Petition to reinstate the RCN and RCAF
Please note that the following draft petition (which has been changed here a number of times, and will continue to change until finalized) is a petition to resume usage of the Royal designation only, and is not intended to disrupt in any way the corporate unity of the Canadian Forces. Please also note that no signatures will be sought until the draft petition has been finalized and pre-certified.
PETITION TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED
We, the undersigned citizens and residents of Canada, and loyal subjects of Her Majesty the Queen of Canada, draw the attention of the House to the following:
WHEREAS the Naval Service Act received Royal Assent on May 4, 1910, and the Canadian navy will commemorate and celebrate its centennial in 2010;
AND WHEREAS the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) was the navy of Canada until 1968 when the three Canadian armed services were unified to form the Canadian Forces, and the modern Canadian navy has been known as Canadian Forces Maritime Command since unification, but still refers to itself unofficially as the "navy" and maintains many RCN traditions;
AND WHEREAS Command-in-Chief of the Canadian Forces is vested in the Canadian Monarch and ships of the Canadian Forces continue to be called "Her/His Majesty's Canadian Ship";
AND WHEREAS it is currently improper to use the expression "Royal Canadian Navy" and its abbreviation "RCN" in references to the Canadian navy after February 1, 1968;
AND WHEREAS the Royal designation of the Canadian Navy was executed by a Royal Proclamation which has never been revoked, and that the Canadian Government and the Canadian Forces are required to resume usage of the expression “Royal Canadian Navy”, if the expression “Canadian Navy” is used in any official capacity;
AND WHEREAS the above also pertains to the "Royal Canadian Air Force" and its abbreviation "RCAF" in references to the Canadian air force after unification, which has been known as Canadian Forces Air Command since February 1, 1968, but still refers to itself unofficially as the "air force" and maintains many RCAF traditions;
AND WHEREAS notwithstanding the National Defence Act, which states that "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces", separate service uniforms were reintroduced in 1986, separate service chiefs were reinstated and returned to National Defence Headquarters in 1997, separate service websites were officially established and references to the separate services are now commonplace throughout the increasingly tri-service Canadian Forces, all of which have been accommodated without in any way compromising the unified command structure, integrated nature or corporate unity of the Canadian Forces;
AND WHEREAS resuming usage of the Royal designation as it pertains to the "Canadian Navy" and "Canadian Air Force" could be facilitated without in any way undermining the unity of the Canadian Forces acting as a single organization under a unified command structure, and without in any way compromising the integration of military operations, logistics support, personnel and administration of the separate services acting together under the current functional command system, which was the intent of Bill C-243, The Canadian Forces Reorganization Act, which we the petitioners strongly support;
AND WHEREAS resuming usage of such Royal designations could be facilitated without in any way replacing Canadian Forces Maritime Command and Canadian Forces Air Command, whose Chiefs of Staff would continue to exercise nominal command over the navy and air force respectively;
AND WHEREAS resuming usage of such Royal designations could be efficiently accomplished and executed without material cost to Canadian taxpayers;
AND WHEREAS resuming usage of such Royal designations would restore the traditional esprit de corps of the navy and air force, just as continued usage of the Royal designation of longstanding regular force and reserve regiments has preserved the traditional esprit de corps of the army, and just as continued usage of the Royal designation of the longstanding Royal Canadian Mounted Police has preserved the traditional esprit de corps of Canada's federal constabulary force;
NOW THEREFORE, your petitioners call upon Parliament to take whatever action is necessary to officially resume, restore and reinstate usage of such Royal designations in time for the 2010 centennial celebrations of the Canadian navy, such that the Canadian navy is reincorporated as the Royal Canadian Navy and its abbreviated expression RCN, and the Canadian air force is reincorporated as the Royal Canadian Air Force and its abbreviated expression RCAF, and such reincorporation is made retroactive to February 1, 1968.
Cross-posted to The Monarchist
Progress Updates:
- April 25: Interesting - even heated - debate over at the Navy, Army, Air Force Forum, where the "Yeas" have it by a two-thirds majority.
- April 26: The Monarchist League of Canada members are supportive
- April 27: Canvassed Laurie Hawn, M.P. to sponsor draft petition
- April 28: Sent draft petition to Captain(N) Pickingford, Project Manager, Canadian Navy Centennial Project, Peter Dawe, Executive Director of the RMC Club, Blaine Barker of the Royal Canadian Naval Association and Bob Nixon of the Naval Officer's Association of Canada
-April 29: Sent draft petition to the Dominion Institute to seek their sponsorship
PETITION TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED
We, the undersigned citizens and residents of Canada, and loyal subjects of Her Majesty the Queen of Canada, draw the attention of the House to the following:
WHEREAS the Naval Service Act received Royal Assent on May 4, 1910, and the Canadian navy will commemorate and celebrate its centennial in 2010;
AND WHEREAS the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) was the navy of Canada until 1968 when the three Canadian armed services were unified to form the Canadian Forces, and the modern Canadian navy has been known as Canadian Forces Maritime Command since unification, but still refers to itself unofficially as the "navy" and maintains many RCN traditions;
AND WHEREAS Command-in-Chief of the Canadian Forces is vested in the Canadian Monarch and ships of the Canadian Forces continue to be called "Her/His Majesty's Canadian Ship";
AND WHEREAS it is currently improper to use the expression "Royal Canadian Navy" and its abbreviation "RCN" in references to the Canadian navy after February 1, 1968;
AND WHEREAS the Royal designation of the Canadian Navy was executed by a Royal Proclamation which has never been revoked, and that the Canadian Government and the Canadian Forces are required to resume usage of the expression “Royal Canadian Navy”, if the expression “Canadian Navy” is used in any official capacity;
AND WHEREAS the above also pertains to the "Royal Canadian Air Force" and its abbreviation "RCAF" in references to the Canadian air force after unification, which has been known as Canadian Forces Air Command since February 1, 1968, but still refers to itself unofficially as the "air force" and maintains many RCAF traditions;
AND WHEREAS notwithstanding the National Defence Act, which states that "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces", separate service uniforms were reintroduced in 1986, separate service chiefs were reinstated and returned to National Defence Headquarters in 1997, separate service websites were officially established and references to the separate services are now commonplace throughout the increasingly tri-service Canadian Forces, all of which have been accommodated without in any way compromising the unified command structure, integrated nature or corporate unity of the Canadian Forces;
AND WHEREAS resuming usage of the Royal designation as it pertains to the "Canadian Navy" and "Canadian Air Force" could be facilitated without in any way undermining the unity of the Canadian Forces acting as a single organization under a unified command structure, and without in any way compromising the integration of military operations, logistics support, personnel and administration of the separate services acting together under the current functional command system, which was the intent of Bill C-243, The Canadian Forces Reorganization Act, which we the petitioners strongly support;
AND WHEREAS resuming usage of such Royal designations could be facilitated without in any way replacing Canadian Forces Maritime Command and Canadian Forces Air Command, whose Chiefs of Staff would continue to exercise nominal command over the navy and air force respectively;
AND WHEREAS resuming usage of such Royal designations could be efficiently accomplished and executed without material cost to Canadian taxpayers;
AND WHEREAS resuming usage of such Royal designations would restore the traditional esprit de corps of the navy and air force, just as continued usage of the Royal designation of longstanding regular force and reserve regiments has preserved the traditional esprit de corps of the army, and just as continued usage of the Royal designation of the longstanding Royal Canadian Mounted Police has preserved the traditional esprit de corps of Canada's federal constabulary force;
NOW THEREFORE, your petitioners call upon Parliament to take whatever action is necessary to officially resume, restore and reinstate usage of such Royal designations in time for the 2010 centennial celebrations of the Canadian navy, such that the Canadian navy is reincorporated as the Royal Canadian Navy and its abbreviated expression RCN, and the Canadian air force is reincorporated as the Royal Canadian Air Force and its abbreviated expression RCAF, and such reincorporation is made retroactive to February 1, 1968.
Cross-posted to The Monarchist
Progress Updates:
- April 25: Interesting - even heated - debate over at the Navy, Army, Air Force Forum, where the "Yeas" have it by a two-thirds majority.
- April 26: The Monarchist League of Canada members are supportive
- April 27: Canvassed Laurie Hawn, M.P. to sponsor draft petition
- April 28: Sent draft petition to Captain(N) Pickingford, Project Manager, Canadian Navy Centennial Project, Peter Dawe, Executive Director of the RMC Club, Blaine Barker of the Royal Canadian Naval Association and Bob Nixon of the Naval Officer's Association of Canada
-April 29: Sent draft petition to the Dominion Institute to seek their sponsorship
posted by The Monarchist at 12:38 p.m.
10 Comments:
The purpose of this is to get feedback before setting up an off-site petition form where at least 25 names and addresses are required before forwarding to a sponsoring MP (I think Hawn, former CF-18 pilot from Edmonton Centre would be a good chaoice). I think it's safe to assume we could get hundreds if not thousands of signatures.
I see, do you have any idea of the chaos caused by unification of the forces during the 5 to ten years following that disaster ?
And we'd like to repeat the process in reverse?
In wartime?
This should make for an interesting train wreak.
I'd sign that petition. . .
How does simply resuming usage of a name cause a train wreck? It was a disaster for years following unification because the navy and air force had to be entirely refitted in costly new green uniforms and it was a major effort to reorganize the services into a unified entity called the Canadian Forces. But we are not asking to reverse that reorganization (pls read the petition which fully supports the continuance of the CF), only to resume usage of the Royal designation. That is it. No cost, no effort, just a restoration of the traditional esprit de corps.
To The Torch contributors:
I would like to ask to be included among The Torch's contributors. By all means, check out my blog (http://dominionpages.blogspot.com) and let me know if you think my tone would fit with the group.
In fact, I've recently written a post on the future of HMCF that I would put forward as my first submission if you were inclined to include me among the contributors.
Let me know. At any rate, great blog.
Cheers,
M
Putting the Royal back in the Canadian Navy has long been a goal of many people. After the Mulroney government returned to traditional colour uniforms, there were many who hoped this was the next step. Unfortunately, this was not to be.
The scary thing about reading the petition is realizing I was in the mob for the 75th. Great bash - what I remember of it! Time flies.
I've long been a student of naval history and have always hated the Canadian Armed Forces - Maritime Command. Pierre Poilievre might be a good choice for the petition as well.
AND WHEREAS resuming usage of such Royal designations could be efficiently executed without any cost to Canadian taxpayers;
Anytime you change something as ubiquitous as a name, it's going to cost something. Better to under-promise and over-deliver, gents.
Agreed. I've made some significant changes to the draft petition (see above), which needs to be perfected before signatures are sought. Obviously you cannot change something after people have put their names.
For the sake of clarity and transparency, you should note the fact that you've made changes to the draft wording in the body of the post, Beaverbrook.
I'd sign it in the current incarnation. Heck, check out what I wrote almost two years ago about my favourite ballcap.
BB: Done. And thanks for the link to your post on the comparative merits between "Air Element" and the R.C.A.F.
Seen.
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