TORONTO, Ont. – A small crowd of protesters gathered at Queen’s Park Monday morning, calling for a new citizenship oath which does not involve the British Monarchy.

“I’m a born Canadian, but I take great umbrage at the fact that we are compelled – that anybody is compelled – to swear an oath to this monarchy.” protester Ruben Abib told 680News.

“As a Canadian citizen, I have never been compelled. However, if I want to run for government, they would compel me to swear this oath.”

Abib believes Canada needs to sever its historical ties to Britain.

“They have far too many crimes left unanswered, especially to African people and to Aboriginal people around the world. There’s nobody who should swear an oath to this foreign monarchy,” he said.   

“I would like to see the citizenship act changed. It is actually a regulation of government, it does not require Parliamentary ascent, and if you look at it, it certainly can be removed from that, and I think that we should not burden new citizens with swearing an oath to a foreign monarch.”

Protesters plan to take legal action to see that changes are made to the oath.

The demonstration coincided with Prince Charles and wife Camilla’s visit to Canada. The Royal couple is scheduled to arrive in Toronto Monday afternoon.