Nathalie Roy becomes only the second woman in 230 years of Quebec parliamentary history to assume the job of speaker.
QUEBEC — The Parti Québécois’ campaign to scrap the oath to the monarchy required to sit in the National Assembly is headed for a showdown.
Excluded from the first day of work at the assembly, the three PQ MNAs added raised the stakes Tuesday by announcing they intend to make an attempt to enter the blue room Thursday — without first having taking the oath that would make their presence legal.
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“We will be there Thursday and we expect to be admitted,” PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon told reporters at the end of a day in which other MNAs got on with the business of parliament, electing a new speaker, Nathalie Roy, to the job.
The three MNAs, St-Pierre Plamondon, Joël Arseneau and Pascal Bérubé, instead spent their time attending two protests held outside parliament, one against the oath to King Charles III and another calling for electoral reform, before holding a news conference where they again called on the legislature to open the door.
St-Pierre Plamondon said they did not want to interfere with Premier François Legault’s inaugural address Wednesday but on Thursday they plan to knock on the door in anticipation of some kind of a solution to the impasse.
He had solutions at the ready. He said Roy could simply reverse a ruling by her predecessor, François Paradis, who said the PQ MNAs could not sit in the blue room without taking the oath. If they tried, Paradis ruled, the sergeant-at-arms could block their path.
St-Pierre Plamondon argued if the National Assembly is truly independent when it comes to internal operations, it has other options. The sergeant at arms could, for example, just let them in. Another theory floating in the media Tuesday was that the PQ MNAs would be allowed to sit in the house, but sit without a vote.
“We are up to seven or eight solutions on the table,” St-Pierre Plamondon said.
He denied, however, he was issuing an ultimatum or trying to intimidate the speaker by saying Roy has until Thursday to come up with a solution before they come knocking. Attempting to intimidate the speaker or the house are serious offences in the parliamentary system.
“It’s really an extended hand,” St-Pierre Plamondon said. “Where is the intimidation? I am an elected member of parliament and I want to be part of that parliament.”
He would not answer what will happen if they are not admitted, saying he’s confident that will not happen.
“The simplest solution is that we go to the door Thursday and nothing happens,” St-Pierre Plamondon said.
The PQ’s new tactic came despite a pledge made Tuesday by the Coalition Avenir Québec government leader, Simon Jolin-Barrette, to drop the obligation to take the oath via a piece of legislation. He promised to table such a bill “rapidly” in the hopes it be adopted before the session wraps Dec. 9.
He conceded he will need the co-operation of the opposition parties for that to happen.
A similar promise was made by Québec solidaire co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, who said he will table his own opposition bill making the oath optional this Thursday. There is no guarantee that bill would be adopted quickly either.
The saga over the oath overshadowed what was actually a historic day at the legislature, sitting on the first day since the Oct. 3 general election that swept the CAQ back into power. Roy, the MNA for the riding of Montarville, becomes only the second woman in 230 years of Quebec parliamentary history to assume the job of speaker.
The last woman in the job was former Parti Québécois cabinet minister Louise Harel, who held the job from March 2002 until the 2003 election.
“You are bestowing on me a great honour,” Roy told the house. “I will be the defender of your rights and privileges and I will exercise this function with all the passion you know I possess.”
On Wednesday, the house turns to the next big event: an inaugural speech by Legault kicking off his second mandate and the 43rd legislature in Quebec’s history.
On his way into the legislature, Legault said his speech — which is 29 pages — will focus on two central themes: building a green economy in Quebec and reversing the decline of French.
He addressed the decline Monday in an interview with the Montreal Gazette, specifying the path forward has to focus on immigration. He said he found it alarming that there are now fewer than 50 per cent francophones on the Island of Montreal.
On Tuesday, he added he is “open to all suggestions,” to stop the decline except extending the rules of the Charter of the French Language to the CEGEP system, something his government ruled out when it adopted Bill 96 overhauling the charter.
Later, the minister responsible for the French language, Jean-François Roberge, told reporters when it comes to language there are red flags everywhere; from the language in the workplace to mother tongue use in the home.
“At this moment, we are not walking, we are running towards a wall,” Roberge said. “We need a national wake up, we need a national mobilization. Each Quebecer needs to ask themselves, am I choosing a book in French, am I choosing to listen to a French show, am I choosing French culture, am I speaking French at work whenever I can?”
Roberge made similar remarks Nov. 15 when he ruled out any easing up in the application of Bill 96.
Legault’s inaugural address, the third in his career as premier, kicks off at 3 p.m. with a feed available on the National Assembly website.
pauthier@postmedia.com
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