"The monarch as Head of State is one of the factors that make Canadian politics less than entirely poisonous."

Agreed. I've come to appreciate our peculiarly indirect, ambiguous, and at times confusing type of nationhood, with our Head of State enthroned on the other side of the ocean, and having as little to do with us as possible. I miss the days when the status of our specifically-Canadian flag - the Red Ensign - was uncertain, and O Canada and God Save the Queen competed quietly for national-anthemhood, and overt displays of patriotism were a little embarrassing. And we were "the Dominion of", the meaning of which few if any understood, but it sounded grand.