Monarchy in Ontario

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Queen in Right of Ontario
Monarchy
Provincial/State
Incumbent:
Elizabeth II
Queen of Canada

Style: Her Majesty
First monarch: Victoria
Formation: July 1, 1867

The Monarchy in Ontario is a legal entity formally known as the Crown in Right of Ontario, which serves as the institution from which the power of the state flows within the province of Ontario, forming the core of the province's Westminster system of constitutional monarchy and entire government. The present Canadian monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, since February 6, 1952, who is known within Ontario's legal jurisdiction as the Queen in Right of Ontario. As the monarch does not reside in Ontario, a vice-regal representative, the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, is appointed to carry out all the monarch's duties in the province.

The Crown in Right of Ontario was established with the British North America Act, 1867 (now the Constitution Act, 1867), though the governments of the previous incarnations of the province, going back to the establishment of the Province of Quebec in 1763, have been monarchical in nature, and historical links with the French and British Crowns extend back even further, to the early 1600s.

Contents

[edit] Constitutional monarchy in Ontario

The Queen with Prime Minister Jean Chrétien in Ottawa, Ontario, 1997.
The Queen with Prime Minister Jean Chrétien in Ottawa, Ontario, 1997.

Within the Canadian constitutional monarchy system the headship of state is not a part of either the federal or provincial jurisdictions[citation needed]; the Queen reigns impartially over the country as a whole. However, due to Canada's federal nature, each province in Canada, as with the federal government, derives its authority and sovereignty directly from the one Canadian monarch, meaning there effectively exists within the country eleven legally distinct crowns with one sovereign[citation needed]. Thus, Ontario has a separate government headed by the Queen; however, as a province, Ontario 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. His Honour The Honourable David Onley is the current Lieutenant Governor, having served since September 5, 2007. The viceroy is provided a residence in Toronto (should he or she require one), but a suite of offices and venues for entertaining and ceremonies is provided at Queen's Park. These structures and spaces belong to the Crown; they are held in trust for future rulers, and cannot be sold by the monarch.

Further information: Government House (Ontario)

The Crown in Right of Ontario performs a vast number of functions and duties central to the provincial government, judicial system, and system of honours, as well as owning provincial Crown corporations and Crown Land.

Further information: Monarchy in the Canadian provinces

[edit] Symbols

Images of St. Edward's, the Tudor, and King's Crown are visible on provincial symbols such as police badges (see the Ontario Provincial Police badge), and the Order of Ontario, 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 Crown is also included on the Lieutenant Governor's personal flag, or vice-regal standard, visible above the shield of the Arms of Her Majesty in Right of Ontario, which, in turn, is surrounded by ten gold maple leafs, symbolizing the ten provinces.

Monuments to members of the Royal Family are located across the province. On the grounds of Queen's Park alone stand statues to King Edward VII, King George V, and Queen Victoria. On Parliament Hill in Ottawa is an equestrian sculpture of Queen Elizabeth II riding Centennial, a horse presented to the Queen by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 1977; it was the first equestrian statue of the Queen in the Commonwealth at the time of its unveiling in 1982. At that location there also stands a statue of Queen Victoria, sculpted by Louis-Philippe Hébert for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 1897.[1] Inside the Parliament Buildings, over the doors to the House of Commons, are busts of Henry VII and François I, the first monarchs officially considered as reigning in Canada. Along with them are depicted Louis XIV and George II. In the Library of Parliament stands a marble statue of Queen Victoria, and a bust of her looks over the Senate Chamber.

Statues of King George VI stand in Niagara Falls, and one to Queen Victoria in Hamilton.[2]

Further information: National symbols of CanadaCanadian royal symbols, and Flags of the Lieutenant Governors of Canada

[edit] Legal role

The Crown in Ontario forms the basis of the legal system in the province.

Members of the Legislative Assembly must swear an oath of allegiance to the monarch before taking their seats in the legislative chamber.[3]

[edit] Royal presence

Main article: Royal tours of Canada

Members of the Royal Family have been visiting Ontario since before Confederation, either as a royal tour, a vice-regal tour, or as a "working visit" (meaning in association with a charity or military organization instead of a state affair). Queen Elizabeth II has traveled to Ontario more than any other member of the Royal Family, touring all parts of the province from Windsor to Kapuskasing.[4]

[edit] History

King James VI & I, in whose name some of the original territories of Ontario were claimed.
King James VI & I, in whose name some of the original territories of Ontario were claimed.

The area that is today Ontario was claimed partly by Henry Hudson in the name of King James VI and I after 1611, along the shores of Hudson Bay, and partly by Samuel de Champlain in the name of King Louis XIV after 1615, in the area of the Great Lakes. With the Treaty of Paris in 1763, nearly all the lands of New France were ceded to the then British Crown.

After the American Revolution, approximately 46,000 people loyal to the Crown, dubbed Loyalists, fled the United States to the British colonies in present day Canada, about 10,000 of that group settling in the southern part of the Province of Quebec, where the Crown granted each family 200 acres (0.8 km²) of land. Thousands of Iroquois and other Native Americans were also expelled from New York and other states and resettled in what is now Ontario. The descendants of one such group of Iroquois, led by Joseph Brant Thayendenegea, settled at Six Nations of the Grand River, the largest First Nations Reserve in Canada. Their arrival led to the eventual creation of the province of Upper Canada, the forerunner to the modern day Ontario, through the Constitutional Act of 1791. Continuing today, Ontario residents descended from these original refugees retain the post-nominals UE, standing for United Empire. John Graves Simcoe was appointed Upper Canada's first Lieutenant-Governor in 1793. He stated in his address to the first Parliament of Upper Canada, in Niagara-on-the-Lake: "I have summoned you together, under the authority of an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain, passed last year, which has established the British Constitution, and all the forms which secure and maintain it, in this distant country."[5]

Into the early 1800s, a group of wealthy merchants, known colloquially as the Family Compact, began to gain political and financial control over the new province's affairs, controlling the government through Executive Council. This situation lead to the Upper Canada Rebellion in 1837, through the instigation of William Lyon Mackenzie; republicanism was a driving force behind Mackenzie's actions, however most colonists did not espouse a break with the Crown.[6] Mackenzie fled Toronto, with 200 supporters, and established, with the help of U.S. American sympathisers, the short-lived Republic of Canada on Navy Island, in the Niagara River. Though Upper Canada did not become an independent republic, responsible self-government was established by the Crown. This altered the nature of the Lieutenant-Governor's role - he was now both a representative of the Crown bound to almost always follow the advice of his Prime Minister, but he remained a representative in Canada West of the Imperial Government in London, meaning the Queen could disallow any colonial legislation on the advice of her British ministers.

Toronto was just three years old (previously having been known as York) when Victoria asceeded to the throne in June, 1837. Her birthday was a day for celebration in Ontario long before Confederation and the institution of Victoria Day. On May 24, 1854, 5,000 residents of Upper Canada gathered in front of Government House (near present day King and Simcoe Streets) to give cheers to their Queen.[7] The city grew during her reign, and in 1860 her son, Prince Edward (later King Edward VII) opened the prominent park in downtown Toronto, named for his mother, Queen's Park.

In 1867 came Confederation, and the Lieutenant Governor of the newly created province of Ontario, on the eastern border of which Queen Victoria named Ottawa as the national capital, became an agent of the Federal Government rather than of the government in Whitehall.

The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York travelled across Canada for two months in 1901, creating "incredible excitement seldom seen since the visit of his father [Edward VII] in 1860." One of the duties they undertook was to unveil the statue of Queen Victoria on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa.[8]

King George VI and his Royal Consort, Queen Elizabeth, walking through Queen's Park, Toronto, in May, 1939.
King George VI and his Royal Consort, Queen Elizabeth, walking through Queen's Park, Toronto, in May, 1939.

The Statute of Westminster was passed in 1931 with Canada as a signatory. This document established the concept of a divisible crown, bringing the separate Canadian Crown into existence. Since then the Ontario government has officially reflected the Canadian Crown through the appointments of Lieutenant-Governors.[9]

The Royal Yacht Britannia in Toronto harbour, 1959.
The Royal Yacht Britannia in Toronto harbour, 1959.

Queen Elizabeth II visited Toronto in June of 1973, as part of a larger tour of Canada. At a state dinner at the Royal York Hotel, the Queen encouraged diversity in the nation's growth and upheld the Crown as a link between "Canadian citizens of every national origin and ancestry." Four years following, then 16 year old Prince Andrew arrived in Ontario to attend Lakefield College School for one year, on an exchange program from Gordonstoun. He has maintained a link to the school, becoming a patron of the Friends of Lakefield College School and a trustee of the College.

Toronto was where Princes William and Harry joined their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, on board the Royal Yacht Britannia, after the ship had docked in the harbour in October, 1991. The reunion caused some controversy as Diana broke from the established protocol of not overtly showing emotion in public when she hugged her two children after they ran up the gangplank to meet her. After performing official duties in Toronto, including a formal dinner at the Royal York Hotel, the Royal Family then went on to visit Sudbury, Kingston and Ottawa.

Over the decades many members of the Royal Family toured Canada, including Ontario on the itinary. In 2001 Prince Charles visited Toronto and Ottawa, where his interactions with the crowds kept Prime Minister Jean Chrétien waiting for twenty minutes. It was reported that the media and public referred to Charles "almost casually" as "our future King."[citation needed]

Further information: Royal visits to Canada
The Queen Mother (centre), during a visit to Toronto, with Lieutenant-Governor John Black Aird (right), 1981
The Queen Mother (centre), during a visit to Toronto, with Lieutenant-Governor John Black Aird (right), 1981

In October, 2002, Queen Elizabeth II toured Ontario as part of her Golden Jubilee tour of Canada. The Queen traveled to Hamilton, Toronto, Oakville and Ottawa, meeting Ontarians at every stop. While in Toronto she attended the celebration of the CBC Television's coincidental 50th anniversary, and a "Festival of Ontario" at the CNE where the achievements and advancements of Ontario over the previous 50 years were highlighted. She also went to Sheridan College where she met with animation students, lunched with them and viewed their work.

It was the year following that a group, Citizens for a Canadian Republic, organized its first public demonstration in Toronto, at Queen's Park, on the sovereign's official birthday, Victoria Day. The group's goal is to replace the British monarch with a Canadian head of state for Canada. At the event, the group commemorated the Rebellions of 1837, which, despite failing to win Canada's independence, secured responsible government for the country.[10] The gathering became an annual event, one recurring theme being recanting that portion of the Oath of Citizenship in which allegiance is sworn to the sovereign, and his/her heirs and successors. A change to the name of Victoria Day has also been suggested. Attention was garnered in local and national media, despite low attendance. The following year, the Monarchist League of Canada's then chairman John Aimers defended the monarchy: "We don't take oath to an abstraction or a symbol such as a flag, because those can be changed. We've got it right here... We've got a form of government here that is stable in a world where so much is not."[11] Aimers has since been replaced.

In 2004 Prince Andrew was in Toronto twice to undertake a number of duties for various organizations and Armed Forces regiments. In May of that year he was invited by Lieutenant-Governor James Bartleman to come to Queen's Park to meet Ontarians of varying communities and ethnic groups. The Prince returned again in June, when he journeyed to CFB Borden to meet with the Queen's York Rangers, of which he is Colonel-in-Chief. He went, dressed in a Forces combat uniform, into the field to observe a tactical hide, and address the troops.[12] Two years later, in June, 2006, The Earl and Countess of Wessex toured Ontario; the Prince visiting Peterborough, Prince Edward County and Toronto, while his wife went to Welland to be installed as Colonel-in-Chief of the Lincoln and Welland Regiment, and joined her husband in Toronto, where the royal couple met with members of the Monarchist League of Canada and unveiled an Ontario Heritage Trust plaque celebrating the Toronto-Dominion Centre.[13]

Further information: History of monarchy in Canada

[edit] First Nations and the Crown

Mohawk Chapel, Brantford
Mohawk Chapel, Brantford

The Crown and Ontario First Nations have "walked hand in hand" in the development of the province of Ontario; the treaties making up the Covenant Chain ensured the preservation of the rights of First Nations peoples of Ontario, not provided elsewhere in the Americas.[14]

An early example of the Crown's protection of First Nations people in Ontario was during the American Revolution. As a consequence of the Mohawk Nation's alliance with the British, through being a part of the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy, the Mohawk peoples were forced from their lands in the Mohawk Valley, in present day New York State, by the revolutionaries. As compensation, the British Crown promised land in Upper Canada to those displaced by the war. In 1784 some Mohawks settled in what is now the Bay of Quinte and the Grand River valley, where North America's only two Royal chapels, Christ Church Royal Chapel of the Mohawks and Her Majesty's Chapel of the Mohawks in Brantford, were built to symbolize the connection between the Mohawk peoples and the Crown.

To commemorate a diplomatic visit to Queen Anne by the "Four Mohawk Kings", or the three Mohawk and one Mahicanin Chiefs of the Iroquoian Confederacy, in 1710, the portraits of the "Four Indian Kings" were painted by Jan Verelst. After they hung in Kensington Palace for almost 270 years, Queen Elizabeth II donated them to the Canadian Collection at the National Archives of Canada, unveiling them in Ottawa in 1977.

It seems history has come full circle. More than 200 years ago the Anishinabe people welcomed the first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, Sir John Graves Simcoe, to their territory. And now I, their descendant, am being welcomed by you as the Sovereign's representative, on the day set aside for all Canadians to celebrate the cultures of the aborigional peoples, and their numerous contributions to our society.[14]

— The Honourable James K. Bartleman, Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, 2001

Also, in 1984, as a bicentennial gift, Queen Elizabeth II gave the Christ Church Royal Chapel of the Mohawks a new silver chalice to replace one lost during the American Revolution. The lost chalice was from a set given to the Mohawks by Queen Anne in 1712 to embody the relationship between the Crown and Mohawk people.[15]

Lieutenant Governor James Barltleman was Ontario's first viceroy of First Nations descent, a member of the Mnjikaning First Nation. Responding to First Nations claims of inadequate funding for education, Bartleman listed the encouragement of indigenous young people as one of his key priorities, and during his term launched several initiatives to promote literacy and bridge building. He traveled to remote Native communities in northern Ontario to speak with First Nations leaders, and assess the conditions facing the Native peoples in that area of the province. He initiated the Lieutenant Governor's book Program in 2004, and raised over 1.4 million books which were flown into Ontario's north to stock the shelves of Native community libraries. He also instigated a program to pair up Native and non-Native schools in Ontario. This program was continued by Bartleman's successor, David Onley.

Further information: The Canadian Crown and First Nations, Inuit and Métis

[edit] Royal connections

Ontario's monarchical status is illustrated via associations between the Crown and many private organizations within the province, as well as through royal names applied to a plethora of regions, communities, schools, buildings, and monuments, many of which may also have a specific history with a member or members of the Royal Family.

[edit] Communities

Flag of Guelph, showing the white horse on a red background from the escutcheon of Hanover, and a royal crown on white beneath.
Flag of Guelph, showing the white horse on a red background from the escutcheon of Hanover, and a royal crown on white beneath.

The Crown's presence at the most local levels is demonstrated in part by royal and vice-regal namesakes chosen to be incorporated by communities across the province. Communities with royally or vice-regally associated named include:

Towns/cities named for Canadian sovereigns include:
Community Named for
Kingston King George III; by United Empire Loyalists
Victoria Corners Queen Victoria
Victoria Square Queen Victoria
Victoria Harbour Queen Victoria
Victoria Springs Queen Victoria
Victoria Lake Queen Victoria
Victoria Queen Victoria
Queenston Queen Victoria
Towns/cities named for members of the Canadian Royal Family include:
Community Named for
Queensville Queen Charlotte; in the 1770s by United Empire Loyalists
Towns/cities named for Canadian viceroys include:
Community Named for
Kemptville Governor General Sir James Kempt
Metcalfe Governor General Charles Metcalfe, 1st Baron Metcalfe
Other:
Community Named for
Guelph House of Guelph, the ancestral family of King George IV; it bears the nickname "The Royal City"

[edit] Education

The Crown has held a place of special significance throughout Ontario's history. The visit of our Queen serves as a reminder of this fact, and I believe it can be a more memorable occasion for our young citizens if it is supported by a meaningful learning experience.[5]

Thomas Leonard Wells, Ontario Minister of Education, 1973

For over 60 years the Department of Education (later the Ministry of Education) promoted homage to the monarchy and patriotism within the Commonwealth by setting aside one school day a year to observe Commonwealth traditions and ideals. Called "Empire Day," it was observed in May preceding Victoria Day, the official birthday of the reigning sovereign in Canada. Teaching aids and information were issued in published Empire Day pamphlets. Each issue included a message from the Minister of Education as well as specific instructions for teachers of children from kindergarten to Grade 8. This material ceased to be distributed in the early 1970s.[5]

At various levels of education within Ontario there exist a number of scholarships and academic awards either established by or named for members of the Royal Family, or have a royal patronage. In 1989 a fund was set up in Canada to establish the Robert T. Jones, Jr. Scholarships, which are based on academic ability and personal qualities. This scholarship allowed for an exchange between the University of St. Andrews and selected Canadian universities; initially, the student exchange was between the University of Western Ontario, in London, and in 1996 Queen's University, in Kingston, was added to the program. Prince Andrew became the patron of the Robert T. Jones, Jr. Scholarship Foundation.[16][17] Also, the Government of Ontario offers the Queen Elizabeth II Aiming for the Top Scholarship to award $3500 to students who have achieved high academic standings at the high school level.

Schools across the province are also named for Canadian sovereigns, royal family members, or either federal or provincial viceroys.

Schools named for Canadian sovereigns include:
School Location Named for
Queen Elizabeth II Public School Chatham Queen Elizabeth II
King George Community School King George VI
Queen Elizabeth School Belleville Queen Elizabeth II
Queen Elizabeth Public School Picton Queen Elizabeth II
King Edward School Kitchener King Edward VII
Schools named for members of the Canadian Royal Family include:
School Location Named for
Prince of Wales Public School Peterborough Prince Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII)
Duke of York School Toronto Albert, Duke of York (later King George VI)
Queen Alexandra Public School Toronto Queen Alexandra
Prince Charles Public School Newmarket Prince Charles, Prince of Wales
Princess Margaret Junior School Etobicoke Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
Prince Andrew Public School Denfield Prince Andrew, Duke of York
Connaught Public School Ottawa Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
Queen Elizabeth School Kitchener Queen Elizabeth
Queen Elizabeth Public Ottawa Queen Elizabeth
Queen Mary Street Public Ottawa Queen Mary
Schools named for Canadian viceroys include:
School Location Named for
Ecole Jeanne-Sauvé Orléans Governor General Jeanne Sauvé
Vincent Massey Public School Ottawa Governor General Vincent Massey
Viscount Alexander Public School Ottawa Governor General Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis
General Vanier Public School Ottawa Governor General Georges Vanier
Vincent Massey Secondary School Windsor Governor General Vincent Massey
Georges Vanier Catholic School Belleville Governor General Georges Vanier
Michaëlle Jean Public School Barrhaven Governor General Michaëlle Jean
Other:
School Location Named for
Regina Street Public School Ottawa queens regnant and consort of Canada

Some other scholastic institutions with royal associations include the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, which was founded in 1886, though was constituted through royal charter by King George VI in 1947. Further, the Toronto French School is under the patronage of Queen Elizabeth II, and Prince Andrew, Duke of York is patron of Lakefield College School, where he was a student in 1977.

[edit] Landmarks

Ontario's monarchical status is illustrated via associations between the Crown and many private organizations within the province, as well as through royal names applied to a plethora of regions, communities, schools, buildings, and monuments, many of which may also have a specific history with a member or members of the Royal Family.

Ontario has at least 47 distinct features with named for Queen Victoria: one county, one township, 14 populated places, and 31 physical features.[18] There also exists the Victoria electoral district, and the major thoroughfare of Queen Street in Toronto was named for the sovereign in 1851. Both King George VI and his daughter Queen Elizabeth II, travelled down this street in open cars to greet Torontonians in 1939 and 1957, respectively.

The Queen Elizabeth Way Monument, with the effigies of Queen Elizabeth and King George VI.
The Queen Elizabeth Way Monument, with the effigies of Queen Elizabeth and King George VI.

Further on the theme of streets and highways, the largest bridge in Toronto, crossing the Don Valley, and completed in 1918, is named the Prince Edward Viaduct, after the then Prince of Wales, Prince Edward, who visited Canada the year following the bridge's completion. Twenty years later, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, during their 1939 royal tour, dedicated the site of the Rainbow Bridge between Canada and the United States at Niagara Falls; a monument at the site marks the occasion. Running from near the site of the Rainbow Bridge, on the Ontario border with the United States at Fort Erie, to the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto, is the Queen Elizabeth Way, completed in 1939, and named for Queen Elizabeth, consort of King George VI; their Majesties opened the highway, and were the first people to traverse its length. While there, the royal couple also dedicated the Queen Elizabeth Way Monument at the Toronto end of the highway, which bears the effigies of the King and Queen, along with a St. Edward's Crown. At the base is inscribed the words:

"The Queen Elizabeth Way was opened by the King and Queen in June, 1939, marking the first visit of a reigning sovereign to a sister Dominion of the Empire. The courage and resolution of Their Majesties in undertaking the royal visit in face of imminent war have inspired the people of this province to complete this work in the Empire's darkest hour, in full confidence of victory and a lasting peace."

The monument was moved in the mid 1970s in order to accommodate widening of the original QEW, and is now located in the nearby Sir Casimir Gzowski Park, along Lake Ontario, on the east side of the Humber River; Queen Elizabeth, by then the Queen Mother, returned to re-dedicate the monument in 1989. The pair also dedicated the decorative stone pillars on the eastern approach to the Henley Bridge in St. Catherines, each consisting of a regal lion bearing a unique shield. In Toronto's west end is The Kingsway neighbourhood, began in the early 1900s, which contains streets such as Queen Anne Road and Kingsgarden Road.

Sign for the Queen Elizabeth Way, bearing the St. Edward's Crown
Sign for the Queen Elizabeth Way, bearing the St. Edward's Crown

Many parks and gardens across Ontario are named for members of the Royal Family, including the Queen Elizabeth II Garden in Jackson Park, Windsor, the Queen Elizabeth II Gardens at Upper Canada Village, near Morrisburg, and Queen Victoria Park in Niagara Falls, from which tourists view the falls. The Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Provincial Park, a 335 km² park, one of the largest, least disturbed natural areas in central Ontario, located near Gravenhurst, was named after the sovereign in honour of her Golden Jubilee in 2002,[19] as was the Golden Jubilee Park, in Haliburton, named for Elizabeth's 50th anniversary of accession. At Queenston Heights, the Brock Monument was dedicated to Major General Sir Isaac Brock by Prince Edward (later King Edward VII) in 1860.[20] Similarly, the National War Memorial in Ottawa was dedicated by Edward's brother, King George VI, in 1939; the Queen and successive members of the Royal Family have visited the national memorial whenever in Ottawa to lay a wreath and conduct a moment of silence. Elizabeth II herself dedicated Ottawa Memorial in 1959.

In Ontario's capital city can be found an array of buildings with names and histories associated with the Royal Family. For instance, the King Edward Hotel, as well as the Royal Alexandra Theatre (having letters patent from King Edward VII entitling it to the royal designation; its present owners believe that it is the only remaining legally "royal theatre" in North America), and Princess of Wales Theatre, named for Diana, Princess of Wales. Where the Royal York now stands, the current hotel where the Queen and members of the Royal Family stay when in Toronto, was once the site of the Queen's Hotel, where all Victorians of note stayed, including the then Prince of Wales.[21] The Royal Ontario Museum was granted a royal title by King George V in 1914, and opened by Governor General Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, third son of Queen Victoria. The institution has been under the patronage of the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario since that date. There can also be found in Toronto, the 1936 built Canada Post Station K, which bears the rarely found insignia of Edward VIII, who was King of Canada for only eleven months in 1936.

The main ceremonial entrance to the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) grounds, Exhibition Place, is known as the Princes' Gates, named in honour of Edward, Prince of Wales, and his brother, Prince George, who both officially opened the gates on August 31, 1927. Earlier in the month the two opened Union Station in downtown Toronto.[22] The CNE grounds also contain the Queen Elizabeth II Building, and the Princess Margaret Fountain.

Both King's College (later the University of Toronto) and Queen's University were founded by Royal Charter, the former in 1827 and the latter in 1841. After fire destroyed the University of Toronto Library in 1890, Queen Victoria and members of the Royal Family (including her grandson Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany) gave money for the restoration.[23] The Toronto preparatory school Upper Canada College was also founded by Royal Charter in 1829; Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh currently serves as the school's official visitor, having performed his duties as such in 1979, to celebrate the school's sesquicentennial, and again in 1994 to open the gymnasium and dedicate the new college gates at the head of Avenue Road.

outside of Toronto, the Soldiers' Memorial Hospital in Orillia holds the Princess Elizabeth Wing. The Prince of Wales Hotel is in Niagara-on-the-Lake, and the Prince George Hotel is located in downtown Kingston, where Princess Street can also be found. Further, in Kingston, on the grounds of the Royal Military College, is Fort Frederick, named for Frederick, Prince of Wales.

[edit] Royal designation and patronage

Organizations in Ontario may be founded by a Royal Charter, receive a "royal" prefix, and/or be honoured with the patronage of a member of the Royal Family.

For example, Princess Margaret Hospital in downtown Toronto is named for Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, and was under her patronage. Similarly, Women's College Hospital was under the patronage of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. Royal events include the Prince of Wales Stakes in Fort Erie, and the Queen's Plate and Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto.

Further information: Monarchy in the Canadian provinces: Royal designation, charter and patronage

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Explore the hill - Statues. A Treasure to Explore: Parliament Hill. Government of Canada (2007-06-07). Retrieved on 2007-09-15.
  2. ^ Royal Statues. Canadian Royal Heritage Trust.
  3. ^ Committee Transcripts: Standing Committee on the Legislative Assembly - April 10, 1996 - Bill 22, Legislative Assembly Oath of Allegiance Act, 1995
  4. ^ Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II: Pomp and Ceremony - Decorations and Decorum. Archives of Ontario. Retrieved on 2007-09-15.
  5. ^ a b c Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II: Empire Day. Archives of Ontario. Retrieved on 2007-09-15.
  6. ^ Philips, Stephen (2003). "The Emergence of A Canadian Monarchy: 1867-1953" (PDF). Canadian Monarchist News (Summer). 
  7. ^ Kilbourn, William (1984). Toronto Remembered. Toronto: Stoddart, 105. ISBN 0773720294. 
  8. ^ The Royal Presence in Canada - A Historical Overview. Department of Canadian Heritage (2005-04-29). Retrieved on 2007-09-15.
  9. ^ Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II: The Monarchy as an Institution within Ontario. The Monarchy in Ontario. Archives of Ontario. Retrieved on 2007-09-15.
  10. ^ 2003 Scheduled Events. Citizens for a Canadian Republic. Retrieved on 2007-09-15.
  11. ^ Mollins, Julie. "Give Victoria Day another name, group says", Edmonton Journal, 2004-05-22. 
  12. ^ "HRH Duke of York visits the Monarchist League" (PDF) (2003). Canadian Monarchist News (Summer). 
  13. ^ HRH The Earl of Wessex unveils provincial plaque celebrating the Toronto-Dominion Centre. Ontario Heritage Trust (2006-08-14). Retrieved on 2007-09-15.
  14. ^ a b Remarks by the Honourable James K. Bartleman; National Aborigional Day celebration; June 21, 2002 (PDF) (2002-06-21).
  15. ^ The Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte. Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. Retrieved on 2007-09-15.
  16. ^ Educational organizations under the patronage of the Duke of York. Retrieved on 2007-09-15.
  17. ^ The Canadian Robert T. Jones, Jr. Scholarship Foundation. Retrieved on 2007-09-15.
  18. ^ Rayburn, Alan "Victoria". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved on 2007-09-15. 
  19. ^ Queen Elizabeth II Woodlands Park. Ministry of Natural Resources (2002-10-09).
  20. ^ Toffoli, Gary (1998-10-08). CBC's Attack on Canadian Heritage. Monarchy Canada. Retrieved on 2007-09-15.
  21. ^ Kilbourn, William (1984). Toronto Remembered. Toronto: Stoddart, 122. ISBN 0773720294. 
  22. ^ Filey, Mike (2007-08-05). Union Station turns 80. Toronto Sun.
  23. ^ Bousfield, Arthur; Garry Toffoli (2004). Let's Get It Right! : Facts About Canada's Monarchy. Canadian Royal Heritage Trust. Retrieved on 2007-09-15.