Queen Elizabeth II has been one constant in a world of change. Now, for the first time in decades, change has come to the throne because of her death.
“We went through this 70 years ago,” said Keith Roy with the Monarchist League of Canada.
“Most of us weren’t there to go through it, but the crown has been going on for over 1,000 years and so there’s a very robust system. It’s ready to handle this transition.”
And that system means practical changes, with new protocols already being implemented all across the country.
‘The main things that you will see different — I would anticipate — are stamps, portraits in government buildings and overall references,” Roy said.
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He said over time, we will also likely see changes to Canada’s $20 bill, coins and passports.
“The bigger issues are more inside the legislature,” Roy said. “The legislation, how it’s drafted, what it says, the citizenship oath, those are some big things that will change fairly quickly.”
Another big change is the name of Alberta’s highest court.
“The name of the website has been changed (from the Court of Queen’s Bench) to the Court of King’s Bench,” said Danielle Boisvert, the president of the Criminal Trial Lawyers’ Association. “Their twitter has changed to the Court of King’s Bench… all of their forms with have to change very quickly.
“If it has the wrong name on it, it’s going to get bounced by the clerk and the client risks sitting in jail for longer until we can get those things fixed.”
It’s a new adjustment Boisvert said will take some getting used to.
“Everybody that practises now has never had anything other than a queen,” she said.
“We don’t have any lawyers that have been practising for more than 70 years, so it will definitely be a big change for everybody.”
While the changes will come at a cost, Roy said they won’t be too expensive.
“The cost of this transition would be significantly less (than the) cost of an American administration changing,” he said.
More information on the changes in Alberta can be found on the Alberta government’s website.