What King Charles’s Historic Speech Means

In 1957, Queen Elizabeth II came to Canada with the glow of a young reign and the promise of a rising global order. Her speech from the throne was all about post-war alliances—the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the United Nations, the Commonwealth. Canada was stepping out into the world with confidence. By 1977, the tone shifted. Gone was the sense of optimism, and in its place there was a quiet unease as the queen’s speech focused on unemployment, inflation, and the struggle to steady a country in economic turbulence. On Tuesday, wearing his Order of Canada medallion and arriving with all the pomp and ceremony of a twenty-eight-horse parade and twenty-one-gun military salute, King Charles III addressed both houses for the opening of Canada’s forty-fifth Parliament—only the second monarch to do so in Canadian history. Called the “Speech from the Throne” because of the official throne chair reserved for the sovereign or their representative, the governor general, the speech must take place before the House of Commons or Senate can begin or resume government business.

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The timing of the speech isn’t a coincidence—it’s a statement. “Canada is facing challenges that are unprecedented in our lifetimes,” said the king. Donald Trump is back in the White House. America, a longstanding democratic ally, feels like a threat. And just as it did with his mother, Canada turns to the Crown in periods of distress to help hold things together—whether or not all Canadians welcome it. “The Crown has for so long been a symbol of unity for Canada,” the king said. “It also represents stability and continuity from the past to the present.” But trouble with our southern neighbours is not the only issue Canada faces. At home, fears of a recession grow as high interest rates, rising living costs, and inflation continue to squeeze households. There is growing discontentment in the west. Recently, Premier Danielle Smith stated Albertans could have the opportunity to hold a provincial referendum on the question of separation in 2026. “We just want to be free. Free to develop and export that incredible wealth of resources we have for the benefit of our families and future generations,” she said. (Interestingly, Queen Elizabeth’s 1977 throne speech also mentioned discontent from those “living in the west who have contributed much to Canada yet believe their voice is little heard by others.”) Doubling down on the Crown could be seen as an odd choice. For years, polls have tracked Canadians’ growing unease with the monarchy and rising interest in cutting ties with the Commonwealth. In April 2022, five months before her death, an Angus Reid poll found more than 60 percent of Canadians viewed Queen Elizabeth II favourably. But even then, 51 percent said they didn’t want Canada to remain a constitutional monarchy for the coming generations. With King Charles, the numbers dropped off a cliff. Ahead of his coronation in 2023, his favourability hovered around 28 percent. An Abacus poll that year found 64 percent would vote to cut ties with the monarchy entirely. But as annexation threats from the United States grew more serious, there has been a slight shift in public opinion. In March, a Research Co. poll showed that support for keeping the monarchy had ticked up to 31 percent—an eight-point jump in just a year. Ipsos just released a poll this month that shows 66 percent of respondents think “Canada’s relationship with the monarchy is useful because it helps to keep us different from the United States.” In a country long assumed to have outgrown the royal institution, the rise suggests minds may be changing. One reason is that Prime Minister Mark Carney seems to be betting on big symbols to stoke a sense of national pride. The throne speech lands just as Canada finds itself adjusting to a new global order. “My government will focus on keeping Canada secure as a sovereign nation and Canadians safe in their communities,” Carney said in early May, after making a sharper statement in his victory speech: Canada’s “old relationship with the United States . . . is over.” While the king’s speech mentioned Canada’s new “economic and security relationship” with the US, it also affirmed the country’s attempts to “strengthen its relationships with reliable trading partners and allies around the world.” That broader ambition was reflected in Carney’s very first moves on the international stage. Just days after taking office, he boarded a plane to England and then to France before returning to Iqaluit. It was his first official trip as prime minister: Canada’s two founding colonial powers visited in quick succession, with trade and security high on the agenda. The United Kingdom was Canada’s third largest economic partner in 2024, with bilateral commerce hitting $61 billion. By contrast, the Canada–US border saw $3.6 billion in goods and services move across it daily in 2023 alone—dwarfing every other trade partner. But in a time where Canada can’t rely on its American neighbour, Carney’s government looks to be staging a diplomatic reorientation. Indeed, much of the throne speech focused on this reorientation. “A confident Canada,” the king said, “can seize this opportunity by recognizing that all Canadians can give themselves far more than any foreign power on any continent can ever take away.” Carney has himself framed the king’s visit as nothing less than a signal of national strength. “Canada has a steadfast defender in our sovereign,” he said ahead of the appearance. At a press conference, he leaned into the symbolism: “This is an historic honour that matches the weight of our times.” The throne speech, he added, “clearly underscores the sovereignty of our country.” But other sovereignties need to be recognized too. Since the beginning of Trump’s threats, Assembly of First Nations national chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak has called for the president to respect and uphold First Nations’ “inherent and sovereign rights” on both sides of the border. Woodhouse Nepinak has also called for the federal government to include First Nations leaders alongside premiers in its plans to combat tariffs. “It is time for First Ministers to unlock their doors and bring the First Peoples of this land into the conversation,” she said in a March statement. And as Canada looks to increase its military presence in the North, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Natan Obed has said repeatedly that Inuit must be part of these conversations. “I would like for us to take our rightful place as Inuit rights holders,” Obed said in an interview with the CBC in April, “not only domestically, internally, but also to the world.” Perhaps in a response to these concerns, Indigenous representation featured prominently throughout the visit. Upon their arrival, the King and Queen Camilla were welcomed by leaders Woodhouse Nepinak, Obed, Métis National Council president Victoria Pruden, and Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation chief Greg Sarazin, as well as by a drum group, Eagle River Singers, and Algonquin Elders, including residential school survivors Eddie and Jackie Cote. The lead-up to the throne speech also incorporated Indigenous ceremony more visibly than ever before, with performances by the First Nations drum group the Ottawa River Singers and eighteen-year-old Metis fiddler Morgan Grace, as well as the lighting of a qulliq, the traditional Inuit oil lamp, by Elder Reverend Aigah Attagutsiak. The king opened by acknowledging Algonquin Anishinaabe territory, stating his hope that “in each of your communities, and collectively as a country, a path is found toward truth and reconciliation, in both word and deed.” But while the royal visit projected a message of inclusion and reconciliation, tensions remain on the ground. There is strong opposition within Alberta and the west to Smith’s separatist talk, particularly from First Nations, which say the movement disregards their own relationships to the land, protected through treaties signed with the Crown. “We’re very concerned by the rhetoric around separation, because it fundamentally forgets that we are the rightful owners of this land,” Trevor Mercredi, grand chief of Treaty 8, told reporters. On the morning of the royals’ arrival, dozens of First Nations chiefs gathered on Parliament Hill to send a message to the king to honour treaty obligations. “No Parliament should do anything to lessen the worth of these guarantees. They should be honored by the Crown in respect of Canada ‘so long as the sun rises and the river flows.’ That promise must never be broken,” Mercredi said in a media statement. In the face of all this, King Charles’s speech emphasized what Carney has stressed since taking office earlier this year: Canada is a united power that is not for sale. “As the anthem reminds us,” the king finished, “the True North is indeed strong and free.”The post What King Charles’s Historic Speech Means first appeared on The Walrus.