Britain’s King Charles III delivered a land acknowledgment at the opening of Canada’s Parliament on Tuesday, appearing to contradict his right to rule.
Charles—who leads Canada as a legacy of the British colonization of the country—delivered the phrase in a speech from a literal throne in the Canadian Parliament.
“I would like to acknowledge that we are gathered on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg people,” the king said, near the beginning of his so-called throne speech.
The king’s address is a custom carried over from the nation’s colonial past that occurs before the opening of a new session of the Canadian Parliament. It is typically delivered by the Canadian monarch’s representative, the governor-general, known in other contacts as a viceroy. But in a rare visit to the Canadian provinces, Charles gave the speech…
