Minutes after Dror Bar-Natan promised to “be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, her heirs and successors”, the newly minted Canadian informed the judge officiating at his citizenship ceremony that he didn’t mean a word of it.



“I hereby disavow whatever I thought the first 25 words of the citizenship oath conveyed when I took the oath earlier today,” the Israeli-born mathematician told Judge Albert Wong immediately after he swore his oath.

Denied his request to become a citizen without first declaring “true allegiance” to the British monarch, Bar-Natan instead exercised his right of free expression to disavow the unpalatable oath in his first act as a Canadian.

There is little chance that the future of the monarchy in Canada will come up this Friday when the new Liberal government of prime minister Justin Trudeau outlines its legislative program in the “speech from the throne” delivered by the governor general – the equivalent of the Queen’s speech in Westminster.

But a new generation of Canadian republicans is hoping the Liberals will soon abolish the oath as the first step on a new path to abolishing the monarchy itself.

Bar-Natan admits he was taken aback at the vehemence of some online reaction to his refusal. “I just learned a few new curse words, and I’ve been told that it would be nice if I have a horrible death,” he said. But he has also been buoyed by widespread support of fellow immigrants, including more than a dozen so far who have so posted their own recantations on his new website, disavowal.ca.

“I don’t think in 2015 we should pretend to profess loyalty to royalty,” he said, adding that his stand was inspired by the very appeal court that rejected his lawsuit asking to be exempted from the oath. “In explaining why the oath does not violate freedom of expression, they wrote ‘The appellants have the opportunity to publicly disavow what they consider to be the message conveyed by the oath,’’’ he said.

By taking that advice, Bar-Natan and his new followers are helping to force the government’s hand, according to Tom Freda, director of the group Citizens for a Canadian Republic. “I think it’s a pretty sad state of affairs when our government says ‘You have to take the oath but it doesn’t mean anything. You can take it and lie,’” Freda said. “But that’s the law.”

Republicans took heart soon after the election when the Trudeau government removed a portrait of the Queen that the preceding – staunchly monarchist – Harper government had installed prominently in the main office lobby of the department of foreign affairs in Ottawa.

But they wilted a few weeks later when Trudeau delivered a toast to the Queen at a Commonwealth leaders’ meeting in Malta, hailing her as “a constant presence in the life of Canada”.

Freda is quick to note that Trudeau’s praise was personal, reflecting the Queen’s undisputed popularity among Canadians, but says that it does not extend to the institution she represents. “I can assure you that the majority of the Liberal caucus is in favour of ending the monarchy when the Queen’s reign ends,” he said.

Polls show that a majority of Canadians shares that view, with three-quarters saying the Canadian head of state should be Canadian – eventually.

“I think Charles might solve the problem,” said Steve Parish, Mayor of Ajax, Ontario. Freda agreed, claiming the future of the monarchy will become a major issue “as we get closer to the end of the Queen’s reign”.

The monarchy is especially resented in French-speaking Quebec: when the Queen last visited for an overnight stay in 1964, protesters turned their backs on the royal motorcade and taunted her with separatist slogans. A police-induced riot followed, ending with dozens of arrests.

Fear of riling Quebec nationalists remains a major ingredient in the glue that binds Canada to the Crown. A previous Liberal government had actually prepared a new oath to replace the one pledging allegiance to the British Crown, according to former citizenship minister Sergio Marchi, but abandoned it when prime minister Jean Chrétien decided not “to take on the separatists and the monarchists at the same time”.

As Chretien realized, an easily disavowed pledge to the Queen is much more palatable to Quebec nationalists than any new, meaningful pledge to Canada could be.

And Canadians everywhere have reason to fear what might happen following any new attempt to reopen the constitution, as would be required in order to replace the Queen as head of state. The country almost shook apart the last time its politicians opened that Pandora’s box, and none is eager to do it again. The sum total of local tensions ensures that Canada’s allegiance to the Crown remains firm – if not exactly “true”.