Quebec Politicians Refuse to Swear Oath to King Charles III; Calls To Cut Ties With Monarchy Grows

As the death of Queen Elizabeth II ushered in questions regarding the relevance of the British monarchy in modern day, a Quebec politician who is advocating for dropping the monarchy has refused to swear an oath to King Charles III on Monday.

Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, the leader of the pro-independence Parti Québécois political party, refused to swear an oath to the new British monarch, criticizing the practice as “uncomfortable” due to what he believed is the practice of swearing fealty to a “foreign king,” according to The National. He did swear an oath to the people of Quebec, but laws regarding the matter are clear that St-Pierre Plamondon will not be allowed to serve the Members of the National Assembly unless he swears an oath of allegiance to the British monarch.

The oath of fealty to King Charles, he said is “a straitjacket that forces democrats of all parties to take an oath they do not believe in and therefore to perjure themselves, to sully the value of their word and to do that in the first act they are called on to take as representatives of citizens.”

This comes as a broader coalition of anti-monarchists and Quebec sovereigntists push the Canadian government to cut ties with the British monarchy. Despite being unlikely to pass, the sovereigntists are pushing a motion through the House of Commons in Ottawa in order to make the government question the need for a monarchy in the modern day, Al Jazeera reported.

“We think we need to dispose of [ties to the British monarchy] easily, quickly, without making a fuss. It’s an anachronism. It’s a coat of paint in a living room that is starting to fade in the corners,” Yves-Francois Blanchet, the leader of the Bloc Quebecois party, said.

Over 58% of Canadians want a referendum regarding the matter of a monarchy, a significant 5 percentage point increase from when Queen Elizabeth died, with Quebec having the highest percentage of people who want to leave the monarchy with over 79%.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has pushed back on the Bloc Quebecois’ motion against the British monarchy, telling the House of Commons to put more focus on issues like rising inflation in the country over questions of the monarchy. “Canadians are concerned by the issues they are facing, whether that’s climate change, global instability or the cost of living. And that’s what we choose to discuss,” Trudeau said. “They [the Bloc] want to reopen the constitution; we will remain focused on the concerns of Canadians.”