Editing Monarchy of Canada (section)

===The Canadian Crown===
[[File:George VI visits Woodbine Race Track.jpg|thumb|King George VI and Queen Elizabeth attending the [[King's Plate]] in Toronto during their 1939 royal tour]]

King George VI became in 1939 the first reigning monarch of Canada to [[1939 royal tour of Canada|tour the country]], doing so with his wife, [[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother|Queen Elizabeth]]. Only weeks later, the King, on the advice of his Canadian Prime Minister, [[Canadian declaration of war on Germany|declared war on Nazi Germany]].<ref>{{Citation |url=https://publications.gc.ca/collections/Collection-R/LoPBdP/BP/bp303-e.htm |last=Rossignol |first=Michael |title=Parliament, the ''National Defence Act'', and the Decision to Participate |date=August 1992 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=8 February 2023}}</ref> Throughout [[World War II|the conflict]], George boosted the [[morale]] of his Canadian troops<ref>{{Citation |url=https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/themes/defence/caf/militaryhistory/dhh/official/book-1948-army-1939-1945-en.pdf |last=Stacey |first=C.P. |title=The Canadian Army 1939 - 1945 |date=1948 |journal=The Canada Gazette |publisher=King's Printer |location=Ottawa |pages=6, 13, 148, 182 |access-date=8 February 2023}}</ref> while Governor General [[Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone|the Earl of Athlone]] (the King's uncle) supported the war effort in Canada. The men were occasionally assisted in their efforts by other members of the royal family.
[[File:Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip sit on thrones before a full Parliament.jpg|thumb|Queen [[Elizabeth II]], wearing her [[Coronation gown of Elizabeth II|coronation gown]], with [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|Prince Philip]] during the opening of the [[23rd Canadian Parliament]], October 1957]]

[[Elizabeth II]] undertook her first tour of Canada in 1951, when Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh. She would go on to officiate at various moments of importance in the nation's history: She opened Parliament in 1957<ref>{{Harvnb|Bousfield|Toffoli|2002|pp=11–16}}</ref>—on the same tour, delivering, from Rideau Hall, her first-ever [[live television]] broadcast<ref>{{Harvnb|Bell|Bousfield|Toffoli|2007|p=135}}</ref>—and in 1977; opened the [[St. Lawrence Seaway]] in 1959;<ref name=CHP/> celebrated [[Canadian centennial|Canada's centennial]];<ref name=CHP/> and proclaimed the country to be fully independent, via constitutional [[patriation]], in 1982.<ref name=MacLeod11/> That act is said to have entrenched the monarchy in Canada,<ref>{{Harvnb|MacLeod|2015|p=12}}</ref> due to the stringent amending formula that must be followed in order to alter the monarchy in any way.<ref name=ElizabethII1982/>

Through the 1960s and 1970s, the rise of [[Quebec nationalism]] and changes in [[Canadian identity]] created an atmosphere where the purpose and role of the monarchy [[Debate on the monarchy in Canada|came into question]]. Some references to the monarch and the monarchy were removed from the public eye and moves were made by the federal government to constitutionally alter the Crown's place and role in Canada, first by explicit legal amendments and later by subtle attrition.{{Refn|<ref name=GardnerRight/><ref>{{Cite news |last=Joyal |first=Serge |author-link=Serge Joyal |title=Diminishing the Crown |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=10 June 2010 |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/diminishing-the-crown/article1598033  |access-date=13 August 2010 |location=Toronto |archive-date=12 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100812141544/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/diminishing-the-crown/article1598033  |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=Tidridge19>{{Harvnb|Tidridge|2011|p=19}}</ref>}} But, provincial and federal ministers, along with loyal [[Monarchism in Canada|national citizen's organizations]], ensured that the system remained the same in essence.<ref>{{Harvnb|Phillips|2004|p=20}}</ref>

The Queen publicly expressed her personal support for the [[Meech Lake Accord]], which attempted to bring Quebec governmental support to the patriated constitution.<ref>{{Citation |last=Geddes |first=John |title=The day she descended into the fray |magazine=Maclean's |edition=Special Commemorative Edition: The Diamond Jubilee: Celebrating 60 Remarkable years |date=2012 |page=72 |publisher=Rogers Communications}}</ref> The accord failed, prompting Elizabeth to deliver a nationally-broadcast speech in Ottawa supporting Canadian unity.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/interactive/royalvisits/56.html |title=Royal Visits to Canada |publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] |access-date=7 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061128235245/http://www.cbc.ca/news/interactive/royalvisits/56.html |archive-date=28 November 2006}}</ref> In the lead-up to the [[1995 Quebec independence referendum|referendum on Quebec independence]] in 1995, the Queen was tricked by [[Pierre Brassard|a Montreal radio DJ]] into revealing her desire to see the "no" side win, offering to help however she could.<ref>{{Harvnb|Boyce|2008|p=37}}</ref><ref name=BousfieldMC>{{Cite journal |last=Bousfield |first=Arthur |title=A Queen Canada Should be Proud Of |journal=Monarchy Canada |publisher=Monarchist League of Canada |location=Toronto |date=April 1996 |url=http://www.monarchist.ca/mc/queenpr.htm |access-date=7 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080919121013/http://www.monarchist.ca/mc/queenpr.htm |archive-date=19 September 2008}}</ref> Elizabeth followed the results closely on the day of the vote.<ref name=BousfieldMC/>

Members of the royal family continued to be present at important national events through the decades: the Queen in 1970, 1971, and 1973, respectively, marked the anniversaries of [[Manitoba]], [[British Columbia]], and [[Prince Edward Island]] becoming Canadian provinces; celebrated [[Ontario]]'s and [[New Brunswick]]'s bicentennials in 1984 and the 125th anniversary of Confederation in 1992; and she opened the [[1976 Summer Olympics]] in [[Montreal]]<ref name=CHP/> and [[Legislative Assembly of Nunavut|Nunavut's parliament]] in 1999. [[Charles III|Prince Charles, Prince of Wales]], attended the 100th anniversary of [[Treaty 7]] in 1977; commemorated in 1983 the bicentennial of [[United Empire Loyalists]] settling in New Brunswick and [[Nova Scotia]]; and, with [[Diana, Princess of Wales]], opened [[Expo 86]] in [[Vancouver]]. Between them, the Queen and her family opened numerous [[Commonwealth Games]], [[Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting]]s, conferences, hospitals, community centres, and the like; handed out [[The Duke of Edinburgh Award]]s at ceremonies across the country, and visited many regiments and branches of the [[Canadian Armed Forces]].<ref>{{Citation |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/past-royal-tours.html |author=Government of Canada |title=Private and official tours since 1953 |date=23 August 2017 |publisher=King's Printer for Canada |access-date=6 February 2023}}</ref>