Citizenship and Oaths of Allegiance

Over beer last night a friend of mine mentioned that his wife was not so keen on the Canadian Oath of Citizenship which is required to become a naturalized citizen in Canada

"I swear (or affirm) that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada and fulfill my duties as a Canadian citizen."

Her objection seems to be the "bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,..." part.

She is a citizen of the United States of America by birth and probably has re-asserted their Pledge of Allegiance:

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all."

It should (theoretically) be possible to fulfill both pledges, unless Canada goes to war against the United States of America. There is so much common ground in Canadian and U.S.A. law(s) that by working within the laws of Canada (as pledged), you can still ally yourself with a symbolic piece of cloth and the nation for which it stands without violating a pledge of allegiance to the Canadian head of state.

This is hardly different than the position expressed by Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Muslims and the Canadian Oath of Allegiance[1]

Just a thought about allegiance to a republic: Since a republic is (more or less) a state where the government's political power depends solely on the consent, however nominal, of the people governed, then if the citizens choose to withdraw consent or otherwise disagree with those elected, anyone who would faithfully uphold the pledge should immediately seek to change the government.

That must be why the U.S. Government works so hard to keep all the citizens "on-side".

God Save the Queen.