(Quebec) The Legault government is committed to “quickly” tabling a bill making the oath to the king optional for elected officials, an “important” gesture underlined by Quebec solidaire, which does not exclude pledging allegiance for one last time. For its part, the Parti Québécois maintains the hard line.
Posted at 5:21 p.m.
“I think the Parti Québécois must accept the outstretched hand that we are offering them. We don’t want to take an oath to the king, and we can change that by passing a bill in the National Assembly. On the other hand, you have to sit […] We are ready to table a bill quickly to ensure that the oath of allegiance to the king is put to an end,” said Minister of Justice and CAQ parliamentary leader Simon Jolin-Barrette.
He made this statement on the sidelines of a negotiation meeting between the parties to decide whether or not to recognize QS and the PQ as parliamentary groups. But these important discussions – they will determine research budgets, and the ability of these parties to hire political personnel in particular – have found themselves in the shadow of another debate, that of the oath to King Charles III.
Earlier this fall, the PQ and QS refused to pledge allegiance to the crown. They were trying to negotiate a passageway to avoid this ritual considered obsolete. On Tuesday, the President of the National Assembly, François Paradis, cut short the debate: as long as the oath is not completed, they will not be able to sit in the Blue Room or in a parliamentary committee, even if it means being expelled. He also ruled that it was not possible to remedy the situation by a simple parliamentary motion, as the PQ wants, but rather by a law, since the obligation stems from the Constitution Act of 1867.
But to pass a law, you have to sit in the Blue Room, and therefore… take an oath to Charles III, for one last time. QS elected officials will have to weigh the pros and cons in caucus. “There are two new elements which arrived yesterday and today: the decision of the president and the commitment of the house leader to introduce quickly a bill to make the oath optional. These are two important elements that I must report to the caucus,” explained the solidarity parliamentary leader, Alexandre Leduc.
In the Parti Québécois, however, both the decision of President Paradis and the proposal of the Coalition avenir Québec were rejected. PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon maintains the hard line. “Lying and perjuring myself as the first act as an elected official is sincerely repugnant to me. To swear allegiance to the representative of the Anglican Church is sincerely repugnant to me. And no, I do not intend to take the oath, ”he said in a press scrum.
He affirms that several options are on the table: for example, asking Pascal Bérubé or Joël Arseneau – the two other elected members of the PQ – to take an oath to sit, or simply to stay on the sideline.
Lack of will
But he maintains that a parliamentary motion is the best option, and that the CAQ lacks “political will”. “The law is a much less robust solution, as it will be subject to the scrutiny of the application of the constitution by the courts. The chances of this law ending in failure are much higher than the motion, which is a matter of internal management of the Assembly,” he said.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
“Lying and perjuring myself as the first act as an elected official is sincerely repugnant to me. Swearing allegiance to the representative of the Anglican Church is sincerely repugnant to me,” said the leader of the Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
He directly attacked the credibility of President Paradis and the legal basis of his decision. Mr. Paradis is no longer a deputy, and will be replaced as soon as parliament returns. He is a “very outgoing” president who received a “political order” from the CAQ, he suggested. He regrets that this decision has “closed the door to the negotiations and the solutions that are already on the table”.
The caquiste Jolin-Barrette denied having asked Mr. Paradis to intervene. He finds it “worrying” that the PQ is questioning a decision of the Assembly, and enjoins the party to take an oath to pass a law with QS and the CAQ.
For Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon, this reflection “lacks height”. “They say covertly, we took an oath, we weren’t tempted, so you too are going to take an oath,” he cursed.
But in any case, whether to pass a law or a motion, you have to be able to sit. Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon recognizes that he could not vote in favor of the motion he is asking the CAQ to allow him to do his job as legislator without pledging allegiance to the king. “Obviously, they are the only ones who have the power to do so,” he retorted.