National Assembly votes to cut ties with British monarchy

Montreal Gazette

5 days ago

Quebec Politics
By
QUEBEC — On the same day King Charles III delivered a throne speech in Ottawa heaping praise on Canada, the National Assembly Tuesday adopted a motion calling on Quebec to abolish all ties with the monarchy.
Presented by Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, the motion states that Quebec is the only custodian of the democratic expression of the Quebec people.
It notes a majority of Quebecers feel no attachment to the British monarchy and that 'the National Assembly agrees to abolish the link between the Quebec state and the British monarchy.'
The motion was adopted without debate. The vote was unanimous with 106 MNAs from the Coalition Avenir Québec government and the other two opposition parties, the Liberals and Québec solidaire, voting in favour of the PQ motion.
The vote came on the same day as King Charles III delivered a historic address in the Senate Chamber in Ottawa, quoting the words of the Canadian national anthem.
'The True North is indeed strong and free,' he said to the applause of MPs, Senators and number guests.
But at the legislature in Quebec City, the speech was greeted with a mix of indifference and ridicule.
'I didn't listen to it,' Premier François Legault said on his way out of question period in the afternoon. 'I was in meetings.'
Simon-Jolin Barrette, the Minister Responsible for Canadian Relations, said the same thing, adding he would listen to it later.
But the opposition parties had plenty of opinions on the presence of King Charles III and Queen Camilla on Canadian soil.
'What a bizarre country Canada is,' Québec solidaire co-spokesperson Ruba Ghazal said at a news conference. 'To affirm its sovereignty, it believes it is important to bring the monarch of a foreign country here to talk about its priorities.'
QS was the first party to propose the abolition of the oath to the monarch MNAs used to have to swear before taking their place in the legislature. In December 2022 a law was adopted making the oath optional after PQ MNAs were briefly barred from sitting because they refused to take the oath.
Now QS wants to go further, calling on the CAQ government to put an end to the funding Quebec provides for lieutenant-governor — the king's representative at the legislature — to pay for things like office space, staff and a car and driver.
The Quebec budget this year included $758,000 to pay those costs. The salary of the lieutenant-governor is paid by Ottawa. The post is currently occupied by Manon Jeannotte.
The day after she was named in December 2023, the National Assembly adopted a motion calling for the post to be abolished. Nothing has happened as a result of that motion because, in reality, the government can't do much about the post in the short term.
While much of the job is ceremonial, Quebec laws do not become legal unless they have the royal sanction, which is Jeannotte's job.
QS has argued the lieutenant-governor's legal functions could be replaced by an administrator, a move that would require the support of the federal government and the other provinces.
Asked about the obstacles ahead, Ghazal insisted the first step is to at least start talking about it.
'People said abolishing the oath would be impossible and yet we got it abolished,' Ghazal said.
QS says in the meantime Quebec, on its own, could stop funding the lieutenant-governor's office, a message she recently delivered to Jolin-Barrette who, she said, has taken note of the idea.
The CAQ's own 2015 platform called for elimination of the post of lieutenant-governor.
St-Pierre Plamondon started into the theme at his morning news conference, laughing off the idea that U.S. President Donald Trump will somehow be influenced by the presence of the king who came to Canada on the invitation of Prime Minister Mark Carney.
'(Carney's) best card is Charles III, a monarch from another country based on a colonial tradition that is oppressive to francophones and First Nations?' St-Pierre Plamondon told reporters. 'It's out there. It's so abnormal. And, of course, from a Quebec standpoint, it's not acceptable.
'If you think or anyone else here thinks that Donald Trump will stop saying things that are either random or hostile to Canada because Charles III was giving a speech today, I don't know what game we're playing right now. It just doesn't make sense.'
Interim Liberal leader Marc Tanguay, who said he is no fan of the monarchy, noted that abolishing the post requires a Constitutional amendment, which is no small order.
'When I wake up in the morning I am not thinking about King Charles III,' Tanguay said. 'My allegiance is to the people of Quebec.'