Republican rigour in the face of appalling apathy and constitutional ignorance

Here: "If you do all the head-of-state stuff, aren’t you the head of state?"

I don't know, John, if a man squats on your property, isn't it his property?

Dan Gardner (somebody sane) takes a decidedly less casual view:

But then John, and others, point to the fact that the GG has taken over more and more roles of the head of state. Doesn't that prove that she is, in fact, the head of state? No, it doesn't. What it proves is that we critics were right to worry about this stuff when we did.

Remember how Adrienne Clarkson stopped Ralph Klein from having the Queen personally sign legislation? The GG said it was contrary to the policy of "Canadianization." At the time, those who got upset were told this was too trivial to worry about. It meant nothing! Then Clarkson had foreign diplomats stop addressing their letters of introduction to the Queen and address them to her instead. Again, this annoyed some of us but, hey, it's meaningless, right? Wrong. As I and others said, Rideau Hall was attempting to build up precedents which would turn the monarch into a constitutional dead letter. Then, when they felt their position was strong enough, they would seek to formally elevate the GG to head of state.

And look what's happening now: Rideau Hall is attempting to elevate the GG to head of state, and it's making its case by pointing to those "trivial" precedents. And suddenly, John Geddes and others find those precedents to be not so trivial. Suddenly, they're compelling evidence.

Look, I know most people think this is all about toasts at Rideau Hall and whose face goes on the coins. But it's much more than that. This is about Canadian history and heritage, yes, but fundamentally it's about the constitution: The Crown is the cornerstone of our legal order and the head of state is its guarantor, possessing emergency powers in the event of impasse or breakdown. Even the staunchest republican should agree that it is absurd that these changes can be made without the slightest popular discussion or consent.

If Michaelle Jean wants to be Queen, let her say so and put it to a vote. That at least would have the virtue of honesty, which is considerably better than what she is doing now.