(Quebec) Former MP François Paradis, still President of the National Assembly until a successor is found for him, has decided: the MPs from Québec solidaire and the Parti Québécois who have not taken the oath to the King Charles III may be expelled from the Blue Room of the National Assembly.
Posted at 2:33 p.m.
Updated at 3:00 p.m.
“I give the formal order to the Sergeant-at-Arms to ensure that this decision is applied in such a way that the deputies who have not taken the oath cannot take their place in the Chamber of the National Assembly or in the one of his commissions. In the event that a person refuses to comply with this prohibition, the Sergeant-at-Arms will be justified in expelling him,” wrote Mr. Paradis in a decision handed down on 1er november.
Mr. Paradis declared that “the oath of allegiance referred to in section 128 of the Constitution Act, 1867 is compulsory for taking part in parliamentary proceedings”. He thus formally advises the deputies of Québec solidaire and the Parti québécois that the absence of an oath “prevents them from taking their place in the National Assembly Hall”.
“The deputies concerned are free to change their minds at any time,” also writes Mr. Paradis.
14 deputies in the line of fire
The 11 Québec solidaire MPs took an oath “towards the people of Québec”, but did not pledge allegiance to King Charles III and did not sign the register of oaths on October 19. Same thing for the three elected members of the Parti Québécois. PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon insisted during the election campaign that he would not take the oath to Charles III.
Mr. Paradis recognizes in his decision that it is “unusual” for an “outgoing president” to pronounce this way, but in his opinion, the current situation justifies it. “The question is not hypothetical since some MPs have already refused to take the oath of allegiance and have publicly pledged not to do so. […] The stake is important, because it could cause difficulties from the beginning of the first session of the new legislature, before the election of the new members of the presidency”, he explained.
It ruled that “in the hierarchy of sources of law, legislative and constitutional provisions take precedence over any other rule of internal procedure”, and that “the National Assembly […] cannot derogate from it by simple motion”. He thus comes to close the door to the PQ, who affirms on the contrary that a simple motion would allow elected officials to forget this famous oath for good.
The PQ asks the CAQ to intervene
The Parti Québécois did not appreciate the exit of Mr. Paradis. “The very outgoing President of the Assembly expressed an opinion that no one asked for,” launched the PQ MP Pascal Bérubé, who was far from being delighted by the “opinion” of Mr. Paradis, who, “ by coincidence”, goes “exactly in the same direction as his colleagues from the CAQ”.
“It’s his opinion, we have 12 opinions that tell us that we can proceed,” said the MP for Matane-Matapédia to The Press.
The solution is political, believes Mr. Bérubé, who points out that the ball is in the court of the Coalition avenir Québec. “We shouldn’t question those who stand up, we should question those who crash. The CAQ government has made it clear in the past that it wants to end ties with the monarchy. It’s happening now, three quarters of the population are with us,” he said.
“We believe that it is up to the CAQ to join us, and that will be settled. If they decide to stand up too and it’s over with the oath to the king, the presidency is going to have a very different opinion,” he added. He also asks CAQ MP Nathalie Roy, who is campaigning to be elected President of the National Assembly, to take a public position on this issue.
Without an oath to the king, deputies receive a salary and can hire constituency staff. But, with this decision by François Paradis, they are not allowed to enter the Blue Room.
Québec solidaire tabled a bill to make this oath optional before the elections, but it could not be adopted. The Coalition avenir Québec now says it is open to adopting it and turning its back on this practice that is deemed outdated, but to adopt a piece of legislation, you have to be able to sit. The Minister of Justice and parliamentary leader of the government, Simon Jolin-Barrette, has already affirmed that a bill was necessary to put an end to the oath to the king.