Immigrants fight swearing oath to Queen By Jenny Yuen, QMI Agency Dror Bar-Natan (let), Simone Topey, and Michael McAteer walk along University Ave. July 12, 2013, in Toronto. The three argued in court that forcing new Canadians to pledge allegiance to the Queen is discriminatory and a violation of constitutional rights. (Veronica Henri/Toronto Sun)TORONTO – God Save the Queen — but not everyone in Canada agrees.Simone Topey is among three plaintiffs — all landed immigrants — involved in a lawsuit to change the Citizenship Act where swearing an oath to the Queen is mandatory in order to gain Canadian citizenship.Topey came to Canada 35 years ago, and though she feels patriotic towards the country, being Rastafarian she regards Queen Elizabeth as the head of Babylon.“I have slave descendants … and slavery was headed by the British monarch,” Topey, 46, said Friday outside court when asked her biggest problem with the oath.“Canada is a nation in which you have the right to be yourself, and to be coerced to (pledge allegiance to the Queen) is a violation of rights.”Lawyer Peter Rosenthal, who is representing all three plaintiffs, said this case is about whether new Canadians who feel it is repugnant to take an oath of allegiance to a monarch should be allowed to be Canadians anyway.
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