Canadian Officer fights military over salute, toast to the Queen

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Officer fights military over salute, toast to the Queen
Says public displays of loyalty are 'degrading'

Glen McGregor
The Ottawa Citizen

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

An officer in the Canadian Forces is suing Canada's top soldier over a "degrading" policy that requires members of the military to toast the Queen and salute during the anthem, God Save the Queen.

Capt. Aralt Mac Giolla Chainnigh, an associate professor of physics at the Royal Military College in Kingston, wants a court to overturn the requirement for members of the Canadian Forces to publicly display their loyalty to the monarchy.

"It's a situation of institutional harassment that members of Canadian Forces be obliged to toast the Queen of Canada at regimental dinners," he said.

"To fail to do so would be interpreted as disloyalty, which could carry up to nine years imprisonment."

His objection is based on the premise that, while Canadian law allows anyone to question the role of the monarchy in governing our country, officers have to shelve their beliefs and show loyalty to the Queen at events such as mess dinners, parades or Remembrance Day ceremonies, where they must salute for God Save The Queen.

"You might, as a military officer, wish to express your unity with those who served Canada during a particular war, but have the obligation to recognize a foreign monarch as having a situation of authority over the Canadian armed forces."

He also objects to the fact officers are required to show respect to the Union Jack.

He argues in his claim that the requirement to publicly express allegiance contrary to one's belief is degrading to an individual.

Capt. Mac Giolla Chainnigh-- who legally changed his name from Harold Kenny to its Irish spelling -- says he signed up for the Canadian Forces to serve Canada, not a "foreign monarch." He was 16 years old when he enlisted and begrudgingly swore loyalty to the Queen.

The oath requires new members to swear they will be "be faithful and bear true allegiance to her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada"

The allegiance is paid to the Queen as head of state, not as head of the Canadian military. The governor general, as the Queen's representative in Canada, is the commander-in chief of the Canadian Forces.

He has been fighting the policy within the military grievance system for the past five years. In May, the Canadian Forces Grievance Board rejected his complaint, saying his description of the toast to the Queen as "royalist symbolism" showed a fundamental lack of understanding of the way Canada is governed.

"The inclusion of the Queen at CF events is not just hollow pomp and ceremony; it is an acknowledgment of Canada's Head of State," the board ruled.

The National Defence Act says the Canadian Forces are "the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada," the decision notes and therefore, the loyalty requirement does not violate anyone's constitutional rights. Had Capt. Mac Giolla Chainnigh objected when he first swore the oath in 1978, he would never have been enrolled, the board ruled.

He appealed the decision to Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier, who rejected it in August, writing that he saw no reason why "showing respect to our Head of Sate is anything but proper and lawful."

Earlier this month, Capt. Mac Giolla Chainnigh filed an application with the Federal Court to reverse Gen. Hillier's decision. The Department of National Defence declined to comment on a case before the court, but a spokesman confirmed the requirement.

"God Save the Queen is, of course, a national anthem and because the Queen is our head of state, we always salute," said Lieut. Adam Thomson.

Military historian Jack Granatstein said the complaint raises a debatable point, but one better addressed when a Canadian Forces member first takes the oath.

"It's actually a question of substantial principle, but he should have worked out that question of conscience when he enlisted," he said.

Capt. Mac Giolla Chainnigh named Gen. Hillier, the grievance board, the federal government and others as respondents in Federal Court.

None have yet filed a response.

© The Ottawa Citizen 2006

Ottawa Citizen