[deskamess]

Its not just checks and balances though. You have to pledge allegiance to these arbitrary people. No self-respecting individual would do that.

> I know this sounds floaty, but we live in a relatively stable country where transitions of power have traditionally been without great anxiety

Yeah... but that happens in many Republics too. It is not unique to Canada and is not a reason to have a monarchy.

> the Queen has been largely seen as a novelty, a nice decoration on a shelf.

We can get away with that because in reality that is what she is.

In these modern times there is no reason to have some special family enshrined to the the point you have to pledge allegiance to them or a country has to depend on them.

[AmadsSalvage]

Society functions precisely because we have collectively agreed to acknowledge that the individual is not the highest and only form of authority. Formally, we agree to follow the laws in place. Informally, we agree to act with respect to each other. This requires some form of self sacrifice on our part. By swearing allegiance to the King, or a President, we are saying "I am willing to follow the rules which result from your exercise of power". These laws are the ones delegated through our legislative and judicial systems - the King in our case does not exercise it himself in Canada. Sure it's symbolic, but so is making a promise to a friend. Keeping our word is important to us. We could swear it to someone further down the line, like to "all police officers", but I think that would be far less self-respecting than forging that agreement with the highest level of power directly.

Don't get me wrong, I am not some rabid anti-republican, republics absolutely do work! But I think monarchies also work, and each have different benefits. A republic is more representative demographically speaking, for example, whereas a monarchy is more impartial and has a stronger line of succesion to name a few distinct traits. I don't feel like our system is broken, nor do I feel that a republic would solve any problems (and it may come with its own fresh ones).

The "In modern times" argument comes up a lot, but I'm not sure it applies. Just because something is old, even anachronistic, does not mean it is invalid. In fact, such things are more valuable precisely because they are no longer found today. However, I think you are right in that there is a disconnect between these rituals and symbols and our modern conception of society, and that is why I think Canada has poorly managed the relationship between monarch and everyday people, and let the institution decay. One solution is to rebuild everything from the ground up with a republic, and its not going to be the end of the world, but I am personally in favour of renewing our longstanding existing commitment.

[cmrdporcupine]

Indeed my own father waited almost 30 years before he finally got his Canadian citizenship, and lived as a landed immigrant (with German citizenship); paying his taxes and participating in society but not becoming a citizen (and not getting to vote despite being a strong NDP supporter...) and his stated reason for this was his abhorrence for declaring allegiance to the monarchy. A monarchy which many Germans blame for the mass firebombing of civilians at the end of WWII.

It's fine for you and I who are born into citizenship without having to do this ritual. For immigrants, this can be very jarring.