Letters to The Sun, September 20, 2022: Canada must remain a Constitutional Monarchy

.

I am not a closet monarchist. My affection for Her Majesty dates back to my school days in Hong Kong. Maybe I was first brainwashed by the colonial education system, first in Hong Kong and then in Canada, which is a constitutional monarchy.

.

I went to a bilingual Anglican school before coming to Canada. Our director was a British colonel who fought against the Japanese in Hong Kong and was later succeeded by an Anglican minister. Elizabeth was already the Queen at the time and the royal portrait of her was in the auditorium, the director’s offices and the teachers. We also sing God Save the Queen at school assemblies and on auspicious occasions.

.

When I came to Canada and studied at the University of Ottawa, her presence was not that noticeable even though she was the Queen of Canada. I only saw her portrait in government buildings and Parliament. I also sometimes listened to God Save the Queen at the end of the daily TV broadcast when I stayed up late.

I was really “deeply” close to Her Majesty when I was working for the Canadian Citizenship Court in Vancouver. There was a portrait in the courtroom, in the lobby, and in my office, right behind me. I saw her every day when she went to my office and in the courtroom when she officiated at citizenship ceremonies.

.

I also reaffirmed the Oath of Citizenship when new Canadians swore allegiance to the Queen: “I swear that I will be faithful and hold true allegiance to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, her heirs and successors…” and we too sang God Save the Queen at each citizenship ceremony along with O Canada.

When I joined the Canadian Club and later became the president of the club, we always sang God Save the Queen when we started the lunch meeting and ended with O Canada. So she had been a part of my working life until I retired in 1997. I also received the Queen’s Golden and Diamond Anniversary medals for my service to the community. But that has nothing to do with my affection for our late Queen.

.

I think we should keep Charles III as our King and Canada should also remain a constitutional monarchy.

God save the king.

Kelly IP, Vancouver

Let’s be clear about the housing crisis

Re: The housing crisis will not be solved by throwing political ideas against the wall to see what sticks

The opinion piece on the housing crisis states that Canada has the lowest number of housing starts in the G7 and that BC is the second most popular province for relocation and emigration. Real numbers were not used. He goes on to propose an increase in supply as a solution to the perceived crisis.

An op-ed a few days earlier (Eby’s housing comments are off the mark) states that based on the 2016-2021 census, Vancouver built 6.1% more housing supply than its 4.9 population growth %, leaving 23,000 empty homes. And between 2018 and 2022, the city council approved 254 spot zonings for high-density housing that accommodate any future population growth projections for Vancouver.

.

Let’s stop confusing the issue, let’s look at the real numbers. What is needed is affordable housing. We don’t need any more unaffordable empty houses.

Janet Buckle, Vancouver

Columnist highlights deficiency in political system

In a recent Sun column, Vaughn Palmer reveals that, prior to Prime Minister John Horgan’s recent resignation announcement, the BC NDP’s provincial membership was just 11,000. That is an average of 126 people for each of the 87 electoral districts in our province. Even with the supposed increase to 27,000, that’s still just 310 per constituency association.

Once again, Palmer has highlighted a serious deficiency in our democratic political system. It is simply insane that so few people are in a position to exercise such disproportionate power over decisions related to the leadership of a political party, its nominations of candidates for the legislature, party policy resolutions, etc.

David MarleyWest Vancouver

Letters to the editor should be sent to [email protected].

More news, less ads, faster loading time: Get unlimited ad-lite access to The Vancouver Sun, Province, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites for just $14/month or $140/year. Subscribe now through The Vancouver Sun either The province.