Save citizenship ceremonies
Dear Mr. [MP Alistair] MacGregor:
On Feb. 24 the federal government you support quietly revealed that it will allow the public swearing of the oath of citizenship, a requirement since 1947, to lapse effective July 1, 2023. Qualified applicants will be then able to swear allegiance to Canada “via a secure online solution by some means of attestation,” a phrase that implies clicking a box on a government website.
This change of the expression of a major commitment to Canada that, for good reason has been made in person, to a minor bureaucratic exercise is a monumental failure in government administration. Those responsible blame the back up of potential new compatriots which has now reached 358,000. Competent managers would find ways to overcome this problem in ways that would reflect the value of becoming a Canadian citizen rather than reducing it to the most admired process in public administration – ticking a box.
I urge you to ask the government to rescind this measure immediately and to instruct the minister concerned to return citizenship ceremonies to serve as the celebratory milestones in the life of new Canadians, a place they have occupied for the best part of eight decades.
John Appleby
Duncan