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Canada's unconstitutional Citizenship Oath
Are you a naturalized citizen of
Canada? If so, you were required under The Citizenship Act
to recite the Canadian Citizenship Oath:
I swear (or affirm) that I
will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen
Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors,
and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada and
fulfill
my duties as a Canadian citizen.
To many new Canadians, taking "the
oath" is simply an ends to a means; citizenship of one
of the world's great nations. The words they must recite to
attain this goal have little to no meaning.
For others however, it's their
solemn word and, if they're republican, taking an oath to the
monarchy, an institution
that's an undemocratic and inegalitarian representation of
colonial subservience, is just plain offensive.
Tens of thousands of new Canadians
also arrive here
from countries which were oppressed or forcibly subjugated during
the height of the British Empire. A good number of these people
are shocked to learn that Canadian citizenship can be denied to
them if they refuse to abide by this outdated oath and swear
allegiance to a monarchy they assumed had long since been discarded
here. We know this because many come to our organization seeking
advice on how to deal with their concerns.
Up until now, the
only advice we could offer was "write your MP." After
all, there have been many attempts (all unsuccessful) to
overhaul the Citizenship Act to delete reference to the monarchy
(as Australia did in 1994).
Perhaps our letters and lobbying would help the process of
future reform of the act.
But now there's another way to get
the government's attention about this issue. Presently, there's
a class-action lawsuit being presented by would-be citizens who object to the reference to the
monarchy in the Citizenship Oath on
the grounds that the requirement contravenes the
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, an act which guarantees
freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression and protects
individuals from being compelled to make statements contrary to
their personal beliefs or opinions. Citing the same charter
rights, the suit also includes new Canadians who, when becoming
citizens, took the oath under duress.
Citizens for a Canadian Republic is
supporting this legal action wholeheartedly. It's time to eliminate this embarrassment to Canada.
For more information, interested
parties may contact Charles Roach at Roach, Schwartz &
Associates
(416)657-1472 or
Feb. 15, 2008 - Attorney
General tries again to stop oath lawsuit
Sept. 12, 2007 -
Monarchy oath lawsuit gets new hearing
May 7, 2007 - Citizenship Act class action hearing, Tuesday,
May 8
Dec. 10, 2005 -
Canada's Citizenship Act target of class action
lawsuit
May 19, 2005 - Republicans
to protest allegiance to Queen in citizenship oath
May 13, 2005 - Citizenship oath
should be to Canada not Queen
Nov. 5, 2002 - Oath to
Queen costs Canada citizens
Citizenship Oath
Recantations
May
24, 2004, May
21, 2005, May
22, 2006
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