[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Sa'ar Chasm

Because we're not the US. We don't want to be the US (well, most of us). We've been arguing about Canadian Identity since Day 1, and about the only thing we can agree on is that we're Unamerican.

Which is unfortunate because a negative identity isn't really an identity at all. I for one find our national attitude insufferably smug and self-congratulatory. That doesn't mean I don't love my country. I've always been very proud to be Canadian -- I'm just not always proud of what Canada stands for at a given time. Anyone in a democracy has that problem sooner or later.

where we can ignore her without being actively rude.

You realize that not bowing to her would be actively rude, right? I'm no fan of the monarchy either (it's a long-running debate in my family; I'm on my dad's side). But she is the Queen of Canada and our head of state. If you don't like that, you don't just pretend it isn't true, you work to change it. And we should -- I respect Elizabeth enough to suppress my small-R republicanism, but I have no interest whatsoever in being a subject of Charles.