Dror Bar-Natan (left) talks to Judge Albert Wong after handing him a letter to disavow the portion of the oath that pertains to the Queen following a citizenship ceremony in Toronto on Monday November 30, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris YoungChris Young/The Canadian Press
More words have been uttered about Canadian citizenship ceremonies in the past four months than in the previous couple of decades. On Monday, a Toronto mathematics professor, Dror Bar-Natan, swore the oath and officially became a citizen. Moments later, he handed a letter to the citizenship judge, renouncing the clause in the oath swearing true allegiance to the Queen, her heirs and successors.
The act was absolutely within his rights – welcome to Canada, land of free speech – and of absolutely no legal effect. He is still governed by the Constitution of Canada, all of it, including that bit of it that bothers him, the part about the Queen. But at the same time, he also has the absolute right to call for that state of affairs to change. That's Canada.
In 2014, the Ontario Court of Appeal denied an application by Mr. Bar-Natan and two others, who wanted the oath to be declared unconstitutional, claiming it violated their freedom of conscience, speech and equality. Their legal argument, that the existence of the monarchy was oppressive to them, never made sense.
As Canadians, we have the right to believe, say and advocate almost anything. Want the Queen out of the citizenship oath? Want a constitutional amendment ending the monarchy? Go for it. In a democratic system, if you get enough of your fellow citizens onside, it will happen.
In her 2014 Court of Appeal decision, Justice Karen Weiler wrote, "The purpose of the oath is not to compel expression; rather, its purpose is to inquire into the would-be citizen's commitment to our form of government."
In fact, even if the oath included nothing but a pledge to uphold the Constitution, that would still involve recognizing the monarchy: The Queen is the head of state, and no legislation becomes law until it receives royal assent. (It also has to pass the ever-unpopular Senate – should new Canadians be allowed to renounce their allegiance to that part of the Constitution, too?)
When you join Canada, you accept the constitutional order, including the freedoms of speech, assembly and association that make change possible. If you can persuade your fellow citizens, then change there will be. Until then, the Constitution includes the monarchy. Canadians can decide to amend it, but a lawsuit can't.