Discover Canada: The Oath of Citizenship

• Study notes based on the "Discover Canada - The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship" guide

The Oath of Citizenship

• New citizens swear or affirm fidelity and allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, her heirs and successors.
• They pledge to faithfully observe the laws of Canada, including the Constitution.
• The oath recognizes and affirms the Aboriginal and treaty rights of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples.
• Taking the oath, one commits to fulfilling their duties as a Canadian citizen.
• Loyalty is professed to the person (the Sovereign) who represents all Canadians, personifying Canada.

Message to Our Readers

• Applying for citizenship requires courage and is a significant step toward joining a tradition built by generations of pioneers.
• Newcomers help to build a free, law-abiding, and prosperous society
• It goes back 400 years.
• Canada has a proud history and strong identity.
• Canada is a constitutional monarchy, a parliamentary democracy, and a federal state.
• Canadians adhere to the rule of law and to parliamentary government institutions.
• Immigrants aged 18-54 must have adequate English or French knowledge to become citizens.
• One must learn about Canada's voting procedures, history, symbols, democratic institutions, geography, rights, and responsibilities.
• Canadian citizens have rights and responsibilities, such as obeying laws and respecting the rights and freedoms of others.

Applying for Citizenship

• Citizenship officials will verify status, ensure requirements are met, and check that persons are not prohibited.
• Address needs to be up-to-date because applications can take several months.
• The citizenship test is usually written, but it could be an interview.
• There are two requirements for citizenship: knowledge of Canada and adequate English or French.
• Adult applicants 55 years of age and over do not need to write the citizenship test
• The Citizenship Regulations provide information on meeting Canadian knowledge requirements.
• All test questions stem from subjects noted in the Citizenship Regulations.
• Required information is provided in the study guide.
• If an applicant passes the test and meets all the requirements, the government will send the applicant a notice to appear to take the Oath of Citizenship.
• At the ceremony, you will take the Oath of Citizenship, sign the oath form, and receive a Citizenship Certificate.

Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship

• Canadian citizens have rights and responsibilities secured by law, reflecting shared traditions, identity and values, originating from our history.
• Canadian law has several sources like laws passed by Parliament/provincial legislatures, English common law, the civil code of France, and the inherited unwritten constitution.
• The system secures an 800-year old tradition of ordered liberty dating back to the Magna Carta of 1215.
• Habeas corpus, the right to challenge unlawful detention by the state, comes from English common law.
• The Constitution was amended in 1982 to entrench the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
• The Charter summarizes fundamental freedoms while setting out additional rights.
• These fundamental freedoms include:
  • Freedom of conscience and religion, thought, belief, opinion, and expression (including speech and press).
  • Freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association.
• Mobility Rights: ability to live and work anywhere in Canada, enter and leave the country freely, and apply for a passport.
• Aboriginal Peoples' Rights: Charter guarantees will not adversely affect any treaty or other rights or freedoms of Aboriginal peoples.
• Official Language Rights and Minority Language Educational Rights: French and English have equal status.
• Multiculturalism: This is a characteristic of Canadian heritage and identity
• Canadians celebrate each other and respect pluralism.
• Men and women are equal, spousal abuse, "honour killings," female genital mutilation, forced marriage or other gender-based violence are severely punished under Canada's criminal laws.
• Citizenship responsibilities exist with rights, including:
  • Obeying the law: the rule of law, individuals and governments are regulated by laws.
  • Taking responsibility for oneself and family: Getting a job, taking care of family, and contributing to Canada's prosperity.
  • Serving on a jury: Legally required to serve, making the justice system work correctly.
  • Voting: The right to vote comes with a responsibility to vote in elections.
  • Helping others: Volunteering is an excellent way to gain useful skills and contacts.
  • Protecting the environment and heritage: Every citizen has a role to play in protecting Canada's natural, cultural and architectural heritage.
• Serving in the Canadian Forces is noble.
• Young people can also get valuable experience, skills and contacts by serving in local part-time navy, militia and air reserves, or by getting involved in the cadets.

Who We Are

• Canada has the oldest continuous constitutional tradition in the world and the only constitutional monarchy in North America.
• Canadian institutions uphold a commitment to Peace, Order and Good Government rooted in British North America Act in 1867.
• A belief in ordered liberty, enterprise, hard work and fair play has enabled Canadians to build a prosperous society.
• To understand what it means to be Canadian, it is important to know about Aboriginal, French and British founding peoples.
• Aboriginal Peoples:
  • Ancestors migrated from Asia thousands of years ago.
  • Vibrant First Nations cultures were rooted in religious beliefs.
  • Aboriginal and treaty rights are in the Canadian Constitution.
  • Territorial rights were first guaranteed through the Royal Proclamation of 1763 by King George III.
  • The act established treaty negotiation basis with newcomers (sometimes treaties were neglected).
  • Residential schools placed many Aboriginal children to assimilate them into mainstream culture from the 1800s to the 1980s.
  • In 2008, Ottawa formally apologized to former students.
  • Aboriginal peoples take renewed pride and have made achievements in agriculture, environment, business and arts.
• Indian refers to all Aboriginal people not Inuit/Métis.
• The term First Nations began in the 1970s.
• About half of First Nations people live on reserve land (600 communities) and the other half live off-reserve, mainly in urban centres.
• Inuit means "the people.”
• They live in small communities across the Arctic.
• Their land, sea and wildlife knowledge enabled them to adapt to harshest environments on earth.
• The Métis:
  • They are a distinct people of mixed Aboriginal and European ancestry.
  • Most live in the Prairie provinces.
  • They come from French- and English-speaking backgrounds.
  • They speak their own dialect, Michif.
• About 65% of the Aboriginal people are First Nations, while 30% are Métis and 4% Inuit.
• Canadian society stems from English/French-speaking Christian civilizations brought by European settlers.
• English and French: official languages and define day-to-day life.
• The federal government provides services throughout Canada in English and French.
• There are 18 million Anglophones (English as first language) and seven million Francophones (French as first language).
• Most Francophones live in Quebec, one million live in Ontario, New Brunswick and Manitoba with a smaller presence in other provinces.
• New Brunswick: the only officially bilingual province.
• The Acadians:
  • They are descendants of French colonists who settled in the Maritime provinces in 1604.
  • Between 1755 and 1763, the Acadians were deported from their homeland (“Great Upheaval.")
  • Acadian culture is maintained.
• Quebecers:
  • They are people of Quebec.
  • The majority are French-speaking descendants of 8,500 French settlers from the 1600s and 1700s.
  • Quebecers maintain its own distinct identity.
  • In 2006 Quebecers form a nation within a united Canada was official recognized.
  • One million Anglo-Quebecers have 250 years of heritage.
• Prejudice towards people from places experiencing warfare/conflict is not justified
• Newcomers are expected to embrace democratic principles like the rule of law.
• English-speaking areas were built by English, Welsh, Scottish, Irish settlers, soldiers and migrants from the 1600s to 20th century.
• British origin pioneers and builders invested and endured hardship to lay the country's foundations.
• Anglophones (English speakers) are referred to as English Canadians.
• The largest ethnic groups are the English, French, Scottish, Irish, German, Italian, Chinese, Aboriginal, Ukrainian, Dutch, South Asian and Scandinavian.
• Since the 1970s, most immigrants arrived from Asian countries

Canada's History

• Aboriginal Peoples:
  • When Europeans arrived, all regions were occupied by native people ("Indians,")
  • They lived off land by hunting/gathering or raising crops.
  • Huron-Wendat of Great Lakes region, like the Iroquois, were farmers/hunters.
  • Cree/Dene (Northwest) were hunter-gatherers.
  • Sioux were nomadic and followed the bison.
  • The Inuit lived off Arctic wildlife.
  • West Coast natives preserved fish via drying/smoking.
  • Warfare for land/resources was common.
  • Arrival of European traders, missionaries, soldiers, and colonists changed native life forever.
  • European diseases decimated Aboriginals.
  • Aboriginals/Europeans formed bonds in the first 200 years, laying the foundation of Canada.
• The First Europeans:
  • Vikings (Iceland) first colonized Greenland, reaching Labrador/Newfoundland 1,000 years ago.
  • Remnants exist at l'Anse aux Meadows world heritage site.
  • European exploration began in earnest in 1497 with John Cabot mapping Canada's east coast.
• Exploring a River, Naming Canada:
• 1534-1542 Jacques Cartier made three voyages across the Atlantic, claiming land for France.
• Cartier heard Iroquoian word kanata ("village") from two captured guides.
• Canada name began appearing on maps by 1550s.
• Royal New France:
  • 1604: First European settlement north of Florida was established by French explorers (Pierre de Monts and Samuel de Champlain, initially on St. Croix Island and then at Port-Royal.
  • 1608: Champlain built Quebec City fortress.
  • Colonists struggled against harsh climate.
  • Champlain allied with the Algonquin, Montagnais and Huron (enemies of Iroquois).
  • The French/Aboriginal peoples collaborated in fur-trade economy from Hudson Bay to Gulf of Mexico.
• Struggle for a Continent:
  • 1670 King Charles II (England) granted Hudson's Bay Company exclusive trading rights over watershed draining into Hudson Bay.
  • For 100 years the Company competed with Montreal-based traders.
  • Voyageurs and coureurs des bois journeyed by canoe; they formed alliances with First Nations.
  • English colonies richer than New France.
  • At the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, the British defeated the French at Québec City in 1759.
  • Brigadier James Wolfe and the Marquis de Montcalm died during the battle.
• The Quebeck Act of 1744
  • Colony renamed Province of Quebec after war.
  • French-speaking Catholic people were called habitants or Canadiens.
  • The French were accomodated as the British Parliament to govern the French Roman Catholic.
  • It allowed religious freedom for Catholics
  • Allowed to hold offices, which wasn't allowed back in Britian
  • Restored French civil law
  • Maintained British civil law
• United Empire Loyalists
  • American colonies declared independence/formed the United States in 1776
  • Divided by war again
  • Loyalists (Crown supporters) fled American Revolution oppression, settling in Nova Scotia/Quebec.
  • Joseph Brant led Mohawk Indians into Canada.
  • Loyalists came in many forms like Dutch, German, British, Scandinavian, Aboriginal, Presbyterian, Anglican, Baptist, Methodist, Jewish, Quaker, etc.
  • Freedmen and slaves came seeking better lives.
  • By 1792, some Black Nova Scotians moved to establish Freetown, Sierra Leone.
• The Beginnings of Democracy
  • Democratic institutions developed gradually and peacefully:
  • First representative assembly was elected in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1758.
  • Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the Province of Quebec into Upper Canada (Ontario), and Lower Canada (Quebec).
  • Act granted legislative assemblies elected by the people to the Canadas for the first time.
  • “Canada” became official at this time.
  • British North America: all Atlantic colonies and the two Canadas.
• Abolition of Slavery
  • 1793 Upper Canada (led by Simcoe) becomes the first to abolish slavary
  • 1807 the British Parlament prohibited trading and selling slaves
  • 1833 Slavery throughout the Empire was abolished
• A Growing Economy
  • The first companies in Canada were formed during the French and British regimes, competing for fur trade economy.
  • Institutions opened in the 18/19th centuries for trade and financial services.
  • Montreal Stock opened in 1832
• The War of 1812
  • In 1812 The United States launched an invasion believing Canada was easy to concur
  • The British and Canadian forces joined as volunteers while First Nations were on their side led by Chief Tecumseh
  • The Americans were mistaken and it ended with the British paying for costly Canadian Defence Systems for sites such as Citadets and Quebec City
• Rebellions of 1837-1838: In Upper and Lower Canada, reformers believed progress towards democracy progressed too slowly.
• In Toronto rebels opposed by British troops and Canadian volunteers that were supressed
• Rebels were hanged or exiled
• Lord Durham report to merge Upper and Lower Canada into a responsible government

Modern Canada

• Trade and Economic Growth:
• Post WW2 Canada began its era in prosperity and material progress
• treaties were created such as the GATT(now WTO) which helped free trade
• Oil was discovered in Alberta in 1947 which brought oil industries into Canada
• Prosperity led to programs like Canada Health Act and such like
• Goverment Entanglement
• Canada joined international organizations like UN and defended South Korea
• Canada and Quebec
• Quebec sought to be seperate from Canada and had a refrendum which failed
• Diversity in Society Social values changed and Canada became an open society Many Asian Canadians could not vote till 1948 or 1960
• Multiculturalism New impetus and became a third of CDN neither British/French
• Arts and Culture in Canada Art, music, film, were all celebrated even until today

How Canadians Govern Themselves

• 3 Facts: Canada operates: a federal state; & parliamentary democracy; under constitutional monarchy.
• Federal State:
  • Responsibilities (federal vs state) were defined in 1867 in British N. America Act (now Constitution Act, 1867).
  • Federal responsibilities include defense, foreign policy, trade, communication, currency, navigation, criminal/citizenship law.
  • Provinces responsible for municipal government, education, health, natural resources, property, civil rights and highways.
  • Agriculture/immigration are shared.
  • Provinces create their separate tailored policies and experiment with new ideas.
  • Governors/Assemblies exist in every province, just line in Ottawa
• Parliamentary Democracy:
  • Members elected: for provincial and territorial legislature
  • Cabinet ministers: responsible to elected reps.
  • Must retain house confidence
• Parliment: comprised of the Senate, House of Commons and the Queen
• Gov Gen: Appointed by the Governor
• Judiciary of three branches: executive, legislative, judiciary
• The Federal System
  • Prime minister and members Cabinet members
  • The opposition are not in power and want to oppose govt proposals (3 parties):Conservative, New Democratic, Liberl
  • Canadian citizen’s right to participate so important for all ages to vote

Federal Elections

• Canadians vote for members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons.
• Federal elections are held on the third Monday in October every 4 years.
• The Prime Minister may call an earlier one.
• Canada is divided into 308 electoral districts like ridings/constituencies.
• Each electoral district elects one MP who represents them and all Canadians.
• Citizens (age 18+) may run as candidates.
• Each district votes for the candidate and party of their choice.
• The candidate who receives the most votes becomes the MP for the district.
• Right to vote if you are a CDN & 18, also on the voters lists
• National Register of Electors produced from Elecitons Canada
• Each elector has a voter information card telling you where to attend
• Election and results are secret

The Justice System

• Guarentees due processes under the law
• A presumption of innocence in criminal matters, (innocent till proven guility)
• Heritage/ legal system: includes the rule of a peaceful way to settle disputes w/ elected reps or police enforcing
• Supreme Court of Canada - Highest Court
• Federal Court of Canada - Govt related matters
• Province courts - lower offenses and family matters
• All Canada police keep people safe
• All forces have a process that if need question
• Lawyers/ Legal Aid to help if not pay

Canadian Symbols

• Crown: 400 years symbol of state and represents Parliment, Legislature, the courts and services
• Maple Leaf: A symbol for decades in 1700s and on soldiers stones
• Canadian's Official Languages: A symbol that English and French speakers are working for more 300 years

National Anthem

• "O Canada" proclaimed as anthem in 1980 as original lyrics was spoken in 1880 in Quebec
• Royal Anthem -"God Save the Queen" for all cermonies
• Order of Canada: All countries have ways to recognize outstanding citizens w awards honors
• Victora Cross: Highest honor for CDN bravery in serving military.
• Public Holyday

Canada's Economy

• Trade and Natiion
• Believes in the trade relations in CDN to other nations
• Free trade agreement and NAFTA(USA Mexico)
• CDN Economy The biggest service and manu trade and large portion CDN exports to USA