Parti Québécois MNAs refuse oath to King

Members of a second Quebec opposition party refused to swear allegiance to King Charles III, as required by the Canadian Constitution.

The three Parti Québécois members elected to the province’s legislature took an oath of loyalty to the people of Quebec, but not to the monarch, as they were being sworn in Friday morning.

“We took an oath towards the people of Quebec and that’s it. We did it.”

Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon says it doesn’t make sense to swear allegiance to both the people of Quebec and what he considers a foreign monarch, adding that swearing the oath would be a form of perjury.

“This is the future of our society and I am sincerely uncomfortable with pledging and allegiance to a foreign King.”

Members of all provincial legislatures and the federal Parliament are required to swear an oath to the Crown before taking office, while the second oath to the people of Quebec is required under provincial law.

“The Court of Appeal in Ontario in 2014 said that the oath to the King for a new citizen in Canada is not to the King himself. It’s towards the institutions and the government. So based on that judgment of 2014, once we’ve taken an oath towards the people of Quebec and the Constitution of Quebec, we have fulfilled that standard.”

Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, right, PQ MNAs Joel Arseneau, centre and Pascal Bérubé wave to the applauding supporters and family before being sworn in during a ceremony at the legislature in Quebec City, Friday, Oct. 21, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS / Jacques Boissinot

Earlier this week, the 11 members of Québec solidaire, which like the PQ supports Quebec sovereignty, also refused to swear allegiance to the King.

Constitutional scholars differ on whether the Quebec legislature has the power to allow members to participate in legislative debates and votes without taking the oath.

The National Assembly resumes sitting Nov. 29.

With files from The Canadian Press