Bloc leader condemns 'racist' and 'humiliating' monarchy while calling for Canada to cut ties with Charles
Yves-François Blanchet tabled a motion in the Commons to sever ties with the Crown
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet delivered a provocative speech Tuesday condemning the monarchy as a "racist," "archaic," "almost archeological" and "humiliating" institution that should be scrapped.
The comments came during debate on the party's motion, which calls on the federal government to sever ties with what the Bloc calls the "British monarchy."
The motion is purely symbolic because, under Canada's Constitution, it would take more than a vote like this to cut ties with the Crown.
Such a constitutional change would require the unanimous consent of all provinces and both houses of Parliament — an unlikely prospect, given the reluctance of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and most premiers to engage in constitutional talks.
The Bloc's critics decried the motion as a meaningless political stunt and a distraction from the real problems facing the country, such as a lack of affordable housing, the high cost of living, climate change and a health care system under severe stress.
They also questioned whether a separatist party should have any say in deciding who symbolically leads the country.
WATCH: Bloc leader tables motion to sever ties with the monarchy
Blanchet said Canada's Parliament can tackle the challenges of the day while also engaging in some soul-searching about what kind of country Canada should be.
Blanchet said Canada's sovereign, Charles III, is a "foreigner who knows nothing about Canada" and would struggle to pass the country's citizenship test.
Charles has made 18 official visits to Canada since 1970 — more than to any other Commonwealth realm. He also often talks about his love of Canada and his affection for its people.
Blanchet said Charles is from a family who "crushed us in Quebec with cannonballs and muskets," referring to the British victory in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759 and the larger Seven Years' War, which resulted in France ceding most of its North American territory to Great Britain.
"We're told we're a secular democratic country but they protect a King who is the head of a church," Blanchet said, referring to Charles's role as the supreme governor of the Church of England. Charles does not have any formal leadership role in the church's Canadian counterpart, the Anglican Church of Canada.
WATCH: King Charles's deep ties to Canada
"It's archaic. It's a thing of the past — it's almost archeological. It's humiliating. It's completely illogical to have this monarchy. We need to exit this monarchy because it's important to do so," Blanchet said.
Speaking of Liberal and Conservative MPs, Blanchet said some of them condemn The Adventures of Tintin cartoons, which have been criticized for their racial stereotypes and colonial tropes, but "stand up and defend a racist British monarchy."
Liberal MP Rob Oliphant, the parliamentary secretary to the minister of foreign affairs, said now is not the time to debate the role of the monarchy.
With the economy in a fragile state, housing increasingly unaffordable and a climate crisis looming, Oliphant said the government doesn't want to be bogged down by divisive constitutional talks.
He also offered a defence of Canada's system of government, saying the Crown is "the bedrock of our constitutional democracy," a form of government that has served Canada well over the last 150 years.
Queen Elizabeth helped usher in the modern era in Canada, signing the Constitution Act, 1982 and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Oliphant said, "ensuring stability in our country and guaranteeing rights of it citizens."
"We have a system of government that Canadians trust. It's a system that was fought for and it came at the cost of many men and women's blood. We will continue to defend that democracy," Oliphant said.
Oliphant said the Bloc's motion, which only runs to a few lines, also doesn't offer any alternative.
Liberal MP Adam van Koeverden said dumping the Crown would prompt "chaos" and a "fundamental rethinking of all our institutions and how they relate to each other. It's no simple task."
Bloc is just looking for attention: Conservative MP
Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus said the Bloc launched this motion now because it wants to prop up its sister party, the Parti Québécois. The PQ's three MNAs protested swearing an oath to Charles after the recent provincial election.
Paul-Hus said that, like the PQ MNAs, the Bloc is just trying to grab media attention.
"They say, 'Let's be the talk of the town. Let's get in the news. It's going to make headlines and we're going to have a lot of fun dong it,'" Paul-Hus said.
Rather than tackle more pressing issues, Paul-Hus said, the Bloc wants to revive old constitutional debates to show they still have relevance after decades on the opposition benches.
"Does anyone still believe in the Bloc? It's just looking for a reason to exist," he said.
"What do they propose in return? We pledge allegiance to the president of Canada? We'd do that and then they'd turn around say, 'We must cut ties time with the Canadian republic.' They already call this a foreign Parliament."
Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux, the parliamentary secretary to the government House leader, said that in his 12 years as an MP, he's never once heard a constituent ask him about the monarchy.
'Nobody is talking about this'
He said it's a waste for the Bloc to use one of its three opposition days this year — a day in the Commons when an opposition party sets the agenda — to discuss this subject.
"Surely to goodness the Bloc understands no matter what region you're from, nobody is talking about this issue. Except for the Bloc," Lamoureux said.
"Why does the party that wants to see Canada fall apart want to talk about this issue? I won't speculate. But this motion just shows how truly irrelevant the Bloc really is. They're just being mischievous."
NDP MPs were more divided than the other federalist parties on the question of the Crown's future.
NDP MP Niki Ashton said the monarchy is "a symbol of colonialism, a symbol of slavery, oppression and repression and a symbol of conflict."
"It's an anachronism that should be done away with," she said.
Her colleague, NDP MP Alistair MacGregor, said he takes a more "laissez-faire" approach, preferring to debate other democratic reforms like the enactment of proportional representation in Canada.
Regardless, MacGregor said the Crown offers stability. "I believe the monarchy's continual rule provides legislative consistency. Governments come and go but the Crown remains."
MPs will vote on the Bloc's motion on Wednesday.
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