Saskatchewan weighs in on who should be the face of the $20 bill

After Queen Elizabeth’s death on Sept. 8, 2022 many changes occurred to decade long traditions in Saskatchewan.

For nearly 90 years, Queen Elizabeth II’s face has been on Canadian currency. The queen first appeared on the $20 bill in 1935, as a then eight-year-old princess.

But with the queen’s death, there is a new debate: Who should be on the $20 bill?

Should the late monarch’s face remain on Canadian coins and the twenty-dollar bill or should it be replaced by King Charles? Or will the Bank of Canada go a completely different route?

The Bank of Canada hasn’t revealed any information about who will be on the bill.

It is not a requirement, but rather a tradition to have our monarch depicted on Canadian currency. A tradition that the Monarchist League of Saskatchewan would like to see continued.

“We as a group believe that there is time for evolution with what is represented on our currencies, but there should be a way of honouring the fact that there is a royal element on the 20-dollar bill,” said Monique Goffinet Miller, with the Monarchist League Sask.

However, Goffinet Miller believes there is also room for the King to be represented in the new batch of currency.

“In the next session of bills, it would be appropriate for her majesty’s image to be replaced by his majesty,’ Goffinet Miller said. “(Many people in) the monarchist league would like to see some symbol or representation of his majesty. Whether that be his cypher, his profile or something else.”

Recently Australia announced it would not be switching from the queen to King Charles on their $5 dollar note and instead is going with an Indigenous design.

In Canada, no Indigenous person has ever appeared Canadian currency and the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) is hoping to amend that with their Change the Bills campaign.

They gathered 11 indigenous artists to design 20 dollar bills, featuring inspirational indigenous women to showcase what the currency could look like.

“It’s really important and people need to understand the significance of Indigenous women and what they’ve done for Canadian culture,” said Irene Goodwin, the NWAC director. “They need to be acknowledged for it and this campaign is a fantastic campaign to raise that awareness.”

Goodwin noted that one of the truth and reconciliation commission’s 94 calls to action was to use the arts to advance reconciliation. Goodwin argues using the face of a female indigenous hero on every 20 dollar bill is one way of advancing reconciliation in Canada.

2:07 Saskatchewan reacts to the death of Queen Elizabeth II