Is She Dead? Written by Davide Mastracci - September 8, 2022

Good morning, Passengers. As you probably know, it looks like the queen will die soon or is already dead. As a result, I’ll be sharing a couple pieces from the Passage archives today critiquing the so-called Royal Family and the way they’re covered in Canadian media. We also have the latest article from Passage columnist Nora Loreto.  Enjoy!

ARCHIVE: Down With The Queen And Her Parasitic Family

Karen Geier | Passage | February 2020

Passage launched on Feb. 4, 2020. Here’s an article we published that day, arguing that “the Monarchy is a representation of what makes Canada’s history shameful and rotten,” and that “it’s time we parted ways.” The article offers some history about the monarchy and the family currently leading it that you may not know about, and makes a convincing case for Canada separating from it, something I hope you won’t need much convincing to believe.  Karen Geier writes, “The fact that an unelected, appointed representative of the Queen makes our bills become laws should concern anyone who cares about democracy. Having a regent or an appointed regent in situ means the will of the people can be taken away for a monarch’s caprice. Famously, Royal Assent was withheld in Saskatchewan in 1961 by the province’s lieutenant governor over a bill redefining mineral contracts. It has happened before, and there’s no legal impediment to it happening again. Why isn’t Canada’s prime minister signing our laws into effect, and being held directly responsible for them? Canadians deserve to have an elected head of state who ensures lawmaking reflects Canadians’ decisions.” (7 minute read)

ARCHIVE: Canadian Media Is Working Hard To Celebrate Our Colonial History

Davide Mastracci | Passage | April 2021

Last year’s media coverage of the death of Philip Mountbatten, husband and cousin to Elizabeth Windsor, was awful. I wrote about it at the time, arguing that “like any good former colonial subject, our state media and its private counterparts have been pumping out praise of Philip since his death.” I think this article serves as a good critique of this coverage and a reminder of how the media is likely to behave in coming weeks. Of course, I think things will be much worse this time around, though. I wrote, “Canadian media coverage following Philip’s death has effectively worked to help cement a positive legacy, and in doing so ignored the majority of people, throughout Canada and internationally, who have far less positive things to say about the man and the institution he represents. This coverage has, in fact, effectively portrayed these people as not ‘real’ Canadians, which isn’t exactly a surprise given that praise for the monarchy is literally required to become one.” (6 minute read)