Canadian town at standstill over councillors' refusal to take oath of allegiance to King Charles

22 November 2024, 07:56 | Updated: 22 November 2024, 09:49

A Canadian town is facing a governance crisis after its newly elected mayor and councillors refused to take an oath of allegiance to the King.

Dawson City in Yukon, northwest Canada, requires its council members to pledge allegiance to the monarch in a swearing-in ceremony.

Under Yukon law, a newly elected official must take the oath within 40 days of their election - or their win "shall be considered null". The town's election was held on 17 October, 37 days ago.

The new council cannot make official decisions until the issue is resolved.

According to Canada's Global News, the town's mayor-elect Stephen Johnson told The Canadian Press that his refusal is in solidarity with an indigenous council member.

Darwyn Lynn, a member of the Tr'ondek Hwech'in First Nation, raised concerns about pledging allegiance to the Crown due to the troubled history of indigenous people, who often were dispossessed and suffered abuse at the hands of Canadian governments and institutions.

Mr Johnson said: "We can't do anything legally required of us under the Municipal Act. It's a bit of a sticky situation.

"This is being done with no disrespect to His Majesty King Charles. And also we're not doing this to go, 'Rah, rah, look at us,' to poke everybody across Canada, to get rid of the Crown.

"It was just something we wanted to do together to show solidarity in what we do here in this town."

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The council has asked Yukon authorities if they can take an alternative oath.

Canadian elected officials are required to take the country's oath of allegiance in which they swear they "will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles III" and his "heirs and successors according to law".

Canada is a Commonwealth country and a former British colony.

Dawson City, which has around 2,400 residents, was at the centre of the Klondike Gold Rush that began in 1896.

Before this, the area was home to the Tr'ondek Hwech'in people who were displaced when nearly 17,000 new settlers arrived as part of a stampede to mine millions of dollars worth of gold found along the Klondike River.

(c) Sky News 2024: Canadian town at standstill over councillors' refusal to take oath of allegiance to King Charles