The Americas | Cowboys in Canada

The king “loves” Canada. Many Albertans want out

The push for a referendum on Albertan independence is speeding up

Britain's King Charles reviews the guard of honour as he arrives at the Senate of Canada Building in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Photograph: Reuters
|Red Deer, Alberta|5 min read

“The true north is indeed strong and free.” If King Charles’s remarks on Canada’s sovereignty sounded familiar, that is because officials in Mark Carney’s new government wrote them. On May 27th the king delivered the throne speech in his capacity as head of state, opening Parliament—a task usually performed by Canada’s governor-general. The last monarch to do it was his mother, Queen Elizabeth, in 1977. The king was drafted in to rally Canadians to Mr Carney’s banner (his brother runs the household of Prince William, the king’s son and heir), as Canada’s prime minister settles into his stand-off with the pugnacious president of the United States, Donald Trump.

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This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline “Canada’s angry cowboys”

From the May 31st 2025 edition

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