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Comment by bobsmooth | Hacker News Reader

We do not have the same king. The King of Great Brittan is not the King of Canada, they just happen to be the same person. Is the US also part of the British Empire?

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Obviously not as US does not have king in their legal system at all.

And the UK has no influence on Canadian governance.

the king can call you to war right?

No, only parliament can declare war. And the King of Canada is a different role than the King of the UK, as explained many times in the thread.

but he's commander in chief. and he confirms / dissolves parliament. so when it matters, as in war time, he can . I don't appreciate the condescension in either case. It's not like his powers are easy to understand. They exist, though not commonly exercised.

> so when it matters, as in war time, he can

I looked it up, and you are kinda right in the theory of it, and I was wrong in the practice of it. The practical power lies with the Cabinet.

From Wikipedia:

"A declaration of war by Canada [...] is an exercise of the royal prerogative on the constitutional advice of the ministers of the Crown in Cabinet and does not require the direct approval of the Parliament of Canada, though such can be sought by the government."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_war_by_Canada

thanks for checking on that and letting me know. In a way it's good that it's a bit ambiguous and hasn't been tested in a while.

that's not what fox news says

Canada is no longer part of the British Empire. Neither is the US, since the end of the War of Independence. That’s what independence means.

Great, tell ozim that.

Well I did not expect the thread to be that good ... but I am definitely going to get popcorn out to eat while I read all the people telling me that :)

Ha! Yeah, Canadians are quick and eager to describe their independence from the UK, relatively fresh as it is :)

Americans had 200 year dramatic and violent head start and everyone has figured that out by now. The details of Canada’s status are understandably less well known.

So your question was rhetorical. Not totally obvious to me, and I answered it as if it was a normal question.

Then why on earth does Canada still put British monarchs on their money? Follow up question, why doesn't the US do it?

Canada doesn't. It puts Canadian monarchs on its coins. The fact that they are physically the same person as the British monarch is incidental.

I’ve been to Canada, and the people strangely have a wildly different accent than their own monarchs for some reason.

The vast majority of people in the UK also have a wildly different accent from their monarchs.

To be complete, Elizabeth is still on a lot of Canadian money, and she was the Queen of the UK with dominion over Canada until 1984, when she became Queen of Canada, and the UK crown lost dominion over Canada.

So Elizabeth was a British monarch on Canadian money, and Canadian monarch on Canadian money, uniquely.

Of course she is no longer put on newly made money.

King Charles holds the title of King of Canada!

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