(Québec) Les trois députés péquistes ont brillé par leur absence au Salon bleu mardi, jour de rentrée parlementaire où les élus des autres partis ont élu par acclamation la caquiste Nathalie Roy comme présidente de l’Assemblée nationale.
Le chef péquiste Paul St-Pierre Plamondon et ses collègues Pascal Bérubé et Joël Arseneau n’ont pas poussé l’audace, pour le moment, jusqu’à tenter d’entrer au Salon bleu, ce qui aurait forcé la sergente d’armes à les expulser puisqu’ils n’ont pas prêté serment au roi Charles III. Ils ne se sont tout simplement pas présentés.
Ils refusent de faire le serment au roi et ne pourront donc siéger pour le moment au Salon bleu, tout comme dans les commissions parlementaires.
Le gouvernement Legault entend déposer rapidement un projet de loi afin de rendre facultatif le serment au roi. Québec solidaire a l’intention de présenter son propre texte législatif jeudi – il avait déjà déposé un projet de loi en ce sens au cours de la législature précédente. Après avoir refusé de le faire le jour de leur cérémonie de prestation de serment, ses députés ont prêté serment au roi la semaine dernière, en privé, afin de pouvoir siéger en Chambre cette semaine.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, ARCHIVES LA PRESSE
Le chef péquiste Paul St-Pierre Plamondon
Lors d’une mêlée de presse, le leader parlementaire du gouvernement, Simon Jolin-Barrette, a dit souhaiter que son projet de loi soit « adopté avant Noël », avec le consentement des autres partis ; la courte session parlementaire de deux semaines prendra fin le 9 décembre.
Le chef intérimaire du Parti libéral du Québec (PLQ), Marc Tanguay, a indiqué que le travail des parlementaires ne devra pas être bâclé sur cette question. « Nous, on est bien ouverts à en discuter, du projet de loi, très ouverts à en discuter. On va l’analyser à son mérite. […] What we want is for there to be at least some hearings. I would like that, myself, to hear constitutional experts tell us to what extent Quebec can do it. And we, faced with that, we will do the analysis and we are open, indeed, if necessary, to advancing Quebec on this, but we will do our job, we will not rush it. We want hearings and we will first learn about the bill that will be tabled, ”he explained.
The three PQ deputies were nevertheless present in parliament on Tuesday and will hold a press briefing in the afternoon. “Follow us this week. There are still deputies who stand up in the National Assembly. You have the proof. We will fully assume our convictions. Watch us go,” said Pascal Bérubé. The PQ took part in two demonstrations outside over dinner time, one denouncing the oath to the king and the other demanding a reform of the voting system.
As required by procedure, the first day of the parliamentary session is devoted to the election of the President of the National Assembly.
A woman will hold this position for only the second time in history, after Louise Harel in 2002-2003. The caquiste Nathalie Roy, former Minister of Culture, succeeds François Paradis, who left politics at the end of the previous mandate. It’s no surprise :Mme Roy was the candidate chosen by Prime Minister François Legault.
Two vice-presidents from the government were also appointed: Chantal Soucy and Sylvain Lévesque.
The appointment of the third vice-president, which goes to a member of the official opposition, has turned into controversy in the Liberal Party of Quebec. Frantz Benjamin gets the job, which was coveted by Marie-Claude Nichols. The latter was expelled from the Liberal caucus because she refused the other responsibilities that Dominique Anglade wanted to entrust to her.
The decision amplified the challenge to M’s leadership.me Anglade, who eventually resigned. Marc Tanguay has become interim leader of the PLQ and will cross swords with François Legault in the Blue Room on Thursday, during the first question period.
On Wednesday, François Legault will deliver the opening speech of the parliamentary session. With an electoral slogan like “Let’s continue” and a new Council of Ministers as part of the continuity, we should not expect that the opening speech of the parliamentary session will hold any big surprises on Wednesday.
As required by this traditional exercise tracing the path of the mandate, François Legault will resume his electoral promises – such as the reorganization of the health network, the shift to home care, the addition of services for students in difficulty and the acceleration of the renovation of schools. But as we have seen in his speeches since his victory on October 3, he is expected to put a touch of green in his speech by making the green economy an important theme. According to the signals sent in recent weeks, François Legault should insist on the importance of not only curbing the decline of French, but also reversing the trend.