The Yukon government has said municipal elected officials taking office no longer need to swear an oath to the King. The announcement comes after newly elected councillors in Dawson Creek refused to take the oath.
Instead, the government says elected representatives can have an option to affirm their allegiance to the laws and the Constitution of Canada, the territorial government said on Nov. 29.
“The revised oath offers elected local government officials the opportunity to swear or affirm their allegiance to either the laws and the Constitution of Canada, or the Crown. Before the change, elected municipal officials were required to make an Oath of Allegiance to the Crown,” the government said in a news release.
The Municipal Act requires councillor-elects to take the Oath of Allegiance of within 40 days of being voted in, or they will lose their seat and a byelection will be called, according to a Nov. 29 Yukon government news release.
In the original Oath of Allegiance, councillors need to swear they will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Crown.
“This decision does not require a change to legislation and allows elected municipal officials to take the Oath of…
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