聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 I often read CBC news online to get my national and international news. Recently I came across an article titled, 鈥淣ew Canadian to renounce oath of allegiance to Queen Elizabeth.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Now as most of you know I鈥檓 very much for Canada being the accepting nation it is touted to be, however, in certain instances my mind does scream out, 鈥淣o.鈥� And this article was one of them.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The article focused on an Israeli man who has lived in Canada for 13 years and is set to go through his citizenship ceremonies, which includes an Oath of Allegiance to the Queen. The individual opposes the oath and calls it 鈥渞epulsive;鈥� he will be formally reneging this portion of the ceremony following it.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 This, to me, is unacceptable. Having a fondness for history, I personally quite like the link to the royals, it鈥檚 part of what makes Canada its own, separating it from the United States; but, whether you鈥檙e a devoted royalist, you simply don鈥檛 mind having a Queen, or you feel the royals are an archaic, outdated system.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Currently, since there鈥檚 been no democratic attempt to change this, you have to respect the fact that the Queen is our official head of state. Becoming Canadian does come with it the fact that we are part of the British Commonwealth and I don鈥檛 feel as though you can be a citizen of Canada without accepting this on some level. 鈥淕od Save the Queen鈥� is played at many ceremonies, however, I personally do not know all the words, but I chime in where I can and I know why it鈥檚 played.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 By not understanding why the oath is included means that the individual doesn鈥檛 understand the history of Canada and doesn鈥檛 really understand what it means to be Canadian.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 There were issues recently surrounding a woman wanting to wear a niqab during her citizenship ceremony. She was verified that she was who she said prior to the ceremony and in Canada we have freedom of religion, to me that was no big deal, and I wrote a column about why it was a non-issue. However, I do have an issue that this man is planning on saying an oath, something that is required of him to become a Canadian, and then taking it back.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In fact, oath is defined as 鈥渁 formal and serious promise to tell the truth or to do something.鈥� By reneging on the Oath of Allegiance to the Queen, I feel as though he broke his promise to being a Canadian citizen. Oaths aren鈥檛 meant to be broken and since pledging loyalty to the Queen is a requirement to becoming a Canadian retracting their oath means they are going back on their entire oath of accepting becoming a Canadian.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 At the very core of the matter, however, I like people who stand by their word and to me an oath is a serious declaration. So, by saying it and then taking it back just doesn鈥檛 seem to be right.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 If he doesn鈥檛 want to recognize the Queen as the head of state, then perhaps he should become an American instead. Although we are considered an open and accepting country by the majority of the world, we still have our own traditions, which, until changed by our democratically elected government are relevant, this includes this oath and oaths aren鈥檛 meant to be broken.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Even the French came to accept the British royals as their head of government, a task that would not have been easy for them to do as they were enemies, but they did. They took the oath and it has endured, they kept it. So, why does someone think they can say the oath and then formally take it back after becoming a Canadian citizen other than they likely don鈥檛 know our history as a nation.
