The Liberals and the Conservatives essentially avoided Tuesday to really debate the Bloc Québécois motion which proposes the independence of Canada from the British monarchy, believing that there are other priority subjects.
“The Bloc Québécois has the whole day to talk about the concerns of Quebecers and Canadians. They could talk about the cost of living, they could talk about inflation, […] but not the Bloc Québécois, surprise, surprise, wants to reopen the Constitution. My God ! That’s not what Quebecers or Canadians are concerned about these days,” Prime Minister and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said during question period.
Mr. Trudeau was responding to a question from the Bloc leader, Yves-François Blanchet, who asked him if he supports Canada’s status as a “vassal state of the British crown” and that he will have to vote on the question on Wednesday even if in “ smart politician and, of course, a man of the theatre” he can pretend that submission to the British monarchy is not important.
Speaking again a few minutes later, Mr Blanchet said his oath of allegiance to the British crown “was not sincere”. This declaration provoked shouts in the House of Commons, MPs shouting at him in English: “resign”.
From the start of the debates in the morning, the Liberals announced that they would vote against the motion that the Bloc Québécois tabled on the occasion of their first opposition day of the parliamentary session. The Conservatives made a similar speech and their political party has indicated that they too will vote against the motion, which is therefore doomed to failure.
“People aren’t necessarily interested in the face of the person on the twenty. What they want is to have enough twenty bills in their pockets to pay for their groceries at the end of the month,” said their deputy leader, Luc Berthold.
Mr. Berthold also criticized the Bloc Québécois for wanting to bring to Ottawa “a debate that only elected one, two, three members” to the National Assembly, namely those of the Parti Québécois, and for continuing to claim to be the voice of Quebec, which earned him the thanks of the Bloc member René Villemure for “his contempt”.
The Conservative lieutenant for Quebec, Pierre Paul-Hus, wondered if it is “essential to make it a debate when Quebecers are more concerned about the impact of inflation on their lives” .
Free vote in the NDP
The New Democrats have decided that their MPs will be able to vote as they see fit, so Manitoba’s Niki Ashton, for example, argued strongly in favor of the motion.
It is “high time” for parliamentarians to ask themselves how much of a democracy Canada is. “We are in 2022 and we have a king,” she said several times. According to her, Canadians should elect or choose their head of state.
Canada must “step forward on the course of decolonization” and move away from monarchy, she said, noting in passing that she believes elected officials could abolish the oath to the king and replace it by oath to Canadians, abolish the unelected Senate which is “deeply undemocratic” and change the voting system which allows parties, like the Liberal Party, to form a government with less than one-third of the popular vote.
Fellow British Columbian Alistair MacGregor, speaking after her, offered a “slightly different” view in which he noted that his fellow citizens “definitely don’t” contact him to discuss the monarchy.
“People in my constituency are very concerned about the rising cost of food, they are very concerned about the affordability and availability of housing. My community is going through an opioid crisis. There are so many immediate needs presented to me by my constituents: the monarchy is very, very low on the list,” he said.
“It must be important”
In presenting his motion calling for the Trudeau government to take steps to sever ties between Canada and the British monarchy, the leader of the Bloc Québécois, Yves-François Banchet, defended at length the importance of the proposal.
The millions of voters who vote in every election “never choose a king, they always choose an MP”, he noted. “And yet, at the top of the Canadian food pyramid are the crown jewels. It must be important! »
In fact, elected federal officials have an obligation to take an oath of allegiance to the King of England “because we are still a conquered people,” mentioned Mr. Blanchet.
According to him, the fact that it is necessary to open the Constitution to detach Canada from the British monarchy “should be an indication of importance”.
“We need the unanimity of the provinces, the Senate and Parliament, hey, it must be important! He continued. When you put 14 padlocks on your shed, it’s because you care about your mower. »
Again in the morning, before the debate opened in the House of Commons, Mr. Blanchet said he expected to lose this vote, but that would show Quebeckers, three-quarters of whom are for the abolition of the monarchy, “who truly represents them”.
The vote on the Bloc Québécois motion is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon after question period.