Yukon town council in Canada remains at standstill over refusing mandatory oath to King Charles

The council of a town in Canada’s Yukon territory has been bureaucratically gridlocked for weeks due to newly-elected members’ refusal to take a mandatory oath of allegiance to King Charles III. 

The ongoing standoff, which could cost Dawson City’s mayor-elect Stephen Johnson and the council their seats, reflects the British Monarchy’s troubled history with Indigenous peoples in Canada’s northwestern region.

The king serves as a head of the state who lives thousands of miles away and increasingly acts as a reminder of a history of violence and broken promises.

In an interview with the Canadian Press, a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Johnson said that he and the four-member council refused to take Canada's official oath to King Charles on November 5 because of the Crown’s history with Indigenous peoples.

Johnson added that the council has been unable to carry out its municipal duties and is eagerly awaiting a response from the territory's Department of Community Services regarding its request for an alternative to the Oath of Allegiance.

The territory is now reportedly reviewing the council's request to swear a different oath.

“We can't do anything legally required of us under the Municipal Act ... so we are sort of, kind of council, and I'm sort of, kind of the mayor. It's a bit of a sticky situation,” the mayor-elect further said.

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The communities suffer from such problems as overcrowded housing, high unemployment, drug addiction and racial discrimination.

Back on October 15, residents of Dawson City, known as the “Paris of the North”, voted to replace the town’s mayor and council, marking the end of an administration mired in scandal and legal wrangling.

According to Yukon’s Municipal Act, elected officials must take both an oath of allegiance and an oath of office.

On November 5, councilors took the oath of office, but have so far refused to swear or affirm they “will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles III” and his “heirs and successors according to law.”

“This is being done with no disrespect to His Majesty King Charles. And also we’re not doing this to go, ‘Rah, rah, look at us,’ to poke everybody across Canada, to get rid of the crown. It was just something we wanted to do together to show solidarity in what we do here in this town,” Johnson stressed.

Under the Yukon's Municipal Act, if an individual elected to council fails to take the oaths within 40 days after the election, “their election shall be considered null and void and their office vacant.”

That means Johnson and the council members are nearing a deadline of around December 10.

According to Yukon's Bureau of Statistics, Dawson City has a population of almost 2,400.

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