The Supreme Court of Canada will decide whether Alberta can require prospective lawyers to swear allegiance to the King, agreeing to hear a constitutional challenge of an oath dating back more than a century.Blacklock's Reporter says the case involves Prabjot Singh Wirring, an Edmonton native and Dalhousie University graduate who argued his Sikh faith prevented him from taking an oath of allegiance to the Crown.Alberta's Court of Appeal ruled last Dec. 16 that the mandatory pledge violated Wirring's freedom of religion and struck down the requirement.Lawyers seeking admission in Alberta must still take a Law Society Oath pledging to practise in the public interest as well as an Official Oath promising to perform their professional duties diligently and to the best of their ability.The Court of Appeal eliminated a third requirement — the Oath of Allegiance to the Crown.Wirring, an observant Amritdhari Sikh, told the courts that taking the oath would conflict directly with a religious commitment he made as a teenager."I can no longer be an Amritdhari Sikh if I swear an oath of allegiance to any entity aside from the Guru and Khalsa," Wirring testified.Wirring said that at age 13 he swore an oath to Guru Granth Sahib under which he would not give allegiance or devote himself to another figure or entity.He challenged Alberta's Oath of Allegiance requirement on the grounds it discriminated against him because of his religion.The Alberta Court of Appeal agreed."The words 'I will be faithful and bear true allegiance' are not the words of an ordinary undertaking of support or commitment," the court wrote."Accordingly we conclude the requirement to take the Oath Of Allegiance infringed the appellant's right to religious freedom.".Judges said Wirring sincerely believed his religious obligations prevented him from pledging allegiance to anything else."As he understood it, 'allegiance' is a strict type of commitment or devotion that has priority over any other commitments including religious ones," the ruling said.The Supreme Court did not provide reasons for agreeing to hear the final appeal.Wirring was not prevented from becoming a lawyer. He obtained his licence in Saskatchewan before transferring his membership to Alberta."As of the appeal hearing he was a non-practicing member of the Alberta bar," the Supreme Court noted in its summary of the case.Alberta is among the few Canadian jurisdictions that have continued to require lawyers to swear allegiance to the Crown.Similar oaths are voluntary in Yukon, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and have been eliminated in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island.Alberta's oath states: "I do swear I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles III, his heirs and successors, according to law, so help me God."Members of Parliament are required under the Constitution Act, 1867 to take a similar oath declaring they will "be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty."The requirement has also faced political criticism.Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet told the House of Commons in 2022 that his own oath of allegiance to the Crown was meaningless because MPs had no choice but to take it."An oath under duress is worth nothing," Blanchet said. "If it does not come from the heart it has no value."
