Monarchy in Alberta
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As a province within Canada, Alberta uses a Westminster System of constitutional monarchy for its government, under Queen Elizabeth II as the reigning Queen of Canada since February 6, 1952. Due to Canada's federal nature, eleven legally distinct Crowns effectively exist in the country, with the Monarch being represented separately in each province, as well as at the federal level.
In Alberta, the Sovereign is represented by the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, currently Norman Kwong, since 2005.
| “ | [Alberta's early settlers and First Nations] created a spirit of belonging to a bountiful country under the principles of peace, order and good government and the unifying influence of the Crown.[1] | ” |
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— Queen Elizabeth II, address to the Alberta Legislature, 2005
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[edit] Constitutional monarchy in Alberta
Under the Canadian constitutional monarchy system the headship of state is not a part of either the federal or provincial jurisdictions; the Queen reigns impartially over the country as a whole. Thus, Alberta has a separate government headed by the Queen; however, as a province, Alberta is not itself a monarchy.
A Lieutenant Governor is appointed by the Governor General, on the advice of the Prime Minister of Canada, to serve as the Queen's representative in the province, carrying out all the Monarch's constitutional and ceremonial duties of state on her behalf; though, as in the other Commonwealth Realms, the Monarch's role, and thereby the Vice-regal's role, is almost entirely symbolic and cultural, and the powers that are constitutionally hers are exercised wholly upon the advice of the elected government. In exceptional circumstances, however, the Monarch or vice-regal has acted against such advice based upon his or her reserve powers. All laws in Alberta are enacted with the vice-regal's signature, known as giving Royal Assent; it and proclamation are required for all acts of the provincial legislature, usually granted or withheld by the Lieutenant Governor, with the Great Seal of the province of Alberta.
The Lieutenant Governor, him or herself a recipient of the award as Chancellor of the Order, bestows the Alberta Order of Excellence on deserving Alberta citizens. The Queen, other members of the Canadian Royal Family, and/or the Lieutenant Governor also attend various functions throughout the province and abroad, either as the host or a guest of honour.
[edit] Symbols
Images of St. Edward's, the Tudor, and King's Crown are visible on military badges (see The Calgary Highlanders badge), and the Alberta Order of Excellence, the latter illustrating the Monarch's place as the ceremonial head of the Canadian honours system. Portraits of the Monarch are often found in government buildings, schools, and military installations.
The Lieutenant Governor of Alberta bears a personal flag, or vice-regal standard, which consists of a blue field bearing the shield of the Alberta coat of arms, surmounted by a crown, and surrounded by ten gold maple leafs, symbolizing the ten provinces. The flag is flown on the Lieutenant Governor's car, on the provincial landau (used on ceremonial occasions), and may also be flown on a building where the Lieutenant Governor is present; the vice-regal standard is never used inside a building.[2]
Monuments to members of the Royal Family are located across the province.
- Further information: National symbols of Canada and Canadian royal symbols
[edit] Official residences and offices
Unlike other provinces, Alberta has separate buildings for the official residence and entertaining venue for the vice-regal. The Lieutenant Governor now lives in a crown owned house in the Glenora district of Edmonton, while holding an office and a suite of rooms for entertaining at Government House. The latter, originally built to house the Lieutenant Governor, was used as a royal residence between its completion in 1913 and 1937; the Legislature cited economic concerns, as well as the closing of the Ontario Government House the year previous, as reasons for the closure. The building was sold, and used for various purposes there-after, until it was returned to the provincial Crown in 1964. The mansion has been used for government receptions and dinners since that time.[3] Whenever the Sovereign is in the provincial capital, he or she resides at a hotel, normally the Hotel Macdonald. This situation is similar to that of London, where the Monarch maintains St. James Palace as an official court for diplomatic and ceremonial functions, but resides elsewhere.
The present royal mansion is a three storey building, with its own ceremonial porte-cochere entrance where members of the Canadian Royal Family and visiting foreign dignitaries are greeted. Inside are reception rooms, conference rooms and support facilities; it is here that the Lieutenant Governor presides over swearing-in ceremonies for Cabinet ministers. The Lieutenant Governor's working office is located at the Legislative Assembly building, and is where Royal Assent is granted, and where the Lieutenant Governor receives the Premier.
- Further information: Government House (Alberta)
[edit] History
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), founded by Royal Charter issued by King Charles II in 1670, was granted by the King a trading monopoly over the watershed of all rivers and streams flowing into Hudson Bay. This area, which included present day Alberta, was called Rupert's Land, named for Prince Rupert of the Rhine. The HBC established Fort Vermilion in what is now the north of Alberta, in 1788, making it the oldest European settlement in the province.
By 1870, HBC's monopoly over Rupert's Land was abolished, and the company ceeded all the territories to the Dominion government through the Rupert's Land Act of 1868. Thenceforth, the area was known as the Northwest Territories (NWT), and was administered by a Lieutenant Governor. To police this new territory, the North West Mounted Police was created, and headquartered in Fort Macleod. This organization would later become the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The area of Alberta emerged as a district within the NWT, known as the Alberta Provisional District. However, after gaining increasing autonomy from the territorial government, and with the aid of Premier Sir Frederick Haultain, the province of Alberta was created by Royal Proclamation issued by Governor General Earl Grey on September 5, 1905. The name was chosen to honour Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, fourth daughter of Queen Victoria.[4]
As part of their cross-country tour, King George VI and his consort Queen Elizabeth visited Alberta by train. When the royal couple arrived in Edmonton, the regular population of 90,000 more than doubled to 200,000, as Albertans from surrounding towns came in to catch sight of the King and Queen.[5]
At the time of Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee in 2002, the Government of Alberta introduced a number of events and initiatives for the occasion. Flowerbeds planted with flowers that matched the colours in the Queen's official jubilee logo were planted on the South Legislature Grounds, and at Government House in Edmonton, as well as at McDougall Centre in Calgary, and a commemorative plaque was placed at each location for the occasion. More than 4,000 Albertans attended the Lieutenant Govenror's Jubilee Levee on June 23, where Lois Hole stated: "what we want to realize is how important the monarchy is to Canada and certainly to Alberta."[6]
[edit] First Nations, Métis and the Crown
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 made clear that the First Nations were autonomous political units and affirmed their title to lands. Thus, in order to "open up" the area within the Northwest Territories to settlement, the Crown began negotiating the Numbered Treaties with the various Native nations, which offered them reserved lands and the right to government support in exchange for ceding all claims to the majority of the lands to the Crown. The first, Treaty No. 7, was signed in 1871, by the Blackfoot, Blood, Peigan, Sarcee and Stony Indian tribes, ceding the praries of Southern Alberta to Queen Victoria. In 1977, Prince Charles visited Alberta to attend celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the treaty signing.
[edit] Royal connections
[edit] Royal designation and patronage
The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology was given "royal" status by Queen Elizabeth II in 1990.
The Provincial Museum of Alberta was named Royal Alberta Museum in May 24, 2005, following Queen Elizabeth II visit.
[edit] Armed forces
The 103rd Regiment (Calgary Rifles) was renamed The King's Own Calgary Regiment (RCAC) in 1945.
[edit] Communities
- Empress - named in 1913 for Queen Victoria, who was also Empress of India[7]
[edit] Education
In commemoration of Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee as Queen of Canada in 2002, the government of Alberta instituted the Queen's Golden Jubilee Scholarships for the Visual and Performing Arts, through Bill One, the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Recognition Act.[6] Three years later, when the Queen returned to Alberta for the province's centenary, the Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship Program was instituted to assist any Canadian citizens or permanent residents enrolled in a master or doctoral program at an Alberta university.[8]
Schools named for Canadian Sovereigns include:
- Queen Elizabeth Junior and Senior High School in Calgary, named for Queen Elizabeth II
Schools named for members of the Canadian Royal Family include:
[edit] Places of Interest
Fort Victoria was founded by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1864 and named for Queen Victoria; it is today a historical museum.
The Prince of Wales Hotel, located in Waterton Lakes National Park, is a chalet style hotel named for Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, in 1927. Other recreational facilities, though this time public, include the Queen Elizabeth Pool in Edmonton, the first municipal swimming pool in western Canada; opened in 1922 as the South Side Pool, the bath was located in Riverside Park. The pool was renamed after Queen Elizabeth to commemorate her royal visit to the city in 1939; the park was later renamed Queen Elizabeth Park.[9]
The Calgary to Edmonton length of Highway 2 was named the Queen Elizabeth II Highway, after the monarch's visit to the province in May 2005.
Lac Cardinal Provincial Park was renamed to Queen Elizabeth Provincial Park in 1978, to commemorate the monarch's visit.[10]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Queen's Printer
- 2005 Royal Visit to Alberta
- Alberta Tourism, Parks, Recreation and Culture: Provincial Archives of Alberta: Royal Visits - Film and Video Sources
[edit] References
- ^ CBC News: Queen pays tribute to Alberta's past; May 24, 2005
- ^ Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan: Lieutenant Governor's Standard
- ^ Legislative Assembly of Alberta: Alberta's Government House
- ^ Government of Alberta: History
- ^ Government of Alberta: 1939 Royal Visit captured in a one-of-a-kind diary; May 19, 2005
- ^ a b Hoople, Chelsea; Canadian Monarchist News: Alberta honours its citizens in the name of the Queen; Autumn, 2002
- ^ The Canadian Encyclopedia:Victoria
- ^ Government of Alberta: Scholarship to commemorate Royal Visit to Alberta; May 25, 2005
- ^ Proby, Jocelyn; Alberta Centennial: Queen Elizabeth Pool - the oldest municipal pool in Western Canada
- ^ Alberta Community Development (2005). Queen Elizabeth Provincial Park. Retrieved on March 6, 2007.
