“It’s a bit of a tricky situation.”
Johnson said elected officials are required under Yukon Municipal Law to take the oath of allegiance and an oath of office.
The Oath of Allegiance requires newly elected council members to swear or affirm that they will “be faithful and render true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles III” and his “heirs and successors according to law.”
The law says that if a person elected to the council does not take the oath of office within 40 days of the election, “their election shall be deemed null and void and their office shall be vacant.”
That means a deadline of around December 10, Johnson said. He added that the area has indicated it wants to avoid by-elections.
The area is reviewing the council’s request to adopt a different oath, a Community Services spokesperson said in an email. The spokesperson did not respond to questions about how the assessment is progressing and when it would be completed.
Johnson said he and three other council members declined to take the oath in solidarity with a fourth council member, Darwyn Lynn, who hesitated on the morning of their inauguration ceremony.
Johnson said Lynn is a member of the Tr’ondek Hwech’in First Nation, on whose traditional lands Dawson is located.
Lynn said he didn’t feel comfortable pledging allegiance to the Crown because of his history with Indigenous people, Johnson said, and the council decided to support him. Lynn did not respond to requests for comment.
“This is done without respect for His Majesty King Charles. And we’re also not doing this to say, ‘Rah, rah, look at us,’ to poke everyone across Canada, to get rid of the Crown,” Johnson said.
“It was just something we wanted to do together to show solidarity with what we’re doing here in this city.”
Yukon’s Bureau of Statistics says Dawson City has a population of almost 2,400. The community’s website describes it as the heart of the world-famous Klondike Gold Rush that began in 1896.
“The news spread like wildfire from a country where ‘nuggets could be picked from the bottom of the creek’ to a world suffering from a recession and caused an unprecedented rush of an estimated 100,000 people to move to the Klondike” , the website says.
The Tr’ondek Hwech’in First Nation says on its website that miners have displaced the community.
This isn’t the first time Canadian leaders have questioned the Pledge of Allegiance.
In April, members of Parliament voted to kill a bill introduced by a private member in New Brunswick that would have allowed lawmakers to opt out of taking the oath.
The House of Commons says on its website that the oath “affirms allegiance to the institutions the Sovereign represents, including the concept of democracy.”
“The members therefore promise that they will conduct themselves in the best interest of the country. The oath or solemn promise reminds members of the serious obligations and responsibilities they undertake.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 20, 2024.
— By Fakiha Baig in Edmonton
The Canadian Press