Trudeau says Charles is 'deeply aligned' with Canadian priorities on environment, reconciliation
CBC
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he think Canada's new head of state is aligned with the priorities of many Canadians on issues like the environment and reconciliation with Indigenous people.
Trudeau and a group of other Canadians — including Gov. Gen. Mary Simon — attended the coronation of King Charles III on Saturday, and the prime minister spoke to media before departing home to Canada on Sunday.
Trudeau said he knew Charles as "someone who has been deeply committed to protecting and preserving nature, as someone who has shown a remarkable opennesss, understanding of the challenges of the colonial history that the Crown has been wrapped up in."
"The work that he has done in reaching out to Indigenous leaders over the past number of years, including again this week, I think it shows that he is deeply aligned with some of the really fundamental priorities of Canadians."
Charles's accession to the throne has been met with a lukewarm response in much of the country, with polling suggesting that a majority of Canadians support not recognizing him as head of state.
Trudeau said last week that while there was plenty of conversation around whether to get rid of the monarchy in Canada, he saw little agreement on what the alternative would be and Canadians were focused on other things.
And Simon told CBC's The House, in an interview that aired Saturday, that Canadians should give Charles a chance to prove himself as King.
John Craig, a professor of British and English history at Vancouver's Simon Fraser University, said most Canadians likely don't think about the monarchy much at all.
"Apart from the odd visit from one member of the working royal family or another, it seems totally remote from people's lives," he said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
However, Craig also said he doesn't sense a "real groundswell of interest" for changing Canada's constitutional arrangement, from either citizens or politicians.
Canadians got a first hand look at Charles when the then-prince toured Canada with his wife, Camilla, in 2021. The two toured Newfoundland and Labrador, Ottawa and the Northwest Territories.
It's unclear when the King will make his next visit to Canada. Speaking to CBC's Power & Politics on Friday, Canada's top envoy to the U.K. said he believed the trip would happen "relatively quickly."
"I know there is serious conversation going on right now about when the first available date would be for a journey to Canada," said Ralph Goodale.
Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc