(Ottawa) The place of the British Crown in the oath of allegiance has been deemed immovable by a majority of MPs in the House of Commons. The attempt by Acadian Liberal MP René Arseneault to make the oath to the king optional failed on Wednesday in Ottawa.
“God Save the King” rang out in the House after private member’s bill C-347 was defeated 197 votes to 113 late in the afternoon.
Concretely, this means that deputies and senators will have to continue to swear allegiance to His Majesty King Charles III to have the right to sit in their chamber.
MP Arseneault wanted to modify section 128 of the Constitution Act of 1867 to allow senators and federal elected officials to take the oath to the Crown, an oath of office or both.
PHOTO TAKEN FROM RENÉ ARSENEAULT’S FACEBOOK PAGE
Liberal MP René Arseneault
The Bloc Québécois unanimously supported the approach of the elected official from Madawaska—Restigouche, in New Brunswick, who has been a member of the Commons since 2015.
“Acadians have in common with Quebecers that they have a strong national feeling and no attachment to the British monarchy,” argued Bloc leader Yves-François Blanchet on the eve of the vote on Tuesday.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and the majority of his troops supported maintaining allegiance to the monarch.
The entire Quebec delegation, however, voted in favor of free choice in matters of taking the oath.
In the Liberal ranks, Quebec ministers voted against their Acadian colleague’s bill, in order to respect the principle of ministerial solidarity.
The Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Steven MacKinnon, had signaled the day before that members of the Cabinet would oppose it.
He argued that the Liberals had other priorities, and said he feared that endorsing this proposal would force a reopening of the Constitution.
For their part, the New Democrats voted in favor of MP Arsenault’s proposal.
The oath of office proposed in C-347 read: “I, A. B., swear that I will exercise my functions in the best interests of Canada and in compliance with its Constitution.”
It will therefore be necessary to stick, until further notice, to this solemn promise: “I, ABswear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles III.”