Queen Victoria died 114 years and eight months ago. You may know her as the queen who chose Ottawa as Canada’s capital, but her reign was incredibly long. In the end it totalled 63 years years and seven months.
Queen Elizabeth II will break the record set by her austere predecessor this Wednesday, Sept. 9 after spending almost three-quarters of her life on the throne.
To many Carleton students, Queen Elizabeth II may be perceived as a foreign monarch with too much time and money for her own good. However, celebrating the record-breaking reign of Canada’s irreproachably virtuous head of state is essential for our nation.
The queen is Canadian in outlook and character. She has called Canada on many occasions her home and “a country uniquely worth preserving.”
Not only is Queen Elizabeth II Canada’s head of state, she is the epitome of Canadian-ness. She is a dual citizen of mixed heritage, bilingual in our two native languages, and has devoted her life to peace and harmony.
On a more intimate level, she was once a truck mechanic in the Second World War, loves animals and the outdoors, and has been an enthusiastic adopter of all things new. She once famously requested that a visiting Barack Obama bring her an iPod to replace her old one.
More importantly, we live in an age when the word “public figure” is synonymous with being shallow, selfish, or untrustworthy. It is increasingly difficult to find those who are admirable and worthy of being a role-model in government positions. Even many foreign monarchs are abdicating from scandals, abandoning their duty to live out lives of rich seclusion without responsibility or duty.
Our queen isn’t like that. Instead of becoming embroiled in scandals and abdicating in disgrace like many of her peers, the queen has appeared as nothing other than the pinnacle of good Canadian politesse for over 63 years. This is a next to impossible accomplishment, as any communications student might tell you.
While becoming queen of 16 different countries at the age of 25 would be enough to inflate the ego of most people beyond compare, Queen Elizabeth II has never strayed from the famous promise she made at the ripe age of 21. While still heir to the throne, she said, “I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.”
So on Sept. 9, when her reign overtakes that of her great-great-grandmother, consider taking a moment to reflect on the life and career of a woman who has been a steadfast and moral role model for Canadians and her citizens in an age sadly lacking characters such as hers.
