the good he has done for Canada. 

"We had already seen His Majesty's keen interest in Canada and issues of common concern, such as climate change, diversity and inclusion, and education," Simon said according to a quote from the statement by CTV News. 

"But in the past year, he has also shown his dedication to public service through his personal commitment to reconciliation, dialogue, and rebuilding the Crown-Indigenous relationship,” the Governor General added.