Canadian republicanism is a movement for the replacement of the monarchy of Canada and a monarch as head of state with a parliamentary republic and a democratically-selected Canadian as head of state. Republicans are driven by various factors, such as a perception of inequality in the concept of excluding all but members of the royal family from the position or the argument that Canadian independence will not be achieved until Canadians can choose their own head of state independently and democratically. As with monarchism in Canada, strong republicanism is not a prevalent element of contemporary Canadian society. The movement's roots precede Canadian Confederation and it has emerged from time to time in Canadian politics, but has not been a dominant force since the Rebellions of 1837, which Canadian republicans consider their efforts to be a continuation of. National identity Republicans in Canada assert that because of its hereditary aspects, the monarchy is inherently contrary to egalitarianism and multiculturalism. Further, though it diverges from both the official position of the Canadian government and the opinions of some judges, legal scholars, and members of the royal family themselves, republicans deem the King or Queen of Canada to be either a solely British or English individual representing a British institution foreign to Canada. Founded on this perception is the republican assertion that national pride is diminished by the monarchy, and it "prolongs a sense that Canada "is a colony" and is "subservient to Britain." This questioning of the monarchy's role in Canadian identity arose as a part of wider cultural changes that followed the evolution of the British Empire into the Commonwealth of Nations, the rise of anti-establishmentism, the creation of multiculturalism as an official policy in Canada, and the blossoming of Quebec separatism; the latter becoming the major impetus of political controversy around the Crown. Quebec nationalists agitated for an independent Quebec republic and the monarchy was targeted as a symbol of anti-Anglophone demonstration, notably Quebecers turned their backs on her procession when she toured Quebec City that year. In a 1970 speech to the Empire Club of Canada, Governor General Roland Michener summed up the contemporary arguments against the Crown: From its opponents, he said, came the claims that monarchies are unfashionable, republics—other than those with oppressive regimes—offer more freedom, people are given greater dignity from choosing their head of state, the monarchy is foreign and incompatible with Canada's multicultural society,