What is the present situation?
Shortly after the present Parliament was opened, the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration of the House of Commons set about examining changes to the Canadian Citizenship Act. After holding hearings it proposed the following as a new Canadian Citizenship Oath: “I pledge full allegiance to Canada and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, and swear to faithfully obey the laws and fulfil my duties as a citizen.” This proposed oath inserted a new “pledge” (note the American terminology) to “Canada”, demoted the Queen of Canada to second place and eliminated the words “her heirs and successors according to law” - the commitment new citizens make to the succession to the Canadian Crown. The Hon. Sergio Marchi, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, apparently influenced by republican civil servants, has proposed a further step and eliminated the Queen altogether from a new declaration of citizenship. He commissioned ten Canadian writers to decide what nearly 30 million Canadians believe in. According to some reports the writers were explicitly told not to refer to the Monarchy. This declaration is “I am a citizen of Canada, and I make this commitment: to uphold our laws and freedoms; to respect our people in their diversity; to work for our common well-being, and to safeguard and honour this ancient northern land.”