The PSPP does not swear an oath to the king

The leader of the Parti Québécois is asking the National Assembly to allow the three elected PQ members to sit, despite refusing to swear the oath to the King of England when they are sworn in on October 21.

“I will keep my word and I will remain steadfast,” Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said at a press conference in Montreal on Tuesday. During the election campaign, he swore no allegiance to King Charles III.

Now that he’s elected, he said he’s informed the National Assembly of his intention to swear only for the people of Quebec, as will two other PQ deputies.

• Listen to Mario Dumont’s interview with Patrick Taillon, Professor of Constitutional Law at Université Laval QUB-Radio :

Mr. Saint-Pierre Plamondon maintains that “there is no written law in the corpus of the National Assembly to which the king must swear. The only document requiring obedience to the king of England is the British North America Act.”

In practice, MPs had to swear allegiance and loyalty to the British monarch and were obliged to remain loyal to the people of Quebec. This is a violation, according to the PQ leader, who believes the two standards are in “conflict of interest”.

“We cannot say on the one hand: I will be loyal and my work will be based on the interests of the people. And at the same time say: I will be loyal and my work will be for the British crown, the sovereignty of another country,” he said.

Consequences?

Additionally, Paul Saint-Pierre Plamondon did not say what he would do if the National Assembly rejected his request. “Let’s see (…). I hope access will not be blocked,” he sighed.

However, according to the law, all deputies are obliged to swear an oath to the king, as Patrick Taillon, professor of constitutional law at Laval University, pointed out in a 24-hour newspaper on September 30.

• Listen to Pascal Berube’s interview at the microphone of Marc-Andre Gagnon on the airwaves of :

But the Canadian constitution provides no sanction against representatives who refuse to do so, adds the constitutional expert.

According to him, it would be surprising for the Secretary General of the National Assembly to block an elected official who receives the signature of the sworn deputies and ensures that everything is done according to the provisions of Art. For this reason I sat in the blue saloon.

“It’s not in our ethos and the spirit of the times,” he explained to 24 Hours.

Solidarity deputy Sol Zanetti also proposed Bill 192, which aims to make the oath of deputies mandatory for the people of Quebec only after taking office.

Last June, there was a debate on the Solidarity Deputy Bill. But to get the bill passed before the session, QS needs cross-party support. Finally the Liberal Party blocked it.