Louis Epstein
In alt.fan.tolkien David Flood <NOSPAMmaoltuile@utvinternet.ie>wrote: : "paulh" <aa@microsoft.com>wrote in message : news:puhdauot0l664g651kafll5iend6s7clp4@4ax.com... :>On Sun, 31 Mar 2002 05:18:20 GMT, spam@nospam.com (AC) wrote: :>>>>>possibly others.. :>>>> :>>>>Canada, Jamaica, Bahamas... :>>> :>>>I thought Canada was a Republic? :>>> :>>>So they're part of the Commonwealth.. but dont have Queeny as the

:>>>of their country... :>> :>>I am Canadian, and I can assure you that the head of state is Queen :>>Elizabeth II. The republican movement in Canada is relatively weak :>>and is made up of some infrequently vocal malcontents. :> :>Ah... I didnt realise. :>Down here the Republicans are quite a bit bigger...but suffered a :>major defeat during a referendum a year or so ago....

: I understand that this was because the republican vote 'split' - the : electorate was rightly suspicious of the idea of the parliamentarians : electing the President, rather than the electorate (which is the norm : elsewhere)

Problem is,if you lower the office of Head of State to something within the grasp of politicians,it will be held by politicians.The Australians who wanted a president had no way around this...a popularly elected politician is a politician just the same as a politician chosen by other politicians...no one who wins an election can avoid being a politician.If you want a Head of State above the political process,the office HAS to be hereditary.