Well, here it is. The event we have all been waiting for.
Throughout The Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Twelve, Albertans will have the opportunity to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s ascension to the throne.
I’m ever so pleased.
This is our chance to tell once again the heart-warming story of a young girl who persevered beyond all odds.
Born on a mountaintop in Tennessee, the greatest day in the land of the free... oh, wait, that was Davy Crocket.
Elizabeth’s story is much more, shall we say, refined. She was born into immense wealth. She became queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis, not because of anything she did, but because her father happened to be king. She then stubbornly refused to die or retire for 60 years. The end.
It’s just the sort of rags to riches story that we love here in the Commonwealth’s furthest backwater. She truly is a model of dignity and grace to remind us all that rich people are better.
The only thing more ridiculous than royalty is the idea that now, as our country struggles to climb out of a recession, we should be spending obscene amounts of money on promoting the royals.
In 2010, taxpayers shelled out an extra $1.1 million just for the Canada Day party in Ottawa because the Queen was in town.
Last year, the government of Alberta doled out $231,354 to play host to Prince William and his wife Catherine during the Calgary Stampede.
The Canada-wide Will-and-Kate-orama cost the RCMP $1 million and the federal government $1.2 million.
On Feb. 6, the government of Alberta organized a Diamond Jubilee Medal ceremony. The medals recognize “citizens of all ages and walks of life who have made significant contributions to their communities.” It doesn’t sound self-serving at all, does it? Except for the fact that the first medal went to Premier Alison Redford, who has yet to win a general election.
Next up on the list of Jubilee junkets are garden parties in Edmonton, June 2 and Calgary, July 21. More events are being organized. Prince Charles and his wife Camilla will be visiting Canada at some point this year, presumably so they won’t wreck Elizabeth’s entire Jubilee year back in jolly ol’ England, but details of the trip have yet to be released.
The Government of Canada has budgeted $7.5 million for events and festivities related to the 2012 Jubilee, of which $3.5 million is going to the Jubilee Medals that Premier Redford was so eager to get her hands on.
When is enough enough?
Regular readers of my column don’t often hear me say this, but here it is anyway: Thank God for the NDP and Separatists.
While our so-called Conservative and PC governments are happy to throw millions away promoting royalty, six Quebec MPs, including all four Bloc Quebecois and two from the NDP, declined Jubilee medals. Bloc MP Louis Plamondon told CTV that giving medals to politicians is a waste of money.
“Me being here (as MP) for seven months – (is it) worth the medal? Why? If I am re-elected, if the people in my riding think I am doing a good job representing them, then that’s my medal,” he said.
If you’re keeping track at home, that’s common sense from an uncommon source in the House of Commons.
It’s almost like we don’t need the royals at all.
