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Queen Elizabeth Rejects Elizabeth May's Call For Royal Inquiry Into Robocalls Scandal

Elizabeth Writes Elizabeth Back
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The Queen has once again refused a request from a frustrated Canadian, only this time the appeal came from the leader of a federal party.

Jennie Vine, deputy to the senior correspondence officer for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, has informed Green Party Leader Elizabeth May that there will not be a Royal Inquiry into the robocalls scandal.

May wrote to Buckingham Palace last August to express her concern that Canadian democracy was “endangered” over election infractions and “unprecedented” prorogations.

May asked the Queen to commission a Royal Inquiry to investigate "potentially" criminal activities in the federal election of 2011.

“I request that Your Majesty please seek a resolution which will benefit all Canadians, by restoring Canadians’ confidence that we can have a free and fair democracy,” she wrote.

In a letter posted on the Green Party website Thursday, Vine apologized for the delay and said the Queen has taken “careful note” of her concerns, but ultimately informed May she was out of luck.

“Perhaps I might explain, however, that this is not a matter in which the Queen would intervene,” she wrote. “As a constitutional Sovereign, Her Majesty acts through her personal representative, the Governor General, on the advice of her Canadian Ministers and it is to them that your appeal should be directed.”

Vine added that Queen Elizabeth was “interested to know of your views.”

Of course, this isn’t the first time that Buckingham Palace has opted not to get involved in a Canadian controversy.

In January, the Queen rejected an appeal to intervene in the liquids-only protest of Chief Theresa Spence, again saying she was taking “careful note” of concerns over the chief’s well-being.

In fact, the letter — again signed by Vine — was remarkably similar to the one May just received.

"As a constitutional Sovereign, Her Majesty acts through her personal representative, the Governor General, on the advice of her Canadian Ministers and, therefore, it is to them that your appeal should be directed,” it read.

And a little more than a year ago, a Montreal resident was “shocked” to receive a response from the Queen to her appeal to fire Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

In December of 2011, Chantal Dupuis urged the royal to remove Harper from his position, saying that Canadian democracy was in danger like never before.

“As a Canadian, I was wondering when Your Majesty would intervene to protect us Canadians?” she asked. “How could Her Majesty, as the chief of Canada, do nothing?”

The Queen’s senior correspondence officer, Sonia Bonici, wrote back on Feb. 24, 2012 to inform her that Harper was staying put.

“Her Majesty has taken note of the views you express but I should explain that there is no question of The Queen dismissing the Canadian Prime Minister or dissolving Parliament as you suggest,” Bonici wrote.

It seems Canadians have quite a pen pal on the other side of the pond.

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