Published
Those
taking out Canadian citizenship are expected to swear an oath of allegiance to
Britain's Queen
Elizabeth
It's the age-old
Irish story - a person leaves these shores, goes to a new country and falls in
love with their new home. They respect the fact that this new country offered an
opportunity that was obviously denied to them in the place of their birth and
they want to pledge their allegiance to their new sanctuary by becoming a
citizen.
Emer O'Toole is such a person. A self-described 'hairy feminist', she is
an assistant professor of Irish performance studies at the School of Canadian Irish
Studies at Concordia
University, which must be
nice.
But as she pointed out in the pages of The Guardian (where else? I hear
you cry) last week, she is unhappy about the prospect of taking Canadian
citizenship because she objects to the part of which requires her to declare: "I
swear (or affirm) that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her
Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada . .
. "
O'Toole has been living in Montreal
for the last year and she graciously concedes that: "I'm impressed by the
grassroots social movements. The arts scene mixes world-class talent with
community feeling and flavour . . .
"
But - and there's always a 'but' - she also argues that: "I want to be a
citizen of Canada. But I don't want to swear an
oath of allegiance to the queen. As a socialist, hereditary power is anathema to
my conscience. As an Irish person I'm aware of the historical oppression of my
people and culture by British
imperialism."
I'm sure the average native of Montreal will be delighted that the artistic
endeavours they offer are enough to impress Ms O'Toole. But it seems they are
rather less than impressed with her attitude towards the
oath.
The Toronto
Sun carried an op-ed on the issue last week which provoked a veritable tsunami
of outraged Canadians who are sick of the newly arrived who want to tailor the
rules to suit their own political tastes. If you don't like it, was the general
consensus, then go somewhere
else.
O'Toole is not the first person to object to the idea. In fact, she's not
even the first Irish person who wants to take Canadian citizenship, but only on
their own terms.
Ontario
Supreme Court recently ruled that requiring potential citizens to take the oath
was not, as had been claimed, a 'violation of their constitutional rights to
freedom of expression and religious
freedom.'
That case was taken by a Rastafarian who believes the queen is 'the head
of Babylon', an Israeli mathematician who says such loyalty is 'repulsive' to
him and an 85-year-old Irish republican, Michael McAteer, who has lived in
Canada for 50 years but thinks he's being victimised by being asked to doff his
cap, if only symbolically, to Brenda and her
brood.
All the objectors have one thing in common. They've been infected by a
most virulent strain of
'rightitis'.
This is a chronic condition
which results in the patient suffering from an endless obsession with,
and an exhaustive
knowledge of, their perceived rights and a complete ignorance of their
responsibilities.
They have every right to refuse to swear an oath to the
queen.
But they seem incapable of accepting that new citizens of any country
have a responsibility to abide by the rules and expectations of their new
home.
Whether it be the 85-year-old
republican, the hairy feminist, the Rastafarian priestess or the
Israeli maths dude,
they are all united by their capacity for self-delusion. Because
Canada is doing them a favour, not
the other way around.
Another Canadian paper published a defence of the monarchy, which
prompted O'Toole to huff that: "If you don't agree, you don't get in. I don't
agree. I guess I don't get in."
Still, there's always America, Emer. Just head a few miles
south and you won't have to compromise your oh-so-important
feelings.
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