MPs revive bid scrapping requirement to swear oath of loyalty to the King 

Hard to see this as a priority:

MPs are reviving a bid to end the centuries-old requirement to pledge loyalty to the monarch before they take their seats in Parliament, with many favouring an option to swear allegiance to Canada instead. 

The Bloc Québécois is preparing to table a private member’s bill scrapping the obligation, which dates back to the Constitution Act of 1867.

MPs, including Prime Minister Mark Carney, have this week been swearing the oath to King Charles III so they can take their seats in the new Parliament afterthe election. They are barred from doing so unless they pledge allegiance to the monarch. 

The initiative by the Bloc comes as the King and Queen Camilla prepare to visit Ottawa next week, where the King will open Parliament by reading the Speech from the Throne. 

The King’s decision to read the speech is being seen in Ottawa as bolstering Canada’s sovereignty, after U.S. President Donald Trump’s stated wish to annex the country.

But Bloc MPs plan to boycott the Throne Speech in the Senate, as they do when it is read by the Governor-General, the monarch’s representative in Canada. Their bill to update the oath is expected to be tabled within weeks. 

“As usual, we will not be attending the Throne Speech, neither in the Senate or in the House, where the speech is broadcast,” said Bloc Québécois spokesperson Julien Coulombe-Bonnafous. “We plan on tabling a bill to revise the oath-taking process for MPs.” 

A 2023 attempt by former Liberal MP René Arseneault to reform the swearing-in process did not get enough support to progress in Parliament. 

His private member’s bill sought to give MPs and senators the option of swearing an oath to the monarch or to pledge to carry out their duties “in the best interest of Canada while upholding its Constitution.” The bill received the backing of Bloc, NDP and Green MPs, as well as some Liberals – including current ministers Joël Lightbound and Julie Dabrusin – and several Conservatives, including newly promoted mental-health critic Mike Lake. 

Mr. Lake said that, although he personally supported swearing an oath to the monarch, MPs should have a choice of whether to do so. 

Source: MPs revive bid scrapping requirement to swear oath of loyalty to the King