# Canada. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 10, 2004, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada/274042 "2004-11-10T17:44:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2004, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada/274042/21 "2004-11-13T23:07:50Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > I should also point out that once you become a landed immigrant, you have most of the rights of a citizen (the main exception being the right to vote); i.e. you can get health care, drivers’ licence, etc., etc. My mom lived in Canada for over twenty years before she decided to become a citizen. Heck, my mom’s been here as a landed immigrant for almost 40 years and hasn’t ever bothered to get Canadian citizenship. (She can’t stand the thought of the ceremony with all the pomp and circumstance, the oath to the Queen etc. just makes her roll her eyes.) She IS looking into it now though. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2004, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada/274042/22 "2004-11-13T23:48:42Z")
> [@ruadh](#): > > Ask someone who’s been through the US immigration process how easy it is. You might be surprised. > > – **ruadh** , former US immigration paralegal Ditto. And I got in the ‘easy’ way, by marrying an American. Okay, that makes it sound like I went out and met an American simply to move to the US. Not true. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada/274042/23 "2004-11-14T00:04:43Z")
> [@GingerOfTheNorth](#): > > Ditto. And I got in the ‘easy’ way, by marrying an American. > > Okay, that makes it sound like I went out and met an American simply to move to the US. Not true. Another ditto. I married an American man in February… we only just got our petition approval last week. There is a LOT of paperwork and red tape involved… they ask us for paperwork, we send in everything, they send stuff back and say they don’t need it (I’d rather give them too much than too little - too little means rejection!), then they write back later and ask for the exact same paperwork they sent back to us months earlier… so, we send it back, then they say “okay, this is good, now send us a completed AG384902Hb form and we’ll get back to you”… oh yes, and enclose pictures of you naked in front of the Space Needle, fingerprints of your mother when she was a virgin, your birth certificate in your native tongue with pictures of caribou stamped on it, and what you plan to name your first born child… And I’m Canadian. This is supposed to be easiest for us! 😉 And I don’t doubt that it is, I can’t even imagine what hoops others must go through… ---
**Author:** ![633squadron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/ee59a6/32.png) [@633squadron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/633squadron)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada/274042/24 "2004-11-14T21:15:09Z")
> [@Eats\_Crayons](#): > > Heck, my mom’s been here as a landed immigrant for almost 40 years and hasn’t ever bothered to get Canadian citizenship. (She can’t stand the thought of the ceremony with all the pomp and circumstance, the oath to the Queen etc. just makes her roll her eyes.) She IS looking into it now though. Oath to the _Queen?_ Are you sure? I thought Canada had officially broken away from the so-called Empire. I never thought of that, but I guess as a permanent resident you don’t have to do that. I would have to be a citizen of wherever I moved to, if I moved. I haven’t seen a country yet that didn’t need some sort of governance. To me, not voting is avoiding responsibility. As for NZ, I’ve heard some unpleasant things about it as well. Beautiful, to be sure, but thousands of miles from anywhere except NZ. The whole “I’m moving” schtick seems a bit childish to me. I grew up in the 1960s, when it seemed like everything was going to hell. I know about the early 1950s and McCarthyism. A few people left because they were quite literally in danger. Others left because the political climate was intolerable. But those were the days in which racial segregation was the norm and you could be hauled before HUAC for being “prematurely anti-Fascist”! Many others who opposed the government stayed and fought for what they thought was right. And so should we. Of course, Canada looks nice. But we owe it to the real America to stay. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada/274042/25 "2004-11-14T23:00:27Z")
> [@633squadron](#): > > Oath to the _Queen?_ Are you sure? I thought Canada had officially broken away from the so-called Empire. I never thought of that, but I guess as a permanent resident you don’t have to do that. Canada’s head of state is Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada. Accordingly, when you become a citizen of Canada, you swear allegiance to her, and to her legal heirs and successors. We “broke away from the Empire” in the sense that we are no longer subject to the British government; since the Statute of Westminster in I believe 1931, although the Queen of Canada and the Queen of the United Kingdom are the same person, the thrones (metaphorically speaking) are different; the Queen may be advised on Canadian matters only by her Canadian government, not by the British or any other Commonwealth government. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada/274042/26 "2004-11-15T01:57:25Z")
Here’s the [Oath (or Affirmation) of Citizenship](http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/C-29/34298.html#rid-34416), in [both official languages](http://lois.justice.gc.ca/fr/C-29/16319.html#rid-16437): > [@](#): > > **OATH OR AFFIRMATION OF CITIZENSHIP** > > I swear (or affirm) that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada and fulfil my duties as a Canadian citizen. > > **SERMENT DE CITOYENNETÉ** > > Je jure fidélité et sincère allégeance à Sa Majesté la Reine Elizabeth Deux, Reine du Canada, à ses héritiers et successeurs et je jure d’observer fidèlement les lois du Canada et de remplir loyalement mes obligations de citoyen canadien. > > **AFFIRMATION SOLENNELLE** > > J’affirme solennellement que je serai fidèle et porterai sincère allégeance à Sa Majesté la Reine Elizabeth Deux, Reine du Canada, à ses héritiers et successeurs, que j’observerai fidèlement les lois du Canada et que je remplirai loyalement mes obligations de citoyen canadien. I was at a citizenship ceremony last month, and everyone attending was invited to participate in the oath/affirmation. We went through it in both languages. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada/274042/27 "2004-11-15T03:07:08Z")
> [@GingerOfTheNorth](#): > > Okay, that makes it sound like I went out and met an American simply to move to the US. Not true. You should have told the UU minister who married us that! ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada/274042/28 "2004-11-15T06:06:34Z")
> [@Anastasaeon](#): > > … oh yes, and enclose pictures of you naked in front of the Space Needle… As a concerned American, I feel it is my duty as a citizen to review said pictures just in case the USCIS dropped the ball. Don’t thank me, I’m only doing my job. 😃 Adam ---
**Author:** ![PussyCow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/22d042/32.png) [@PussyCow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PussyCow)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada/274042/29 "2004-11-19T16:31:03Z")
So if I become a Canadian citizen will I be a better hockey player? ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada/274042/30 "2004-11-19T16:48:09Z")
**Agent Foxtrot** , am I being whooshed? > [@Agent Foxtrot](#): > > You mean, you need to be able to speak the language and be informed of the political system, and you must’ve lived there for three years on a visa to boot? Wow, what a concept! I think I’m in love. Um, you have to demonstrate you can read, write, and speak English, pass a citizenship test, and have been a Permanent Resident for a certain number of years in the US, too. > [@](#): > > I come from the United States, where we take pretty much everything with a pulse. Hmm. Not true. There are some pretty draconian financial and supposed “good moral character” requirements. > [@](#): > > Better means that the nation isn’t a becoming a conservative lovefest of bigotry, ignorance, and hypocrisy. I’d just like to live in a place where the ideas are a bit more liberal and open-minded, that’s all. Does not compute. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada/274042/31 "2004-11-19T17:40:28Z")
> [@Agent Foxtrot](#): > > You mean, you need to… be informed of the political system? > [@PussyCow](#): > > So if I become a Canadian citizen will I be a better hockey player? [This thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=287367) may help. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada/274042/32 "2004-11-20T01:26:42Z")
FWIW, Australia’s Oath of Allegiance for new citizens dropped reference to Her Maj in 1994. Old Oath and Affirmation (God bothering version and otherwise) have been replaced by a “Pledge of Commitment”: **Oath of Allegiance (pre-1994):** I swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Australia, Her heirs and successors according to law, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Australia and fulfil my duties as an Australian citizen. **Affirmation of Allegiance (pre-1994):** I solemnly and sincerely promise and declare that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Australia, Her heirs and successors according to law, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Australia and fulfil my duties as an Australian citizen. **Form of Pledge No. 1 (1994 - present):** From this time forward, under God, I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people, whose democratic beliefs I share, whose rights and liberties I respect, and whose laws I will uphold and obey. **Form of Pledge No. 2 (1994 - present):** From this time forward, I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people, whose democratic beliefs I share, whose rights and liberties I respect, and whose laws I will uphold and obey. The Pledge came into effect in January 1994. There have been no changes since. From [http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/rn/2002-03/03rn20.htm](http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/rn/2002-03/03rn20.htm) I’m surprised Canada retains reference to the Queen. Nothing against the Canucks, but I thought they cared about her at the same minimal level we do (then again, we voted to retain the Crown, so who knows the mind of the electorate, eh?). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada/274042.md?page=1)