Members of Parliament and senators may be able to dodge the centuries-old oath of allegiance to King Charles if a Liberal MP gets his pending private member’s bill passed.
Canadian monarchists say the bill is republicanism by stealth — part of a larger effort to slowly chip away at the Crown’s standing in Canada without actually scrapping the monarchy through a protracted constitutional fight with the provinces.
Canada’s republicans, meanwhile, are welcoming the bill as a necessary first step toward ridding the country of what they maintain is an outdated institution.
Section 128 of the Constitution demands that every newly elected or appointed parliamentarian swear that they will “be faithful and bear true allegiance” to the reigning monarch.
Under Canada’s founding document, a member cannot legally assume his or her seat in Parliament until they’ve taken the oath to the sovereign.
The monarch listed in the one-line oath is Queen Victoria, but the oath includes a line stating that the actual name will change from “time to time.”
Bill C-347, introduced by New Brunswick Liberal MP René Arseneault, would upend that tradition by allowing federal politicians to swear an “oath of office.”
That stripped-down oath would simply state that an office holder will carry out their duties “in the best interest of Canada while upholding its Constitution.”
Arseneault did not make himself available for an interview with CBC News.
King Charles’s deep ties to Canada
Britain’s new monarch King Charles has deep ties to Canada, forging connections with some Canadians through his charitable work and outreach during his many visits to the country.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said repeatedly that now is not the time to debate the monarchy’s role in Canada.
Trudeau has praised King Charles as a man “deeply aligned” with Canadian values, such as the fight against climate change and the pursuit of Indigenous reconciliation.
A spokesperson for Justice Minister Arif Virani said the government “will have more to say about this private member’s bill when it comes up for debate.” That will happen when Parliament returns later this month.
Arseneault has found a supporter in Pierre Vincent, a man with a long history of royal oath opposition.
King Charles visits the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Dec. 14, 2023. (Hannah McKay/The Associated Press)
Vincent, a former federal public servant and a member of Citizens for a Canadian Republic, challenged a similar requirement that bureaucrats swear allegiance to the sovereign.
Vincent, an Acadian, said he didn’t want the monarch’s name crossing his lips given the British role in the 18th century expulsion of his French-speaking ancestors from what’s now Atlantic Canada.
‘Colonial, medieval stuff’
“They gave me an ultimatum,” he said of the public service top brass. “They told me to take the oath or you’re fired and I told them, ‘Nope!'”
After a years-long battle, Vincent won and the oath was quietly dropped for bureaucrats.
Now, he wants parliamentarians to break with the past.
“Why are we still doing this colonial, medieval stuff that does not coincide with our modern views of diversity and inclusion? I mean, it’s ridiculous. It makes no sense,” Vincent told CBC News.
“You know, sacrificing virgins used to be a tradition in Mexico. They’ve dumped that. A tradition itself is not a good reason to be doing things like this, to be violating free speech.”
He said republicans are “foolishly” trying to dismantle Canada’s Westminster system of government, a parliamentary structure that has served the country well for more than 150 years.
He said Canada’s longstanding link to the Crown, an institution above the whims of partisan politics, is something to celebrate.
King Charles sits with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as he receives realm prime ministers in the 1844 Room at Buckingham Palace in London on Sept. 17, 2022. (Stefan Rousseau/The Associated Press)
The Governor General, the King’s representative in Canada, is a check on political power — ensuring the prime minister commands the confidence of the House of Commons, Fraser said.
“We live in a constitutional Crown system and trying to break it up piecemeal is not a good way to run a country,” Fraser told CBC News.
“If the government of the day feels that it’s time for us to seriously consider becoming a republic, they should draft a referendum and present it to the people. But they also need a backup plan to replace it.”
King Charles won’t be known as ‘defender of the faith.’ Does it matter?
King Charles will have a new title in Canada now that the government has dropped “defender of the faith” — part of a push to redefine the head of state’s role.
Republicans have not settled on a viable alternative to the current system, Fraser said.
Would Canada adopt an appointed or elected presidential system? Would there be any difference between the head of state and the head of government, as there is now?
“Doing away with the oath — it’s all based on emotionalism,” Fraser said. “I don’t think we should marginalize something that is an integral part of our system of government. Look at how republics are faring right now. Look to the south, the U.S. Do we want that here?”
The Monarchist League of Canada has launched a letter-writing campaign, directing its members to ask MPs to quash the bill.
The group calls the legislation an effort to “promote republicanism via the well-cloaked back door.”
Neither camp has public opinion squarely on its side. Polls suggest country is split up the middle on whether it’s time to cut ties with the Crown.
There are also doubts about whether dropping the oath could be accomplished through legislation alone.
In the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2014 Senate reference, the justices affirmed that changes to “the office of the Queen, the Governor General and the Lieutenant Governor of a province” require the unanimous consent of the House of Commons, the Senate and all provincial legislatures.
Unanimity gives all partners in Canada “a veto on those topics that are considered the most essential to the survival of the state,” the court ruled.
There is a section of the Constitution that gives Parliament power over itself — but the court ruled there are limits to that power.
Barbara Messamore is a professor of history at the University of the Fraser Valley and an expert on the Crown in Canada.
She said dropping the oath actually would be a “profound change by stealth” to Canada’s system.
“This bill is being smuggled in under the guise of something that’s not very significant. And I would suggest to you that it is pretty significant,” she told CBC News. “I would never downplay an oath. It’s a promise.
“It’s not just about a personal allegiance to Charles. It’s about your allegiance to Canada’s Constitution, Canada’s people, Canada’s system of government. It’s not about the personal popularity of the sovereign — it’s about an allegiance to a broader system.”
People from the Monarchist League of Canada hold a massive Canadian flag and place flowers for former monarchs as they prepare to attend the coronation of King Charles in London on Friday, May 5, 2023. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)
Messamore said that if the bill passes, it could end up before the courts, where judges could decide whether Parliament can enact such a change unilaterally.
“The monarchy is at the heart of our Constitution in all sorts of ways. The whole parliamentary system is organized around it. I think that it naturally flows that any oath made by parliamentarians would have to include an allegiance to the Crown,” she said.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.
Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.
A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”
Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.
“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.
In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”
“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”
Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.
Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.
Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.
“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.
“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.
“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.
“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”
NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”
“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.
Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.
She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.
Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.
Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.
The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.
Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.
“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.
“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”
The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.
In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.
“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”
In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.
“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”
Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.
Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.
“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”
In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.
In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.
“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”
Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.
“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”
The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.
“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.
“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
