The coronation is fast approaching, and I’m already feeling queasy. As someone who finds income inequality abhorrent, I wince at the sight of a garish golden carriage parading through the streets. You won’t find my room decked out with porcelain cups commemorating royal weddings. Moreover, as someone with Scottish ancestry on both sides, I should be grievously offended by the Stone of Scone’s place in Westminster Abbey, shouldn’t I? The English stole it, after all.

You might assume, based on all of this, that I am a die-hard republican. Down with the Crown! Not My King! But I’m not, and on May 6 will eagerly watch the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III, King of Canada and his other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth.

Why should I care?

The answer can be found by turning on the TV news. Or scrolling through Twitter. Or watching Question Period. We have become increasingly polarized. Our representative, Westminster-style democracy is both good and necessary for making decisions in the short-term – but I can’t help but think that its inherently partisan, combative structure is undermining civic society.

What we need is apolitical leadership, at the highest levels – and it’s something I believe our King, Governor General, and Lieutenant Governors are uniquely equipped to offer.

And what does this apolitical leadership look like?

How about fostering dialogue between people from opposite ends of the political spectrum, business leaders, Indigenous leaders, social entrepreneurs, and ordinary citizens in neutral, nonpartisan spaces? The King and his Canadian representatives have collectively been doing just that for years – through conferences and roundtables, dinners and garden parties.

How about a gruelling schedule of visits to people, communities, and organizations whose contributions to civic society often go unnoticed in the 24-hour news cycle? How about recognizing those contributions through one of the world’s most respected honours and awards systems?

How about quietly and discreetly using “soft power” to dissuade a head of government from pursuing a dubious policy that may be detrimental to the greater good?

It is easy to dismiss all of this as trivial fluff, as ceremonial claptrap with no bearing on the “real world” of polarizing politics and ever-shifting opinion polls.

The more challenging task is to ask how these roles of the King and his representatives in Canada – which, on account of our bullet-proof constitutional amending formula, aren’t going anywhere anytime soon –can be leveraged to enhance public discourse. To make us better citizens and stewards of the natural world. To carry forward the work of true reconciliation.

There are, of course, alternatives.

Some have suggested that we could retain our Westminster-style democracy while doing away with the trappings of monarchy. They say we ought to emulate Germany or India, where an indirectly elected president holds a position scarcely different from that of our governor general.

But there is a catch here. In those countries, the president is invariably chosen by and from within the ranks of career politicians. Choosing a supposedly “apolitical” president through a partisan, political process seems counter-intuitive – particularly in Canada, increasingly fragmented along partisan, regional, and linguistic lines.

And how might this model affect the system in times of disunity, of political crisis? Under our current arrangements, the King’s representatives may, in exceptional circumstances, dissolve parliament or dismiss a prime minister, or premier. Their discharge of these responsibilities hinges on their inherent (and, in the King’s case, inherited!) neutrality.

The coronation, then, isn’t about humouring a lot of Anglophiles. So put away the fascinators and the Union Jack bunting, and herald the reign of our new King by doing something to better our body politic and our planet. Plant a tree. Make the coronation quiche and take it to a new neighbour.

Oh, and ask our decision-makers to invite the King to Kawartha Lakes. An avid watercolourist, he would undoubtedly enjoy immersing himself in this beautiful part of the maple realm.