The idea of giving Quebec its own constitution, even within Canada, is not new. It dates back to 1858! More recently, in 2007, MP and constitutionalist Daniel Turp even tabled a proposal for the Constitution of Quebec in the National Assembly.1. In 2019, in a vast exercise of citizen participation, the Institut du Nouveau Monde also drafted a2.
In 2022, when Bill 96 was passed, Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette in turn reminded many Quebecers that, within the framework of the Canadian Constitution, Quebec could very well give itself a constitution that is clean.
Indeed, the Constitution Act of 1867 contains a section that the provinces can modify as they see fit, a section that is similar to their “internal constitution”. Bill 96 amended this section and included the fact that Quebecers form a nation whose common language is French.
Providing Quebec with a written constitution means taking this idea to the limit and placing our own constitution within the Canadian constitutional framework. The first could not contradict the second, but it would enrich it with our collective will.
Why create a constitution?
Since the conquest of New France in 1760, the people of Quebec have been governed by six successive constitutions and have not directly approved any of them. Part of our eternal existential questioning comes from this flaw. To know what we want to become, we must first say what we are. To improve the contract that binds us, we still need to have one.
We saw it yesterday3, a constitution is a fundamental law, it is the legal and identity basis of a State. It defines our vision of democracy, our mechanisms for exercising power, our main values, our rights and our duties… it is a description of our collective personality or, in other words, the contract according to which we agree to live together.
It is also a national narrative.
The preamble of a constitution can tell the originality of a people. René Lévesque would perhaps have written this: “We are the heirs of this fantastic adventure that was an America at first almost entirely French [et autochtones] and, even more, of the collective obstinacy which has made it possible to keep alive this part of it called Quebec4. »
It is in this preamble that we would define together, for example, our vision of relations between the Quebec nation and aboriginal nations, of Quebec as a welcoming land, of Quebec where an English-speaking community flourishes, and so on. Writing the few paragraphs of this preamble would be an immense challenge, but “all of this lies at the bottom of this personality which is ours”, as Lévesque would say. I’m sure we could do it.
In addition to the national narrative, it is in a constitution that a people inscribes the principles that are most dear to it. We could include, for example, French as a common language, equality between men and women, secularism or even interculturalism.
A word on interculturalism.
Quebec-style interculturalism is a response to multiculturalism. For Canadian multiculturalism, there is no particular culture or group whose identity should be protected, it is all about individualism. In fact, this approach leaves all the room for the dominant culture and language. For Quebec, or even for the Aboriginal nations, such an approach means, in the long term, obliteration.
Interculturalism, for its part, recognizes the existence of one or more host communities which, too, are part of the diversity of the world and which, as such, must be protected. Hence the existence of collective rights. This integration model has never been officially adopted by the Government of Quebec, which makes its application risky (this danger was brilliantly exposed in The metropolis against the nation?, by David Carpentier). Moreover, interculturalism makes it possible to build a society based not on our differences, but on our common project. This is the very essence of a constitution: the common project.
Constitution and balance of power
When the federal government attacked Bill 101, it weakened one of our laws. When he tackles his new version, Bill 96, he is again questioning one of our laws. When he challenges the law on secularism, it’s the same thing, he only challenges one law. When, in response to multiculturalism, Quebec will legislate on interculturalism, the federal government will attack it again, it is written in the sky.
If we enshrine these principles in a constitution, in a document adopted by referendum, Canada will no longer be attacking simple laws, but squarely our constitution. There is no better balance of power.
The process
Within the meaning of the law, the power to adopt a Constitution of Quebec belongs to the National Assembly. All it would need is a majority vote to pass one. However, history, both ancient and recent, has clearly shown us that the resolutions of the National Assembly, even unanimous ones, do not impress the federal government that much. We will have to aim higher.
Only a referendum can give a constitution the legitimacy it deserves. No other method is worthy of the importance of the document. No other method would give her the strength she will need to withstand federal assaults.
The soul of a nation is made up of common memories and the desire to build the future together. Because it would convey our national narrative and the values we want to promote, a Quebec Constitution would powerfully nourish this “us” that is changing the world. Let’s constitute!
4. Quebec Option. A book by René Lévesque that all Quebecers should read.
Two books to read on the subject
The Quebec Constitution – Essays on the right of Quebec to adopt its own fundamental lawDaniel Turp, JFD Editions, 2013
A written constitution for Quebec? Collective work under the direction of Richard Albert and Léonid Sirota, McGill-Queen’s University Press, January 2023