Israeli math prof differentiates in citizenship oath
University of Toronto Prof. Dror Bar-Natan has acute problem pledging allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II
Renee Ghert-Zand is the health reporter and a feature writer for The Times of Israel.
Dror Bar-Natan made a calculated moved when he became a Canadian citizen this Monday. As a naturalized citizen, the Israeli mathematics professor, who has lived in Canada for the past 13 years, was required to take an oath — which included swearing allegiance to the British monarch (currently Queen Elizabeth II). Bar-Natan took the oath, but immediately disavowed his loyalty to the Queen.
Bar-Natan’s highly unusual move took no one by surprise, including the citizenship judge presiding over the Toronto ceremony where some 80 individuals received Canadian citizenship.
Bar-Natan, who teaches at the University of Toronto, had previously filed and lost a law suit in an attempt to release him from the obligation to take the oath to the Queen. He and two other permanent residents in Canada filed the suit together, arguing that the oath violated their freedom of speech and conscience.
The case reached the Ontario Court of Appeals, which in August 2014 dismissed it.
On Monday, nonetheless, after reciting, “I affirm that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada and fulfill my duties as a Canadian citizen,” Bar-Natan handed Judge Albert Wong a letter in which he stated, “I wish to affirm my allegiance, my true allegiance to Canada and the people of Canada, but also to disavow the royalty part and only the royalty part of the citizenship oath.”
Talking with The Times of Israel by phone this week on his way home from the citizenship ceremony, Bar-Natan, 49, said the process was very friendly and cordial.
“I didn’t just do this on the spur of the moment. I sent the letter to the judge two weeks in advance, and I also went to the judge’s office before the ceremony started to discuss it,” Bar-Natan said.
The professor claimed that he was fully within his rights and that he acted legally in disavowing his allegiance to the queen (something which Canadian citizens by birth are not required to do explicitly).
On a website he set up to explain his disavowal plans, as well as to encourage others to follow suit, Bar-Natan cited an historical case in which a person recanted his vow of allegiance to the queen and received a letter from the government confirming that it would not rescind his citizenship. He also quoted the 2014 ruling from the Court of Appeals, which stated that “the appellants have the opportunity to publicly disavow what they consider to be the message conveyed by the oath.”
“That ruling means that the oath does not violate my freedom of expression, so it became compulsory to disavow the oath the minute I took it. I used my right,” Bar-Natan explained.
‘There is no religious component from my perspective. And it has nothing to do with my being from Israel. I am doing this as a Canadian citizen’
As he sees it, swearing allegiance to a monarch does not correspond to current realities.
“To my mind, it’s a remnant of times when there were classes of people and there was no socio-economic mobility. That just doesn’t fit in 2015,” he said.
“The choice that Canada made to be part of a monarchy is a reasonable choice, but I disagree with being compelled to take an oath to that choice, to being part of it.”
Bar-Natan said that reports that his refusal to vow allegiance to the queen stemmed from religious reasons were false.
“There is no religious component from my perspective. And it has nothing to do with my being from Israel. I am doing this as a Canadian citizen,” he said.
A handful of other naturalized citizens have signed up on his website saying that they have decided to follow his example, but at the same time, Bar-Natan has received a significant amount of negative feedback in the media, in emails and on social media.
One Canadian posted on his Facebook page that becoming a Canadian was an all-or-nothing deal. His message was clearly unwelcoming to Bar-Natan and the other disavowers.
“If you don’t take the oath then don’t become a Canadian citizen! Pretty simple actually. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out,” he posted.
