Queen's death sparks confusion at a Canadian citizenship ceremony
The death of Queen Elizabeth II was no doubt going to spell big changes, but a group of new Canadian citizens felt this shift sooner than expected.
On September 8, a group of 141 people were on a Zoom call for their citizenship ceremony when one question arose that left officials stumped: to whom should the new citizens pledge their allegiance?
Roberto Rocha, a reporter for the Investigative Journalism Foundation, was at his friend’s citizenship ceremony and tweeted about the experience and ensuing confusion.
I am sitting with my friend who is at his Canadian citizenship ceremony via Zoom. There is a long delay. He was supposed to swear his allegiance to the Queen. I’m guessing they’re trying to sort out what to do now.
— Roberto Rocha (@robroc) September 8, 2022
After it appeared that the officials had made a decision, the ceremony began and the new citizens were instructed to cut up their permanent residence cards on camera.
You might also like:
According to Rocha, the judge presiding over the ceremony acknowledged the Queen’s death in a very Canadian way.
It was a quick and sober acknowledgment, extremely Canadian. He’s more excited about welcoming the new citizens to the Canadian family.
— Roberto Rocha (@robroc) September 8, 2022
The experience left Rocha marvelling at how different the citizenship oath is going to be moving forward.
And they ended with “The Queen is dead, long live the king”!
That’s wild.
— Roberto Rocha (@robroc) September 8, 2022
The ceremony then ended with a video of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau followed by the national anthem.
“Thankfully nothing to change there,” he added.
Daily Hive has reached out to Rocha as well as Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for a comment.
Follow Channels and Categories