By tabling a motion in the House of Commons calling on the federal government to take the necessary measures to “sever the ties between the state and the British monarchy”, the Bloc Québécois succeeded, despite strong resistance, in calling into question the persistence of this colonial archaism.
The Bloc leader, Yves-François Blanchet, expected to hit a watertight wall, but flaws in this refusal, still very majority on the part of federal elected officials, have appeared. Admittedly, 244 members of the House of Commons voted against, but there were still ten elected New Democrats who joined the elected members of the Bloc Québécois in supporting the motion, as well as a member of the Green Party, the independent deputy and ex-conservative Alain Reyes, and only one liberal, the deputy for Louis-Hébert, Joël Lightbound. Nineteen MPs abstained: seven New Democrats, including leader Jagmeet Singh, and eleven Liberals. In the conservative camp, only Quebecer Dominique Viens abstained.
The Bloc had prepared the wording of its motion before the exit of the leader of the Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, who refused, along with his two colleagues and the elected representatives of Québec solidaire, to take the oath of allegiance to King Charles III.
Although the motion did not say a word about the oath, it was discussed extensively in the House of Commons. The leader of the Bloc declared that he had not been sincere – how could he have been? — when he pledged allegiance to the British crown at his swearing-in. Outraged, the elected Conservatives and Liberals, including Justin Trudeau, felt that he no longer had the right to sit. The next day, the Prime Minister did an about face. Liberals, including Acadian René Arseneault, said he was not comfortable with this oath. Indeed, the Acadians’ refusal to take the oath to the British crown justified their deportation.
In his ruling on Thursday, Commons Speaker Anthony Rota cited precedent from 1990. This oath “is a matter of conscience” and “only the House can examine the conduct of its members” and judge what action to take. or not.
This decision by President Rota provides grist for the mill of the PQ leader and eminent jurists who are of the opinion that the National Assembly, using its prerogatives, may well declare that the refusal to take this colonial oath does not entail of consequences.