(Québec) Paul St-Pierre Plamondon demande à François Legault de l’aider dans son refus de prêter serment au roi Charles III en déposant une motion, dès la reprise des travaux parlementaires, qui stipule que les élus québécois n’ont pas l’obligation de le faire afin de siéger au Salon bleu. Le chef du Parti québécois (PQ) estime que cette façon de faire permettrait aux députés qui le souhaitent d’éviter de faire ce serment sans perdre leur droit de siéger.
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M. St-Pierre Plamondon avait indiqué dès son élection à titre de député de la circonscription de Camille-Laurin, dans l’est de Montréal, qu’il ne ferait pas une « génuflexion gênante et humiliante », selon les mots qu’il a utilisés lundi, afin de promettre allégeance au roi d’Angleterre, comme l’exige la Loi constitutionnelle de 1867.
Pour son premier point de presse au Parlement à titre de député élu, M. St-Pierre Plamondon a également invité le premier ministre François Legault, tout comme les autres chefs de parti, à permettre à tous leurs députés de faire le serment au roi ou non lors de leur assermentation cette semaine. Il leur a envoyé une lettre pour leur expliquer son raisonnement.
Le roi d’Angleterre est le pape de l’Église anglicane. Dans quel univers est-ce qu’on va obliger un élu québécois, qui est un État fondé sur la laïcité, […] to take an oath to the king of a foreign state who, moreover, is the pope of a church which, in my case, absolutely does not correspond to my ideas and my convictions?
Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, leader of the Parti Québécois
The National Assembly responds to the PQ
In a recent correspondence with the Secretary General of the National Assembly, Siegfried Peters, the latter indicated to the leader of the PQ that “the possibility of modifying or abolishing the oath of allegiance has already been raised”, but that until to date, “the National Assembly has not taken any action in this direction”.
“It is not for me to make a decision on this. Therefore, until the law evolves, if necessary, I must enforce the one that is in force,” he said. Paul St-Pierre Plamondon did not say Friday what he would do if he was banned from sitting in the Blue Room, if he refused to take the oath to the king.
“I’m a nice, bona fide guy and I hope everyone is nice and bona fide,” he said.
Public figures also denounced the obligation of deputies to swear allegiance to the British Crown in a video posted on Twitter on Monday by the Rally of Independentists.
Quebec is not closed to the idea
Ewan Sauves, the Prime Minister’s press secretary, did not close the door on Monday for the government to table a motion to resume work, as requested by Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
We agree to put an end to the obligation to take an oath to the king. We would also prefer to swear allegiance only to the people of Quebec. But to make this change, MPs must be able to sit. When the National Assembly resumes its work, we can work with the oppositions on how to make this change.
Ewan Sauves, press secretary to Prime Minister François Legault
All the deputies of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ), however, will take the oath to the king this week. “We have checked with government lawyers and we have been confirmed that both oaths must be respected in order for a member to sit. Thus, the deputies of the CAQ will comply with the current rules,” recalled Mr. Sauves.
Jérémy Ghio, the director of communications for the leader of the Liberal Party, Dominique Anglade, for his part indicated that “it will be discussed in caucus the day this motion is tabled”.
“For now, we have other priorities to work on such as the economic situation and the health system,” he said. Last June, the Liberals blocked the adoption of a bill tabled by Québec solidaire (QS) to abolish, for all MPs, the oath of allegiance to the British monarchy.
With Fanny Levesque