Hatters react to loss of the Queen
Elizabeth II, the Queen of the United Kingdom and of Canada for 70 years and a symbol of consistency, has died, leaving monarchists in Medicine Hat in refection and triggering a host of changes in a number of touchstones.
“It’s a very sad day, but, it’s like the passing of a parent or grandparent, it was also inevitable,” said Bill Cocks, a local royalist and former city council member. “You can see it coming for a while, and it must happen.
“There’s sadness, but also a sense of inevitability and gratitude for her life.”
Reports of doctors’ concern circulated from the early morning until a statement from London confirmed her death shortly after 11 a.m. MST.
She was 96.
In Medicine Hat, local radio station CJCY broadcast a narrated tribute interspersed with clips of her notable public addresses through her 70-year reign.
That was followed by a rendition of “God Save the Queen”.
A statement by Mayor Linnsie Clark expressed condolences on behalf of council and residents, calling the Monarch a “Dedicated servant to her country and the Commonwealth, working until her last day.”
The city has set up a book of condolences for residents to sign in the lobby of city hall.
According to the 2016 census, among Medicine Hat’s 63,000 residents, 975 had directly emigrated from the United Kingdom.
A total of about 27,000 considered their ethnic heritage to be connected to the British Isles.
Both were the largest portions of the population in their respective categories.
Officials with British Army Training Unit Suffield are barred by protocol from making any statement about the Queen’s passing or the transfer of power.
Canadian officials at CFB Suffield told the News the base has entered into a period of mourning, during which no social or non-operation events will be held.
Cocks felt Hatters held special affection for Elizabeth II, who was a picture of steadfastness in his mind while also modernizing the institution.
“She was remarkable; the only monarch I’ve ever known and that’s true for most people,” said Cocks, adding her role as Canadian head of state placed her in daily life.
Among immediate changes, “Court of Queen’s Bench” automatically became Court of King’s Bench in Medicine Hat and across Alberta.
Portraits of the Queen in government buildings, courtrooms, city council chambers and schools will be draped in black cloth until the funeral is concluded. They will then be adorned with black ribbons until the coronation of Charles III, Elizabeth’s son and successor, the former Prince of Wales, who becomes King of Canada.
That will be the first change of a Monarch in Canada since 1952.
“It’s something that many people have never experienced,” said city clerk Arlene Karbashewski, whose office is charged with protocol matters.
Medicine Hat city hall lowered the flags to half-mast in the afternoon on Thursday, but will raise them Friday to coincide with the ascension of the new king. They will be lowered again for the expected 10-day period of mourning leading up to the funeral.
Karbashewski told the News the details of the transition were worked out several years ago and most government agencies will follow well-established plans.
“It comes from the federal government and goes right down to the local level that asked to observe the protocols,” she said.
Still valid are any oaths made by the Queen, and documents, currency, stamps and items like passports, issued under authority of “the Queen,” such as in provincial statutes, though they will be changed by rote as they are renewed or otherwise amended.