Our navy isn't royal, it's Canadian.
That goes for our air force and our army as well, now formerly known as the Maritime Command, Air Command and Land Force Command, respectively. All the armed services were amalgamated in the 1960s and stripped of all colonial ties. Our defence minister, Peter MacKay, along with others in our government feel that there is still some importance in proudly declaring ourselves a nation-state of the United Kingdom. So royal is back in, along with new uniforms for each of the once again divided sectors.
The problem is Canada doesn't really belong in the British Commonwealth. We shouldn't be reinforcing ties to the monarchy, we should be continuing to emancipate ourselves from the U.K. so that one day the royal family will no longer appear on all of our money. Then we can add more kids to the pond hockey game.
MacKay said the word royal is used to recognize the origins of the many branches of our armed services. In a way I suppose it does, but mostly it's just another knot in our union with British royalty.
What's so terrible about our servicemen and women serving the Canadian people? They shouldn't be serving the royals, they should be serving Canada.
MacKay said reinstating the term royal to our Armed Forces will allow them to be prouder and stand taller. That's ridiculous. Rename them the Canadian Navy, Canadian Air Force and Canadian Army, without the royal prefix. Well, Canadian Army is actually the new name and the only one of the three that isn't royal.
I am proud of the people who serve this country all over the world. I don't know why the government feels the members of the Armed Forces wouldn't be as proud to serve Canada, as they would to serve the Queen.
Is MacKay suggesting there is something inherently wrong with Canada that will always resign us to second place in the minds of the men and women who serve our country? Well, probably not intentionally, but that's what it sounds like.
It's like he's suggesting it's not good enough to be just Canadian, when we could instead be Royally Canadian.
We need to be separating the monarchy and our country the same way we have separated the church from the state. Though we still have God Save the Queen. Maybe that will have to be next on the chopping block.
While we're axing useless traditions, we can also do away with the playing of the national anthem at the start of school days, sporting events and just anytime we have a minute to fill when there is a large gathering of people. Think of all the hours saved over the course of a lifetime, if we only had to listen to the national anthem once a year, when Canada wins the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship.
