PQ MP Pascal Berube implored the Liberals to “do the right thing” by recognizing his party, as well as Quebec Solidaire, as parliamentary groups. If the Legault government intends to do so, the formation of Dominique Anglade, which has 21 seats, refuses for the moment to confirm it.
Posted at 11:10 am
“It is a matter of justice. […] What do I want to say?me “We cannot accept that a party with fewer votes than us can legitimately represent the majority of the electorate,” Anglade said. We humbly invite them. Fewer votes for those who say no to us! “, hammered the re-elected MP for Matane-Matapedia during a press conference held Friday at the PQ’s Montreal office.
He lamented that the Liberals will first make a calculation of “visibility” because they “don’t want to divide their caucus with other parties.” “I invite them to be better,” Mr. Berube said. According to him, there is “urgency” as the swearing-in ceremony in October approaches.
With 21 seats, the Liberal Party actually obtained slightly fewer votes than the PQ (14.37% against 14.61%) by universal suffrage, which had only three seats: Pascal Bérubé, their leader Paul Saint-Pierre Plamondon elected in Camille-Laurin. , and Joel Arceno in the Magdalen Islands. Québec solidaire, for its part, elected 11 deputies and collected 15.43% of the vote.
In concrete terms, the status of a parliamentary group allows the PQ and Solidarity parties, a total of 14 MNAs together, to receive more budget – approximately one million extra dollars – and speaking time in the Blue Room. To be recognized as a parliamentary group, a party must secure 20% of the vote or elect 12 deputies. However, this status may be granted to other political formations that do not meet these criteria, if all recognized parties agree to it.
Anglade does not negotiate publicly
At a post-election Liberal caucus in Yamachiche, Marseille, Dominique Anglade declined on Wednesday to say whether he wanted to officially recognize the QS and PQ as parliamentary groups. “If the government is not open to parliamentary reform, it will be very difficult,” she said of her support.
The next day, the retired Deputy Prime Minister, Genevieve Guilbault, however invited Ms.me Angled to show more “openness”. “I invite M.me Anglade to participate in this momentum of mutual openness that we all have for each other,” she said.
Friday Communications Director Mme Anglade, Jeremy Ghio, points out that the chef “doesn’t negotiate in the public square.”
“It’s healthy in a democracy for opposition parties to have the means to do their job, especially if we consider the important lines of government,” Mr Berube demurred, ruling that having 14 deputies would have a “paralyzing” effect. National Assembly, by getting bogged down in procedural games. The PQ member believes that if the Liberals persist in “blocking” party recognition, “there will be pressure.” “We are going to constantly ask citizens to call deputies. There will be a rally,” he promised.
Asked again about the possibility of a merger between Quebec Solidaire and the Parti Québécois, Pascal Bérubé said no. “This is political fiction. Attempts have already been made in the past and you know the result. […] We said yes, they said no. We will not be caught twice,” he said, adding that now the PQ “really wants to have its own parliamentary group.”
A king has no oath
MPs Bérubé and Arsenault also confirmed on Friday that they will not be sworn in by King Charles III when they are sworn in as MPs, as Chief Paul Saint-Pierre Plamondon has already confirmed. Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon said he wanted to “confront” the existing rules, which require all MPs to swear an oath to the British monarch. However, the law does not provide any sanction to elected officials who do not do so. In 2018, solidarity made this “archaic” policy invisible before it was condemned.
With Vincent Laurin
