The Difficulty of Leaving the British Monarchy

On Saturday, King Charles III will be crowned in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace in London. This is the first coronation of a British monarch in 70 years and it’s brought up questions from Canadians about why a democratic country like Canada still maintains ties with the monarchy. A recent Angus Reid Poll found that 52 per cent of respondents do not want to continue as a constitutional monarchy. But leaving isn’t that easy.

Errol Mendes is a lawyer, author and constitutional and international law professor at the University of Ottawa. He’s on the show to explain how Canada’s constitution makes leaving the monarchy almost impossible.

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