Juno News - November 05, 2018


Do oaths matter to Jagmeet Singh？


Episode Stats

Length

2 minutes

Words per Minute

145.02405

Word Count

392

Sentence Count

18


Summary

Jagmeet Singh says he doesn't think Canada should continue to have a relationship with the monarchy. Andrew Lutton explains why this is a stunning statement in Canadian politics, and why it runs counter to the oath of allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II.


Transcript

00:00:00.240 NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has made what is actually a stunning declaration in Canadian politics
00:00:06.400 that he does not believe the monarchy is relevant.
00:00:10.320 He says he's a Republican and while it isn't at the top of his priority list,
00:00:14.840 he doesn't think Canada should continue to have a relationship with the monarchy.
00:00:19.780 Now his belief that Her Majesty is irrelevant is actually quite ironic
00:00:24.040 because I think that Mr. Singh himself is fairly irrelevant in the Canadian political discussion.
00:00:30.000 But the challenge that I have with this is that his belief in the monarchy not having a place in Canada
00:00:36.120 didn't seem to stand in the way of him taking an oath of allegiance to the monarchy
00:00:40.780 when he became an MPP in Ontario, a member of the provincial parliament.
00:00:46.040 And should he be successful in seeking a federal seat in the House of Commons,
00:00:49.720 he will once again have to pledge allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen of Canada.
00:00:56.100 Now this is not to say that having a belief that the system itself in Canada should change
00:01:01.460 runs contrary to that oath of allegiance.
00:01:03.880 Although arguably trying to change the system might actually run contrary to that
00:01:09.060 because you're proving that you're actually not having an allegiance to Her Majesty the Queen
00:01:13.920 and the system that she represents.
00:01:15.600 But I find it interesting that he seems to be like so many people willing to make an oath
00:01:21.680 just because it's what you do and not actually because of a genuine sense of belief for it.
00:01:28.260 And that's a challenge in Canadian politics.
00:01:30.500 It's a challenge in politics in general.
00:01:32.840 Politicians who say something despite believing something completely different.
00:01:37.560 But in the case here we're talking about the tradition on which Canada exists in the first place
00:01:42.200 which is us a constitutional monarchy.
00:01:45.920 And the fact remains that that tradition in Canada is immensely important.
00:01:49.820 And it's one that has all the checks and balances necessary
00:01:52.480 and also allows our tradition to maintain.
00:01:55.640 And for someone to lead a political party
00:01:57.820 but have such a fundamental disrespect for the traditions that really make Canada what it is
00:02:03.900 I would say to them that they are the irrelevant one, not the Queen.
00:02:08.080 For the True North Initiative, I'm Andrew Lutton.
00:02:12.200 For the True North Initiative, I'm Andrew Lutton.