General

Republicanism: More like a root canal than a crown

Earlier this week I interviewed Michael Behiels, a political historian at the University of Ottawa. We had a nice long chat, about Prince Charles and his mum, the monarchy, those annoying Australians, and Stephen Harper. Here’s a partial transcript of the interview — this is my favourite part:

I think Harper’s education in Calgary warped his understanding of the parliamentary system in Canada. He was taken down the wrong path by Tom Flanagan and others, who think ours is an easy system to change. I thought Harper had a better understanding of the constitution than that, since his views on the Meech Lake and Charlotteown accords, and on the Supreme Court reference on Quebec secession, were quite astute.

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