While the British monarchy hasn't meant a whole lot officially in the United States since the late 18th century, there is a lot of unofficial interest in where Queen Elizabeth goes. And she is making her 22nd trip to Canada, visiting Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The 9-day Canadian visit also takes the royal couple to Manitoba and Ontario. They will celebrate Canada Day on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
The Governor General is technically the representative of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth. The Governor General has ceremonial responsibilities, but as we saw a while back, Governor General Michaëlle Jean prorogued Parliament upon request by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Queen Elizabeth has been the queen of England since 1952, where her father, King George VI, passed away.
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While the Toronto Police Service will review "all aspects" of how things went during the G20 summit, Police Chief Bill Blair is offering no apologies for the behavior of the officers over the weekend.
In this interview in the Globe and Mail, Blair offers a striking take on the proceedings despite witnesses and video footage to the contrary. From the Globe and Mail:
"This was not a site where somebody casually walked up to catch a bus," Chief Blair said of the demonstration at Queen Street West and Spadina Avenue, where police in riot gear hemmed in protesters and bystanders until about 9:30 p.m. Sunday. "It was clearly a large and dangerous demonstration. It was clearly a situation that we were asking people to avoid, [where] we were asking people to disperse. They ignored that request."
Here is a more thorough take from the Globe and Mail reporter trapped at Queen Street West and Spadina. This reporter and the people she talked to would strongly disagree with Police Chief Blair.
Hopefully, we can find out more about what happened not just at that intersection, but elsewhere in the city of Toronto.