The long, dark history of oath-taking in Canada
We normally think about the oath of citizenship as a celebration of inclusion. But the controversy over the niqab has some worried the ceremony is being used to exclude people, instead. Political scientist Bruce Hicks says this is just the latest event in a long, dark history of oath-taking in Canada.
We normally think about the oath of citizenship as a celebration of inclusion.
But according to political scientist Bruce Hicks, the experience of Zunera Ishaq should come as no surprise to students of Canadian history.
Hicks, who teaches political science at Concordia University and is the BMO Visiting Fellow at the Glendon School of Public and International Affairs at York University, takes a look back at the history of the oath in Canada.