PQ is off to a combative start

Paul St-pierre Plamondon is someone who could elevate debate, but hasn’t this week

“Let the games begin.” The stage is being set for a raucous start to the new National Assembly session.

Barely a week after the Quebec election, the Parti Québécois was jockeying for position and succeeded in generating considerable attention in the francophone media. Seemingly suffering from an exaggerated sense of self-importance after the worst result in the party's history, the PQ was hollering about the Official Opposition Liberals' reluctance to agree to their obtaining status in the Assembly as a “parliamentary group.” This status is granted to a party that wins 12 seats or 20 per cent of the popular vote, neither of which the PQ achieved. It would entitle them to additional staff and research funding and a guaranteed percentage of question-period time.

Then, PQ leader Paul St-pierre Plamondon boldly announced that he and the two other party members elected have asked to be exempted from swearing allegiance to the monarch, an oath of office that is required by the Canadian Constitution of all provincial and federal elected officials in the country.

The period between an election and the start of the legislative session is usually calm, focused on administrative collaboration rather than partisan battles. The mammoth task of getting the democratic apparatus up and running again typically takes a couple of months. The 125 MNAS are sworn in, the cabinet named, roles and responsibilities are co-ordinated within the caucuses, offices are set up in Quebec City and each riding, websites updated, and so on. Many civil servants, political staffers and elected officials work behind the scenes to forge a seamless transition, with considerable negotiation and co-operation among all parties. Nonetheless, the PQ decided to run to the media to make hay.

Quebecers desperately crave a more collaborative and constructive legislature.

There have been some exceptions in the past regarding official status, including after the 2018 election in which the PQ and Québec solidaire each won 10 seats and were a few ticks under 20 per cent of the vote. This time, after the PQ won 14 per cent and only three seats, an exception does not seem warranted.

I certainly remember that in 1989, the PQ as the Official Opposition categorically refused to grant that same official status to the Equality Party, which had won four seats. We negotiated a few concessions and the speaker was fairly generous in recognizing us for question period, but there was no daily guarantee nor additional funding. The PQ said that the “rules are the rules” and they didn't want to create a precedent. Hmm!

The rules are the rules as well when it comes to the oath of office. Many Quebecers would agree that taking an oath to King Charles III, in order to sit in the National Assembly, is somewhat archaic and silly. However, affirming that he and his colleagues would refuse to do so, despite the constitutional obligation, creates a legal dilemma. St-pierre Plamondon skirted the question of what he would do if his request is refused. His predecessors, from René Lévesque to Jacques Parizeau to Lucien Bouchard, took the oath, possibly grudgingly, but respected the rule. St-pierre Plamondon, new to the Assembly, could have promised to propose a bill once he was in the legislature to abolish swearing allegiance to the King. That would at least generate a democratic debate on the issue. It also would have shown a measure of dignity and deference to the parliamentary system that he seemed to lack this week.

With the current state of health care, the soaring cost of living and other major concerns, Quebecers desperately crave a more collaborative and constructive legislature. St-pierre Plamondon has the intelligence and educational background to elevate debate in the National Assembly. He didn't start off on the right foot.