Well, there is a republican stir in Canada right at the moment. I suspect that it will come to nothing. Of course, if we were setting things up anew there would be no question that a republic would be the way to go. But while I am no monarchist I think that the change would cause more trouble and expense than it is worth. The Queen does nothing here but grace the coinage (and she's off most of the bank notes now) and she comes and cuts a few ribbons once in a while to awe American tourists. Other than security when she comes to visit, she costs us nothing and has no power anyway. When you change the head of state, you have to figure out an alternative system and I don't trust the present aging elite to come up with something good. I'll keep the old girl in her job for a while yet, until there is a real pressing reason to get rid of her. We certainly have more serious and pressing constitutional problems in Canada to address.

Apart from who is the carved figure to be head of state, I like the parliamentary idea of the prime minister sitting in the house and being berated every day by his or her opponents. Interference in matters where his or her nose shouldn't be stuck is a different issue altogether -- not being in a parliamentary system hasn't stopped American presidents from doing that. And it would seem to me to be harder to get away with such abuses of power if you had to face your opponents every day in Question Period. For instance, if Clinton was a Prime Minister he'd have to go into the house and face questioning about his alleged perjury and his bombing of Iraq.

(I am not worried in the least about the judges being interferred with, because here in Canada at least they are independent to the point of being out of touch with reality, and they have self-defined constitutional roles zealously to fulfill.)

Actually, God Save The Queen is not sung or played here as often as it once was. One hears it on Remembrance Day, and some TV stations still play it on sign off. Most people under forty wouldn't sing it if they were paid to do so.

Incidently, the present British royal house has impeccable Scottish ancestry. People like to emphasize the German aspect but the Queen has Scottish ancestry on both her mother's and her father's side, including the House of Stuart.