monarchy in British Columbia

{{main|Monarchy in the Canadian provinces}}

The role of the Crown is both legal and practical; it functions in British Columbia in the same way it does in all of Canada's other provinces, being the centre of a constitutional construct in which the institutions of government acting under the sovereign's authority share the power of the whole.{{cite journal| last=Cox| first=Noel| title=Black v Chrétien: Suing a Minister of the Crown for Abuse of Power, Misfeasance in Public Office and Negligence|journal=Murdoch University Electronic Journal of Law| volume=9| issue=3| pages=12| publisher=Murdoch University| location=Perth| date=September 2002| url=http://www.murdoch.edu.au/elaw/issues/v9n3/cox93.html| access-date=17 May 2009}} It is thus the foundation of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the province's government.{{Cite book| last=Privy Council Office| author-link=Privy Council Office (Canada)| title=Accountable Government: A Guide for Ministers and Ministers of State – 2008| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| date=2008| location=Ottawa| page=49| url=http://www.pco-bcp.gc.ca/index.asp?lang=eng&page=information&sub=publications&doc=ag-gr/2008/ag-gr-eng.htm| isbn=978-1-100-11096-7| access-date=17 May 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100318110030/http://www.pco-bcp.gc.ca/index.asp?lang=eng&page=information&sub=publications&doc=ag-gr%2F2008%2Fag-gr-eng.htm| archive-date=18 March 2010| url-status=dead}} The Canadian monarch—since 8 September 2022, King Charles III—is represented and his duties carried out by the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, whose direct participation in governance is limited by the conventional stipulations of constitutional monarchy, with most related powers entrusted for exercise by the elected parliamentarians, the ministers of the Crown generally drawn from amongst them, and the judges and justices of the peace. The Crown today primarily functions as a guarantor of continuous and stable governance and a nonpartisan safeguard against the abuse of power.{{Cite journal| last=Roberts| first=Edward| author-link=Edward Roberts (Canadian politician)| title=Ensuring Constitutional Wisdom During Unconventional Times| journal=Canadian Parliamentary Review| volume=23| issue=1| publisher=Commonwealth Parliamentary Association| page=15| location=Ottawa| year=2009| url=http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/Infoparl/32/1/32n1_09e_Roberts.pdf| access-date=21 May 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426045234/http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/Infoparl/32/1/32n1_09e_Roberts.pdf| archive-date=26 April 2012| url-status=dead}}{{Harvnb| MacLeod| 2008| p=20}} This arrangement began with an 1871 Order in Council by Queen Victoria and continued an unbroken line of monarchical government extending back to the late 18th century. However, though British Columbia has a separate government headed by the King, as a province, British Columbia is not itself a kingdom.{{Cite book| last=Forsey| first=Eugene| author-link=Eugene Forsey| date=31 December 1974| contribution=Crown and Cabinet| editor-last=Forsey| editor-first=Eugene| editor-link=Eugene Forsey| title=Freedom and Order: Collected Essays| location=Toronto| publisher=McClelland & Stewart Ltd.| isbn=978-0-7710-9773-7}}

Government House in Victoria is owned by the sovereign only in his capacity as King in Right of British Columbia and is the official residence of both the lieutenant governor and the sovereign, when in British Columbia.{{Harvnb| MacLeod|2008| p=XIV}}

A member of the Royal Family has owned property in British Columbia in a private capacity: Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, owned Portland Island, though this was offered on permanent loan to the Crown in Right of British Columbia.{{cite web| url=http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/exhibits/jubilee/legacy.htm| last=British Columbia Archives| title=The Legacy| publisher=Queen's Printer for British Columbia| access-date=25 June 2009| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228171614/http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/exhibits/jubilee/legacy.htm| archive-date=28 February 2009}}

{{further|Royal tours of Canada}}

Those in the Royal Family perform ceremonial duties when on a tour of the province; the royal persons do not receive any personal income for their service, only the costs associated with the exercise of these obligations are funded by both the Canadian and British Columbia governments.{{Citation| first=Sean|last=Palmer| first2=John| last2=Aimers| author2-link=John Aimers| title=The Cost of Canada's Constitutional Monarchy: $1.10 per Canadian| year=2002| edition=2| place=Toronto| publisher=Monarchist League of Canada| url=http://www.monarchist.ca/new/docs/costofcrown.html| access-date=15 May 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080619203100/http://www.monarchist.ca/new/docs/costofcrown.html| archive-date=19 June 2008}} Monuments around British Columbia mark some of those visits, while others honour a royal personage or event. Further, British Columbia's monarchical status is illustrated by royal names applied regions, communities, schools, and buildings, many of which may also have a specific history with a member or members of the Royal Family. Associations also exist between the Crown and many private organizations within the province; these may have been founded by a Royal Charter, received a royal prefix, and/or been honoured with the patronage of a member of the Royal Family. Examples include the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, which, along with the Vancouver Rowing Club and the Vancouver Racquets Club, is under the patronage of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the Royal British Columbia Museum, which received its royal prefix from Queen Elizabeth II in 1987.{{citation| title=Historical Record of Royal British Columbia Museum Corporation| publisher=Royal British Columbia Museum| page=10}}

The main symbol of the monarchy is the sovereign himself, his image (in portrait or effigy) thus being used to signify government authority.{{Citation| last=MacKinnon| first=Frank| title=The Crown in Canada| publisher=Glenbow-Alberta Institute| year=1976| location=Calgary| page=[https://archive.org/details/crownincanada0000mack/page/69 69]| isbn=978-0-7712-1016-7| url=https://archive.org/details/crownincanada0000mack/page/69}} A royal cypher, crown, or the provincial arms (known as the Arms of His Majesty in right of British Columbia{{cite web| url=http://www.protocol.gov.bc.ca/protocol/prgs/symbols/coat_of_arms.htm| agency=Protocol and Events Branch| last=Watt| first=Robert D.| title=Ministries > Intergovernmental Relations Secretariat > Official Symbols > The Coat of Arms of British Columbia: A Brief History| publisher=Queen's Printer for British Columbia|access-date=8 January 2011}}) may also illustrate the monarchy as the locus of authority, without referring to any specific monarch. Additionally, though the monarch does not form a part of the constitutions of British Columbia's honours, they do stem from the Crown as the fount of honour, and so bear on the insignia symbols of the sovereign.

File:Fairmont Empress, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada 08.jpg|The Empress Hotel in Victoria, both of which were named for Queen Victoria

File:MtAlfred.JPG|Mount Alfred, named in honour of Prince Alfred

File:Princess louisa inlet view.jpg|Princess Louisa Inlet, the name of which remembers Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

File:Main entrance to Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, British Columbia 02.jpg|The Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria

Image:Strait of Georgia.jpg|The Strait of Georgia, named for King George III

File:Queen Elizabeth Secondary (on 136 Street).jpg|Queen Elizabeth Secondary School in Surrey, named for Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother)

File:Queen Elizabeth Theater Vancouver BC.JPG|The Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver, named for Queen Elizabeth II

{{main|History of monarchy in Canada}}

In 1959, Premier W.A.C. Bennett desired that the Queen of Canada read the Speech from the Throne at the opening of a session of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. This request was turned down on the grounds that it was "constitutionally impossible".{{cite journal| last=Toporoski| first=Richard| title=Can the Queen Grant Royal Assent in a Provincial Legislature?: No| journal=Canadian Monarchist News| volume=Fall-Winter 2005| issue=24| page=19| publisher=Monarchist League of Canada| location=Toronto| date=June 2006| url=http://www.monarchist.ca/sites/default/files/documents/2005/1/51.pdf| access-date=5 July 2009}} The validity and logic behind the refusal was later a matter of debate.{{cite journal|last=Toporoski| first=Richard| last2=Munro| first2=Kenneth| title=Can the Queen Grant Royal Assent in a Provincial Legislature?| journal=Canadian Monarchist News| volume=Fall-Winter 2005| issue=24| pages=17–20|publisher=Monarchist League of Canada| location=Toronto|date=June 2006| url=http://www.monarchist.ca/sites/default/files/documents/2005/1/51.pdf| access-date=26 February 2012}}

File:Queen Elizabeth at New Westminster City Hall in 1971 (52370642444).jpg, Queen of Canada, at City Hall in New Westminster, 1971]]

The Queen was again in British Columbia to mark the centennial of the province's entry into Confederation.{{cite web| url=http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/exhibits/jubilee/chronvisit.htm| last=British Columbia Archives| title=Chronology of Principal Royal Visits to British Columbia| publisher=Queen's Printer for British Columbia| access-date=25 June 2009| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228124243/http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/exhibits/jubilee/chronvisit.htm| archive-date=28 February 2009}} In 2002, Elizabeth toured Victoria and Vancouver as part of her Golden Jubilee as Queen of Canada.{{cite news| title=Queen drops puck, raises cheer in arena| publisher=CBC| date=7 October 2002| url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/queen-drops-puck-raises-cheer-in-arena-1.329242| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203051409/http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2002/10/06/queen_hockey021006.html| url-status=live| archive-date=December 3, 2010| access-date=24 June 2009}}

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (now Charles III, King of Canada), along with his great-uncle, the Earl Mountbatten of Burma, then the President of United World Colleges International Council,{{citation| url=https://pearsoncollege.ca/wp-content/uploads/Pearson-Times-Spring-2010.pdf| title=Prince of Wales Visits Victoria| issue=Spring 2010| journal=Pearson Times| page=1| accessdate=31 October 2023}} opened Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific in 1975.{{Citation| url=http://www.pearsoncollege.ca/p/?pgn=Us&subpgn=OurStory&pn=VisualHistory| title=Pearson College UWC–Canada's school for students of exceptional promise and potential worldwide| publisher=Pearson College United World College| accessdate=7 November 2016}} Prince Charles established the Prince of Wales Scholarship and would visit the college again between 30 March and 3 April 1980 and 29 to 31 October 1982.{{citation| url=https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/6-times-king-charles-iii-visited-bc| last=Crawford| first=Tiffany| title=Photos: A look back at the six times King Charles III visited B.C. as a prince| date=9 September 2022| newspaper=Vancouver Sun| accessdate=1 November 2023}} He also toured British Columbia with his then-wife, Diana, Princess of Wales, from 30 April to 7 May 1986, opening Expo 86 in Vancouver and visiting Victoria, Prince George, Kamloops, and Nanaimo, and took a ski holiday at Whistler with his sons, Princes William and Harry, also visiting Vancouver with them. In 2009, Charles returned with his second wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (now Queen Camilla), visiting Vancouver and Victoria, where he met with then-Director of Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific David Hawley and four Prince of Wales Scholarship recipients, one each from Kenya, Romania, Nicaragua, and Canada.

• Symbols of British Columbia
• Monarchy

{{reflist|2}}

• {{cite book| last=MacLeod| first=Kevin S.| authorlink=Kevin S. MacLeod| title=A Crown of Maples| place=Ottawa| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| page=16| year=2008| edition=1| url=http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/ceem-cced/fr-rf/crnCdn/crn_mpls-eng.pdf| isbn=978-0-662-46012-1| accessdate=21 June 2009}}

• {{cite web| url=http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/exhibits/jubilee/intro.htm| last=British Columbia Archives|title=Welcoming the Royals: The Archival Legacy| publisher=Queen's Printer for British Columbia}}

{{Canadian monarchy}}

{{Government of British Columbia}}

{{Politics of Canadian provinces}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Monarchy In British Columbia}}

British Columbia, Monarchy in

Category:Politics of British Columbia