In her letter No Allegiance to the Queen (News Mirror, Dec. 5), Gail Powell writes that she expects Canada’s citizens allegiance to be to Canada as a nation. Not to worry! When Canadians swear an oath of allegiance to the Queen of Canada they are doing exactly that.
Perhaps the wording of the oath, especially at a grassroots level, needs to be in less traditional, simpler language that more people might understand but the fact remains that Canada’s form of government is still a constitutional monarchy.
Yes, this Constitution was inherited from the British, who worked on it for centuries, but since the its patriation in 1982 its Canada’s own and Canadians are free to modify it or enjoy its evolution as they see fit.
In apparently preferring a republic to a monarchy, Gail Powell is probably not alone so, if she doesn’t yet belong to a republican movement, I suggest she joins or forms one and does the work.
I’d even respectfully suggest that until the Constitution changes, she holds her nose and takes the current oath if and when she’s in a position where the oath is required, for citizenship, legal, political, governmental office, etc.
Otherwise no one’s going to make her take the oath under threat of being thrown in the clink. Canada’s a free country and even if she adopts a no-oath of allegiance gesture when the oath’s expected, I daresay it will be tolerated well enough.
Patricia M. Brown
Shirley
