(Montreal) In solidarity with elected PQ and solidarity members who refused to take the oath to King Charles III in October, the Collectif Mon Oath and the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society of Montreal (SSJB) held their own swearing-in ceremony on Saturday. at Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church in Montreal.
The “free, citizen and republican” ceremony allowed the public to abjure their subjection to the British monarchy, as well as to swear allegiance to the people of Quebec.
“This is a question that should have been at the heart of our political news for a long time, underlined Sébastien Ricard, actor and spokesperson for the Collective My oath. We try to make the point of view of civil society heard, which has a very important role”.
People took a two-act oath and then signed a register, kept for the sake of “recording the event”.
“Validity is certainly symbolic, but for us, symbolism really matters,” says Mr. Ricard. […] By pronouncing these words, people realize the gravity and the solemnity of the moment and of the remarks, and I believe that it has an impact for them above all”.
Since 1867, elected officials must swear allegiance to the people of Quebec and to the British crown in order to be able to sit in Parliament.
Breaking away from “violence”
Marie-Anne Alepin, president of the SSJB of Montreal, believes that this civic ceremony is part of a larger-scale action, which aims “to liberate this archaic institution”.
“It is contradictory for the elect to take an oath to the king and to the people. The state is secular, and the king emanates from divine right; it no longer has its raison d’etre. All parties agree on that,” she said in an interview.
Mme Alepin believes that this initiative shows the desire of the Quebec people to reclaim their history, while not forgetting the events of the past.
“There is a whole violence that is behind this crown, which recalls many horrors. […] Colonialism, the First Nations, the patriots exiled from Quebec and imprisoned in Australia… We want to detach ourselves from this oath and go further by detaching ourselves completely from the monarchy, ”she explained, adding that the debate was “not a partisan issue”.
During the passage of The Canadian Press at the Saint-Jean-Baptiste church on Saturday afternoon, the “ceremony” did not attract crowds.
For Pierre Houle, retired, participation in this citizen oath is a question of “historical values”.
“It’s against our history to take an oath to the king. This kind of initiative is to affirm our identity as a country in another country, ”he said after his recantation, recalling the treatment of the British monarchy towards the Patriots in the 1830s. .
A demonstration will take place in Quebec on November 29 – a day that marks the start of parliamentary proceedings in the National Assembly – organized in particular by the SSJB, the Mouvement Québec français and the Coalition for the Abolition of the Monarchy in Québec.