If taking an oath still has a meaning today, then it is essential that the person sworn in clearly understands its content in his soul and conscience. To whom other than his people should an elected Quebec official be required to swear allegiance? By raising his head in this way, and refusing to bow it before King Charles III, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon makes us all taller.
In any case, it grows on me. As a Quebec writer who owes everything to the culture of her country, Quebec. As a grandmother who wants to see her grandchildren evolve in a Quebec that is increasingly proud of its language and its culture. As a citizen of a proud and autonomous Quebec. The country, we have it, and it is beautiful. Just look at the multitude of tourists who come every year to take advantage of its beauties and its joie de vivre, its quintessential Quebecois characteristics.
Paul St-Pierre Plamondon allowed me to raise my head during this humiliating moment for all of us, that of pledging allegiance to a king of another country. In the 1970s, I spent a few months in London. When people asked me where I was from, I invariably started by saying “Quebec”. Almost every time, I had to explain that Quebec was one of the Canadian provinces. Very often, especially when dealing with interlocutors of a certain age, I was told: Ah! You are from the colony. As a child of the Quiet Revolution, I did not see myself as colonized at all. And yet, in the eyes of the other…
I hope all our elected officials will pull themselves together and refuse to swear allegiance to a royalty that does not define us. Her head held high, especially since she wouldn’t be weighed down with a crown. While thinking “I have never traveled to any country other than you, my country”. It would be a beautiful way to celebrate the month of vibrant colors, it would be “we rippling in the fall of October”.
To see in video