Yukon’s elected municipal councillors now have two options when it comes to taking the oath of allegiance.
Earlier this month, the newly elected town councillors in Dawson City refused to take the oath of allegiance to the King while being sworn in to office. They cited the Crown’s troubled history with First Nations as the reason for their collective decision.
During a press conference Friday, Minister of Community Services Richard Mostyn announced the government was amending its Municipal Act to allow councillors to swear to the constitution of Canada as well.
“We respect the diverse viewpoints on the matter and believe oaths of office should reflect the values of the constituents we serve,” Mostyn said. “For this reason, we’ve chosen the constitution of Canada as an alternative.”
Mostyn said as far as he knows, the Yukon is the third Canadian jurisdiction to move away from the requirement for councillors to swear to the Crown.
He said this is just another step in the “ongoing journey to reconciliation.”
“I appreciate the municipal councillors who have spoken meaningfully on this issue and supported their colleague,” Mostyn said. “Municipal officials should feel respected within our government structure while following the laws of the Yukon Territory and Canada.
“On behalf of Community Services, we look forward to council members taking their oath of allegiance, enabling us to move forward together for the benefit of all Dawsonites.”
‘A united team’
Newly elected town councillor Darwyn Lynn is a proud member of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation in Dawson City.
He said this monumental change wouldn’t have happened without the support of the Yukon government, but primarily his fellow colleagues, as it was them who chose to stand behind his initial hesitancy to take the oath of allegiance to the Crown.
“I don’t think any of us thought that this is how we’d start,” Lynn said. “But I’m happy it is how we started. It shows that we are a united team.
“As a First Nations person and a Canadian citizen, I acknowledge the history of the monarch and Canada and the Indigenous people, but also the people across the world that it has affected as well.”
Lynn said he is grateful for the quick work that has gone into changing the Yukon’s Municipal Act before the Dec. 9 deadline.
Under that act, elected town councillors are required to take the oaths of office and allegiance within 40 days of being proclaimed. Failure to do so could make the election results null and void and the offices deemed vacant.
Lynn said he is now ready to officially swear into office, but he wants to do it in Dawson City.
“I myself would like to do [it] Tuesday evening before our [council] meeting,” Lynn said.
Cud Eastbound, another newly elected member of Dawson’s municipal council, said he feels very happy with the change.
“I feel really grateful to see the relationship with the Yukon government and show what is possible on all levels for change for good,” he said.
Eastbound said when Lynn first shared his concern with taking the oath of allegiance to the Crown, he didn’t need to think twice about supporting his colleague.
“I immediately said, ‘If you’re uncomfortable, then I support you one hundred per cent,'” Eastbound said. “I feel if we are, as a society, working toward and actually implementing reconciliation, then things like this are very important to do.”
Eastbound said he will also take his oath with Lynn in Dawson City on Tuesday — not to the Crown, but to the Canadian constitution.
