The Canadian Oath of Allegiance is a promise or declaration of fealty to the Canadian monarch—as personification of the Canadian state and its authority, rather than as an individual person—taken, along with other specific oaths of office, by new occupants of various federal and provincial government offices; members of federal, provincial, and municipal police forces; members of the Canadian Armed Forces; and, in some provinces, all lawyers upon admission to the bar. The Oath of Allegiance also makes up the first portion of the Oath of Citizenship, the taking of which is a requirement of obtaining Canadian nationality.
The vow's roots lie in the oath taken in the United Kingdom, the modern form of which was implemented in 1689 by King William II and III and Queen Mary II and was used in Canada prior to Confederation. The Canadian oath was established at that time in the British North America Act, 1867 (now Constitution Act, 1867), meaning that alteration or elimination of the oath for parliamentarians requires a constitutional amendment. The Oath of Allegiance has also been, without lawful amendment, slightly altered and made or removed as a requirement for admission to other offices or positions through proposed acts of Parliament or letters patent, to which proposals have been put forward but not enacted for further abolishment or modification.
Composition The present form of the Oath of Allegiance, which derives from that which was, and still is, taken by parliamentarians in the United Kingdom, is:
A person may choose to replace the word swear with solemnly affirm and to omit the phrase so help me God. The oath taker is also given the option of either swearing on a holy book or not.
The oath for senators and members of Parliament has stood the same since Confederation; according to Section IX.128 of the Constitution Act, 1867: "Every member of the Senate and the House of Commons of Canada shall, before taking his seat therein, take and subscribe before the governor general, or some person authorized by him, and every member of a legislative council or legislative assembly of any province shall, before the lieutenant governor of the province, or some person authorized by him, the Oath of Allegiance contained in the Fifth Schedule to the act." The oath set out in said schedule is, "I, [name], do swear, that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Victoria", with the further instruction that "the name of the king or queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland for the time being is to be substituted from time to time, with proper terms of reference thereto." The oath thus currently reads as follows:
In French, this is:
For those parliamentarians whose religion prohibits the swearing of oaths, there exists a compromise affirmation, first instituted in 1905:
Purpose The Oath of Allegiance was implemented to acknowledge the supremacy of the reigning monarch of Canada; allegiance is to the "natural person of the king [or queen, as the case may be]",7 Co. Rep. 10 b. but, it is to them as the personification of the Canadian state. Professor Yan Campagnolo stated, "an oath to the King is not an oath to the person who wears the Crown at a given time; rather, it is an oath to an institution that symbolizes our system of government, a democratic constitutional monarchy. An oath to the King is therefore an oath to our system of government and homeland, not an oath to a foreign monarch." Along that line, in the military context, specifically, the King is the highest authority in the Canadian Armed Forces. The giving of faithfulness to the monarch in that way is a manifestation of a key responsibility central to the Canadian system of government and serves to "remind individuals taking it of the serious obligations and responsibilities that he or she is assuming."
Mike Harris, later Premier of Ontario, said in 1993 that "the oath to the Queen is fundamental to the administration of the law in this country. It signifies that, here in Canada, justice is done—not in the name of the prime minister, or the mayor, or the police chief, as in totalitarian nations—but by the people, in the name of the Queen," while James Robertson stated that the oath was the way elected members of Parliament—who are assuming positions of public trust—promise to carry out their duties "patriotically and in the best interests of the country." The Federal Court also expressed that giving allegiance to the sovereign was "a solemn intention to adhere to the symbolic keystone of the Canadian constitution, thus pledging an acceptance of the whole of our constitution and national life," though, also reflecting, "it may be argued that it strikes at the very heart of democracy to curtail collective opposition and incentive for change by demanding loyalty to a particular political theory."
The relationship between the oath taker and the monarch is a complex one, with roots reaching back to historical periods when a monarch ruled and accepted an oath of fealty from his or her subjects. The modern oath remains both fiduciary and reciprocal; mirroring citizens' oaths to the monarch, the sovereign takes the Coronation Oath, wherein he or she promises "to govern the peoples of [...] Canada [...] according to their respective laws and customs." It has been said of this mutual verbal contract, "except through the person of the Queen, Canada cannot take an oath to Canadians in return. It doesn't exist in the sense that it can take an oath. It is fundamental to our tradition of law and freedom that the commitments made by the people are reciprocated by the state. Reciprocal oaths are essential to our Canadian concept of government." For members of the Canadian Armed Forces, the oath to the monarch is "the soldier's code of moral obligation."
The oath sworn by lawyers in Alberta includes the phrasing, "I will uphold and maintain the sovereign's interest and that of my fellow citizens, according to the law in force in Alberta." The sovereign's interests entail a broad field of liberty for the monarch's subjects.
Taking the oath Those required to take the oath The following persons must take the Oath of Allegiance before occupying a governmental, military, police, or judicial post. Generally, these individuals are appointed by the monarch or relevant viceroy, meaning they serve at His Majesty's pleasure and are charged with creating or administering the law.
Federal Governors general of Canada Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Senators Members of Parliament Clerk of the House of Commons Citizenship judges All employees of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Recruits, officers, or naval cadets of the Canadian Armed Forces Members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Provincial
Lieutenant governors Members of a legislature, excluding Quebec (MLAs, MPPs, and MHAs) Justices of the appellate courts in British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Saskatchewan Justices of the superior courts, Justices of provincial courts in Alberta, British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, and Saskatchewan Justices of the peace in British Columbia Auditor general of Ontario Staff of the civil service in Ontario All other Crown appointees in Ontario All police officers, railway constables, special constables, and reserve and auxiliary constables in British Columbia All police officers, bylaw enforcement officers, and special constables in Nova Scotia All police officers in Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, and Alberta Mayors and councillors in Nova Scotia and all counsillors in Ontario (only to the reigning monarch) Medical examiners and investigators in Manitoba Sheriffs in Newfoundland and Labrador Lawyers in Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador Notaries public in Newfoundland and Labrador
Territorial Commissioners and deputy commissioners of Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut Justices of the territorial courts in the Northwest Territories and Yukon Members of the Executive Council of Nunavut Members of the Legislative Assemblies of Nunavut and Yukon Lawyers in Northwest Territories and Nunavut
Other Priests and deacons at ordination and Rectors at inductions or installations in certain dioceses of the Anglican Church of Canada.Canon 7.5.3 The Anglican Diocese of Fredericton
Those for whom the oath is optional The Oath of Allegiance is optional for these individuals:
Provincial Lawyers in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Ontario Board members of a regional district in British Columbia School trustees in British Columbia
Territorial Lawyers in Yukon Mayors and municipal councillors of Yukon
Those desiring to take the oath Anyone who desires to swear or affirm allegiance to the King may, while in Canada, do so before a justice of the peace or anyone else authorized or by commission from the Crown, under the terms of the Oaths of Allegiance Act.Oaths of Allegiance Act R.S.C., 1985, c. O-1. https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/O-1/page-1.html
Administration of the oath
Crown appointees The Letters Patent issued in 1947 by King George VI outline that the Oath of Allegiance must be taken by a newly appointed governor general and stipulate that the oath must be administered by the chief justice or other judge of the Supreme Court of Canada in the presence of members of the King's Privy Council. In the 19th century, the oath was recited by recently commissioned federal viceroys at whatever port they arrived at in Canada. However, the contemporary practice is to swear-in governors general as part of a ceremony in the Senate chamber on Parliament Hill.
New members of the King's Privy Council recite, along with the Oath of Office, a specific oath that contains a variant on the Oath of Allegiance, as administered by the Clerk of the Privy Council, usually in the presence of the governor general at Government House (Rideau Hall) in Ottawa. Twice, however, the oath has been delivered in front of the reigning monarch: In 1967, the year of Canada's centennial, the provincial premiers then in office were sworn in as members of the Privy Council before Elizabeth II in a ceremony on Parliament Hill and, during her tour of Canada to mark the 125th anniversary of Confederation, new appointees to the Privy Council recited the oath before the Queen at her Ottawa residence. The chief justice of the Supreme Court similarly recites the Oath of Allegiance in front of the governor general.
Parliamentarians The clerk of the House, or an authorized designate, administers the Oath of Allegiance to both new and returning members of Parliament. Failure to take the oath constitutes an absolute bar on sitting or voting in Parliament, along with a denial of the associated salary; this does not mean the person ceases to be a member of the House; simply that they cannot sit or participate in it. In 1875, George Turner Orton, member for Wellington Centre, inadvertently failed to swear the oath. Though Orton did eventually take his Oath of Allegiance, the matter was referred to the Select Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections, which found that the votes Orton cast in the House prior to his swearing the oath were rendered invalid. The only way to change this stipulation would be to amend the constitution; though, it is not entirely clear whether or not this could be done under the general amending formula (through resolutions of the federal Parliament and of the parliaments of at least two-thirds of the provinces having at least 50% of the population), or if it would necessitate the undivided agreement of all the parliamentary houses across Canada, as is required for any constitutional alteration that affects the Crown.