MONARCHY — A handful of Quebec lawmakers elected in the provincial elections refused to take the oath of allegiance on Wednesday, Oct. 19 King Charles IIIofficially Head of State of Canada as required by the Constitution.

Eleven members of the Québec Solidaire party (left) were sworn in in a televised speech “towards the people of Quebec”but did not want to take the other oath that binds them to the British monarchy, at the risk of not being able to sit in the Quebec National Assembly at the end of November.

Under Canadian constitutional law, every federal or provincial elected MP must take an oath of allegiance to the British monarchy in order to hold office.

As we explain in our video at the top of the article, monarchy has never been Quebecers’ thing, particularly for historical reasons. The Institute, which also costs Canadian taxpayers $67 million a yearrecalls in particular the painful memory of the military conquest of Canada by England at the expense of France in 1760, then of the attempts to assimilate the Francophones in the decades that followed.

To a survey by Quebec company Léger conducted in 202174% of Quebecers would like to abolish the monarchy.

Not a priority for Justin Trudeau

Friday will be the turn of the Parti Québécois to take the oath, and the three elected sovereignists have already indicated their intention not to swear allegiance to the sovereign either.

Party leader and MP Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, who initiated the idea of ​​the refusal in recent weeks, assures that it is for him “a conflict of interest” because “You cannot serve two masters”. In addition, this oath a “Remembrance of Colonial Rule”.

On Monday, some public figures also denounced MPs’ obligation to pledge allegiance to the British Crown in a video published on social networks.

On Wednesday, Canada’s prime minister asked about the monarchy Justin Trudeau affirmed “that there was no Quebecer” who wanted “Let’s rewrite the constitution”.

Indeed, the abolition of the monarchy requires a rewrite of the constitution and would require a titanic effort and possibly years of political negotiations, as it requires the unanimous approval of the Parliament and the governments of the ten Canadian provinces.

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