Should new Canadian Citizens have to swear an Oath to Queen Elizabeth the Second during Citizenship Ceremonies?

Introduction

Oath of Citizenship

The term oath of Citizenship is defined as the willingness to become a Canadian citizen declaration signed and recitation. Oath to perform at the ceremony hosted appoint civil servants, is a kind of Canadian monarch expressed loyalty to the agreement or declaration, and vowed to accept by Canadian regulations, laws and taxes; after signing the oath, would grant citizenship certificate to the signer.

This pledge is derived from the United Kingdom British loyalty oath, the up-to-date system is in 1689 by the Queen Mary II, William II and III implementation, and in Canada inherited the old system until 1947; that year with the Citizenship Act development, they established a system of Canadian citizenship oath. Sometimes there will be a proposal to change the oath, including removing the relevant part of the monarch, add a statement about party loyalty, specific statements about Canada and so on. However, so far the oath of citizenship is only modified once in 1977.

History

Years ago, “Canadian citizen” to define this identity does not exist, Canadians, like other Commonwealth Kingdom residents generally be regarded as British subjects, and from non -Commonwealth countries who immigrated to Canada only to swear allegiance to the monarch. However, India emerged as a republic in 1950, the Kingdom of the Commonwealth monarch then all Commonwealth countries are not the only head of state. Since then, immigrants from Commonwealth countries do not necessarily have allegiance to Canada (i.e. Commonwealth Kingdom) monarch. Therefore, the Parliament of Canada developed a “1946 Canadian Citizenship Act” (Boyce, 2008).

The new law on January 1, 1947 was announced; since new immigrants are required to recite the oath of loyalty from the original adaptation from the new oath.

Canada's first naturalization ceremony was held on January 3, 1947, when he was William Mackenzie King Leon, the Prime Minister, became the first Canadians to recite this oath. However, the former British colony of Newfoundland on April 1, 1949 joined the Canadian Confederation, the Newfoundlanders automatically without oath to become a Canadian citizen (Randall, 2010).

By the 1970s, the Canadian monarch also view other Commonwealth kingdom monarch, it is considered necessary instructions citizens in civic oath of allegiance in the Canadian monarch, not the British, Jamaica or other Commonwealth kingdom monarch. Therefore, the Citizenship Act was amended in 1977, the Oath of Citizenship also been modified, after the name of the Queen's filling “Queen of Canada”. The new oath specified monarch is Canada's head of state at the same time, also in line with Canada as a constitutional monarchy body position (i.e. country is not an abstract concept, but rather by the monarch as its symbolic).

Citizenship oath orally and in writing now is a legally binding contract, in order to ensure that the new naturalized Canadian citizen committed to complying with the Canadian laws and accomplish civic responsibilities and powers of the monarch acknowledged as the incarnation of a number of ...