Why is the Queen still Canada's Head of State 150 years after its independence?

Everywhere you look in Canada today, you see the red and white Maple Leaf flag of this country.

It flies from government buildings, from lamp posts, apartment blocks and cars (think of Scotland or England when the football teams are in the final stages of the World Cup).

The reason? Canada Day. It is the public holiday on which Canadians celebrate the birth of their nation.

The Confederation of Canada began in 1867 when the country became self-governing - having once been a British colony.

But the British North America Act of that year retained a link to the British crown.

The British royals remain the head of state in the country. Credit: PA

At the time, it was Queen Victoria and all her descendants since have remained Canada's head of state.

Today, it is Queen Elizabeth II who remains the official head of this nation and when Canada puts on a party tomorrow - the biggest ever we a told - it is the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall who will represent her.

They will join half a million others on Parliament Hill in the capital Ottawa to celebrate.

But there is a big debate going on here about when the nation was born.

There are questions over whether Canadians still want a link with British royalty. Credit: APTN

Was it born when Britain handed the colony back? Or born many, many years before when the Inuits and indigenous people first lived here - before the Europeans thought about colonisation?

That got me thinking about this nation's links to the UK and whether the people of this vast country (it's the world's second biggest by land mass) really want a Queen or King from thousands of miles away to be their figurehead.

So when the royal couple pass through a market and a winery in Trenton, Ontario today, we plan to find out.

We hope to bring you those views on News at Ten tonight.