436
submitted 8 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

Summary

Dawson City in Canada is facing a crisis as the new mayor and councillors won’t take the required oath of allegiance to King Charles.

They refused in support of an Indigenous councillor who opposes the oath due to the Crown’s history with Indigenous people.

Without the oath, their election could be canceled, and they can’t make official decisions.

The council has asked for a different oath, but Yukon law requires the pledge. Authorities are now looking into the situation.

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[-] InEnduringGrowStrong@sh.itjust.works 153 points 8 months ago

Québec has gotten rid of the royal oath requirement, surely Yukon can think of something.

[-] BenVimes@lemmy.ca 38 points 8 months ago

I am only a Canadian, and not a Canadian lawyer, but I don't think it will be as simple for Yukon. The biggest reason I can think of is that Yukon is a territory, and not a province, and so has different constitutional standing. From the government webpage:

There is a clear constitutional distinction between provinces and territories. While provinces exercise constitutional powers in their own right, the territories exercise delegated powers under the authority of the Parliament of Canada.

I'm not saying it isn't possible, just that the same legal maneuvers Quebec used may not be applicable.

[-] Enkers@sh.itjust.works 4 points 8 months ago

Also, doesn't Québec have some special considerations above the rest of the provinces? I seem to recall we deigned them a 'nation within a nation' or some such back in the mid 00's. I'm not sure if there were any legal ramifications to that, though.

[-] BenVimes@lemmy.ca 4 points 8 months ago

They might, but I can't say for certain. I didn't mention it because, again, I'm not a Canadian lawyer, and the basic info on provinces vs territories was far more accessible.

[-] HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works 3 points 8 months ago

Quebec law is unique in Canada because Quebec is the only province in Canada to have a juridical legal system under which civil matters are regulated by French-heritage civil law. Public law, criminal law and federal law operate according to Canadian common law.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_law

Yea it's likely more complicated for them.
The whole thing is bullshit if you ask me and territories should be on equal footing with provinces.
The royal oath should be abolished country wide.

[-] PumpkinSkink@lemmy.world 113 points 8 months ago

Imagine swearing fealty to a monarch in 2024.

[-] mack7400@lemmy.world 34 points 8 months ago

I'm jelly of Americans, who will never have to deal with that bullshit. Nope, not at all!

[-] explodicle@sh.itjust.works 40 points 8 months ago

Hey now, pledging allegiance to an inanimate object makes way more sense.

[-] Furbag@lemmy.world 9 points 8 months ago

Not just an inanimate object - an idea that that object is meant to represent! We're about one level of abstraction away from the pledge of allegiance becoming a meaningless mantra of words with no meaning or relation to one another strung together to make a pretty song that is always sung off-key by grade school children.

[-] redhorsejacket@lemmy.world 5 points 8 months ago

I mean bag on the pledge of allegiance all you like, but using the flag as a synecdoche of the nation as a whole doesn't seem like it is as great a leap of logic as you are making it out to be.

[-] FelixCress@lemmy.world 6 points 7 months ago

That may not be the best example.

[-] TheEighthDoctor@lemmy.world 30 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Imagine doing it to god, at least the monarch exists

[-] otp@sh.itjust.works 3 points 7 months ago

Visit the monarchy: Expensive, once-in-a-lifetime experience

Visit God: Literally dead.

[-] Tuxman@sh.itjust.works 1 points 7 months ago

Well…. If anything happens, you can always say that « God told you to do it » and you have a federally approved oath to prove you must obey

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 109 points 8 months ago

Monarchism is a anarchronism and should have been thrown out with the rest of English colonialism. I am annoyed as fuck that I had to apply to "His Majesty's Passport Office" for my passport.

[-] jerkface@lemmy.ca 24 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Sorry, when did we throw out colonialism? We're still doing it just as hard as ever.

[-] Bassman1805@lemmy.world 44 points 8 months ago

It's not 100% over, but claiming is going just a strong as ever is a bit hard to swallow given that the UK was once the world's largest empire.

[-] jerkface@lemmy.ca 23 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Colonialism has changed significantly, but it has only grown in terms of net value being transferred from natural and human resources into private ownership. Governance in Canada is still based around the needs of capital with a thin veneer of humanism to give the air of credibility.

(For clarity, I am approaching this as a resident of Canada, I imagine the perspective is different from someone in the UK who feels that they missed out on the British Empire.)

[-] frazorth@feddit.uk 2 points 7 months ago

Not in the slightest.

The monarchy only has a 50% approval rating here, and that is only because Lizzy played the game of appearing nice and having a lot of PR.

Her kids and grandkids are fucking needy arseholes that should be fired out of a cannon. Can we send them to Ukraine instead of missiles?

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 11 points 8 months ago

You're not wrong. But I was talking about the era in the 1960s when Britain shrank substantially by giving up so many overseas territories.

[-] TSG_Asmodeus@lemmy.world 8 points 8 months ago

I was talking about the era in the 1960s when Britain shrank substantially by giving up so many overseas territories.

Awkward Canadian history here, but that time period is when our colonialism was anything but fading.

[-] bighatchester@lemmy.world 70 points 8 months ago

Based . I would do the same fuck Charles .

[-] NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 26 points 8 months ago

I am your king!

Well, I didn't vote for you…

[-] friend_of_satan@lemmy.world 17 points 8 months ago

fuck Charles

You may not have a choice.

[-] dipcart@lemmy.world 57 points 8 months ago

I really hope this is able to set a precedent. Would be great to not inflict this guy on people.

[-] buttfarts@lemy.lol 5 points 8 months ago

As a Canadian I say send them to the stocks until they learn fealty to the king!

[-] dipcart@lemmy.world 9 points 8 months ago

You make a compelling argument I hadn't considered. I will, however, counter by saying we should have a Kaiser instead.

[-] BetaBlake@lemmy.world 37 points 8 months ago

Toss the tea in the harbor!

[-] otp@sh.itjust.works 1 points 7 months ago

But we like tea.

And harbours.

[-] SacredHeartAttack@lemmy.world 20 points 8 months ago

Cause fuck him, that’s why.

[-] Eiri@lemmy.ca 20 points 8 months ago

Weren't people a bit more positive about monarchy back when Elizabeth II was alive? I feel like she had a sort of mystique that made her feel more legit for some reason.

[-] catloaf@lemm.ee 16 points 8 months ago

She was more relatable. She had corgis. She loved cows. She was an ambulance driver and mechanic during WWII. Nobody likes Charles.

[-] ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca 15 points 8 months ago

The Queen's face and name has been on everything for decades. There are Canadians in their 70s who never knew anything different. That's just the way things were. It was tradition. That's how I saw it anyways. Anyone who complained about it was just complaining about a symbolic action we've all been doing for generations. Nobody is actually swearing their life to the queen--it's just a tradition. Then she died.

Now some random old guy's face and name is going to be on everything. If we're going to change everything anyways, then why not change it to something different? The argument that was seen as a small complaint before now makes a lot of sense. If we're changing the words to our oath anyways, then why not change them to words we can all agree on?

[-] dubyakay@lemmy.ca 3 points 8 months ago

Everyone loved the powder pink lizard queen.

[-] riodoro1@lemmy.world 13 points 8 months ago

Call second elections so that people can vote for them again.

[-] rabber@lemmy.ca 13 points 8 months ago

Dawson city is so based. Toyed with the idea of moving there for years

[-] deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz 2 points 7 months ago

Why TF are a city council swearing an oath at all?

this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2024
436 points (100.0% liked)

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