MPs kill bill that would have made oath to King Charles optional
A cross-partisan group of MPs voted to kill a bill Wednesday that would have allowed parliamen‐ tarians to opt out of swear‐ ing an oath of allegiance to King Charles - a victory for monarchists eager to pre‐ serve the Crown's standing in Canada.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet and most Liberal and Conservative MPs on hand voted down the pri‐ vate member's bill, while Bloc Québécois and NDP MPs joined some members from the two largest parties most of them Quebec-based - to vote in favour of legisla‐ tion that would have dimin‐ ished Charles's role in Parlia‐ ment. The final result was 113-197.
The vote keeps Canada's Constitution as originally written. Section 128 requires that every newly elected or appointed parliamentarian swear 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 that oath.
WATCH: MPs break into song after killing bill that would have changed oath
C-347, introduced by New Brunswick Liberal MP René Arseneault, would have al‐ lowed MPs and senators to instead swear an "oath of of‐ fice."
That stripped-down oath would have simply stated that an office holder will car‐ ry out their duties "in the best interest of Canada while upholding its Constitution."
The bill's defeat was met by thunderous applause from Charles-supporting MPs who spontaneously started singing God Save the King af‐ ter Speaker Greg Fergus an‐ nounced the result.
"Order!" he said as MPs continued singing over his calls for quiet in the cham‐
ber.
WATCH: Bill proposes scrapping oath of alle‐ giance to King Charles
Canadian monarchists have told CBC News the bill amounted to republicanism by stealth - part of a larger effort to slowly chip away at the Crown in Canada without actually scrapping the monarchy through a pro‐ tracted constitutional fight with the provinces.
John Fraser is the presi‐ dent of Institute for the Study of the Crown in Canada and a prominent monarchist. He has called the legislation "a stupid idea."
He said republicans are "foolishly" trying to dismantle Canada's Westminster sys‐ tem of government, a parlia‐ mentary structure that has served the country well for more than 150 years.
He said Canada's long‐ standing link to the Crown, an institution above the whims of partisan politics, is something to celebrate.
The Governor General, the King's representative in Canada, is a check on politi‐ cal 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.
Fraser said republicans have never presented a vi‐ able alternative to the cur‐ rent system.
"Look at how republics are faring right now. Look to the south, the U.S. Do we want that here?" he said.
Canada's republicans, meanwhile, welcomed the bill as a first step toward rid‐ ding the country of what they maintain is an outdated insti‐ tution.
Pierre Vincent, a former federal public servant and a member of Citizens for a Canadian Republic, told CBC
News that Arseneault's bill would do away with an oath that he thinks is a violation of free speech.
"Why are we still doing this colonial, medieval stuff that does not coincide with our modern views of diver‐ sity and inclusion? I mean, it's ridiculous. It makes no sense," Vincent said.
"You know, sacrificing vir‐ gins 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."
Polls suggest the country is split up the middle on whether it's time to cut ties with the Crown.
A Leger survey of 1,544 Canadians conducted last year just before Charles's May coronation found 56 per cent of respondents agreed the country should "reconsid‐ er its ties" to the monarchy.
That number was higher in Quebec, where 71 per cent of respondents said there should be some constitution‐ al soul-searching about the Crown.
People in Ontario (53 per cent) and B.C. (52 per cent) were more likely than other regions to say King Charles and his heirs should main‐ tain their current role in our system.
WATCH: King Charles's deep ties to Canada
It's unlikely Canada will cut ties with Crown any time soon - if ever.
Canada's Constitution de‐ mands unanimity on the question; the House of Com‐ mons and Senate and all 10 provinces would have to agree on a different system.
Trudeau has said there's no appetite for that sort of protracted constitutional bat‐ tle.
Whether he's loved or not, Charles is likely here to stay.
Charles has shown an affinity for this country, hav‐ ing toured Canada on 18 offi‐ cial visits since 1970.
"Every time I come to
Canada … a little more of Canada seeps into my blood‐ stream and from there, straight to my heart," he told a crowd in Newfoundland in 2009.
During his 2022 tour to mark the late Queen's Platin‐ um Jubilee - his only trip to a Commonwealth realm to cel‐ ebrate the occasion - Charles praised Canada as a "truly great country" populated by "outward-looking, big-heart‐ ed" people.
"As I get older, it is partic‐ ularly heartwarming to see my children coming to know and love this great country, just as the Queen and my late father have, and I and my wife in turn," he told a crowd in St. John's.
Trudeau has in turn praised Charles as a man "deeply aligned" with Canadi‐ an values, such as the fight against climate change and the pursuit of Indigenous rec‐ onciliation.