Parti Québécois leader wants to sit in National Assembly without swearing oath to King

Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon is refusing to swear an oath to King Charles.

Before they can take their seats in the legislature, newly elected members are required to swear an oath to the Crown and to the Quebec people.

St-Pierre Plamondon, who is scheduled to be sworn into office on Oct. 21, is asking the legislature to stop requiring that members pledge allegiance to the King.

He told reporters in Montreal Tuesday that he has sent a formal letter to the legislature asking that he be allowed to sit after taking an oath only to the people of Quebec.

St-Pierre Plamondon, who won his seat in the Montreal riding of Camille-Laurin on Oct. 3, says one cannot serve two masters and that there is a conflict of interest in swearing an oath to both.

But the PQ leader is remaining evasive about what he will do if his request is denied, adding that he will take things one step at a time. He said he has legal opinions that demonstrate the legislature isn't obliged to take action against elected officials who refuse to take an oath to the King.

"I do not see in the current legal framework of the [legislature] any obligation to take measures or to prevent me from doing my job as an elected member,'' St-Pierre Plamondon said.

St-Pierre Plamondon, 45, has a bachelor's degree in civil and common law from McGill University, a certificate in international law from Lund University in Sweden and an MBA from Oxford.

His party won three of the province's 125 seats in the October election.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the newly elected Coalition Avenir Québec party said getting rid of the oath to the King is "really not a priority for Quebecers."

"Our MNAs are looking forward to being sworn in, in order to begin working on behalf of citizens," said Marc Danis, who served as the spokesperson for the chief government whip during the CAQ's first term.

"We will let the National Assembly weigh in on the comments from the PQ."

Attempts to ditch oath

In 2018, PQ members reportedly took the oath to Queen Elizabeth but added the words "until Quebec is independent.''

That same year, members of Québec Solidaire, another sovereignist party, took the oath behind closed doors without cameras present.

Some of them have previously described the oath to the monarch as humiliating and archaic.

In 2019, the party tabled a bill that would've made it optional to swear an oath to the Queen. Since it was tabled near the end of a session, it needed to be approved by each party. The CAQ, the PQ and the Quebec Conservatives were on board. 

The Liberals shot it down, arguing that the bill was unconstitutional and, therefore, pointless.

During the second French language debate of this past election campaign, Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade said she'd be willing to revisit the idea of ditching the oath to the Crown. Premier François Legault said "ideally we would change that." Both of them, however, stressed that it was not a priority.

On Tuesday, St-Pierre Plamondon said he doesn't want to take an oath "in secret" like QS MNAs did. He recognized, however, that the oath of office isn't the most pressing issue for Quebecers, but he said his position is about his convictions.

"The absurdity of this ritual has gone on long enough,'' St-Pierre Plamondon said.