Mexico’s Parliament endorses ban on the use of marine mammals in shows

Daniel Stewart - Yesterday-360 NEWS

The plenary of the Mexican Chamber of Deputies has approved a draft decree reforming the General Wildlife Law to prohibit the use of marine mammals in shows.


File - Image of a dolphin at sea. - TURSIOPS© Provided by News 360

The initiative -considered of urgent resolution- has been approved with 331 votes in favor, 17 against and 125 abstentions, after it was submitted for discussion and voted immediately. It was then sent to the Senate.

This amendment, which prohibits the use of marine mammals in "any activity", specifies that it is a prohibition in shows, whether fixed or itinerant, while scientific research or teaching is excluded.

"The use of marine mammal specimens in fixed or traveling shows is prohibited, as well as in any activity whose purpose is not scientific research for their conservation", says the modification of the law, according to the Mexican newspaper 'El Universal'.

"The owners and keepers must guarantee the conservation of marine mammals in optimal conditions of dignified and respectful treatment until their death," states the law.

The law also prohibits the reproduction of specimens under intensive management for purposes other than repopulation.

Opinion: Liz Truss is on track to become Britain's shortest-serving prime minister


“The Prime Minister is not under a desk.”

Opinion by Rosa Prince - CNN

It says much about the current state of Liz Truss’s troubled premiership that this statement by fellow Conservative minister Penny Mordaunt on Monday afternoon was made, ostensibly at least, as a show of support.



A little over a month after being crowned leader, just about the best that can be said for the embattled Truss is that she is not cowering beneath the furniture inside 10 Downing Street.

She is, however, very much stranded in a wilderness of her own making; “in office but not in power” as was once said of her 1990s’ predecessor John Major; stripped of her authority, policy agenda, grip on her government and party, and, short of a miracle, prospects of leading her party into the next general election.

On Wednesday Truss faced a grilling in her first Prime Minister’s Questions session since u-turning on her flagship economic plan. Her third PMQ’s, as it’s known, proved an ugly affair, with opposition MPs repeatedly calling on her to resign and – worse – cries of derision echoing around the Commons chamber.

Hard to believe it is less than six weeks since Truss descended a helicopter to “kiss hands” with Queen Elizabeth II (two days before the latter’s death in Balmoral Castle, Scotland), becoming the United Kingdom’s 56th prime minister.

As she surveys the shattered wreck of her premiership, Truss must be wondering where it all went wrong – and quite how it collapsed around her ears so quickly.

How Truss’s ‘mini-Budget’ blew up

To recap: as the country observed 10 days official mourning for the late Queen, Truss and her close ally and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng drew up plans for a financial package dubbed the “mini-Budget” but with consequences which would feel decidedly maxi.

Truss and Kwarteng’s prescription for turbo-powering the economy in a quest for growth through unfunded tax cuts unnerved the markets, triggering a run on the pound and forcing the Bank of England to step in to prevent pension funds collapsing.

Last week, Truss hoicked Kwarteng back from Washington DC, where he was attending a gathering of the IMF, to fire him for, as critics quipped, following her policies to the letter. In his stead, she installed as Chancellor the experienced Jeremy Hunt, a candidate from the opposite moderate wing of the party, but who trailed in eighth place behind her in the contest to replace Boris Johnson last summer.



Opinion: The British prime minister is not hiding 'under a desk' -- yet© Provided by CNNNew finance minister Jeremy Hunt speaks at the House of Commons on Monday, with prime minister Liz Truss seated nearby. - Jessica Taylor/UK Parliament/Reuters

On Monday, Hunt took steps to steady the markets by jettisoning the entire mini-Budget, including a planned 1p cut in income tax, a corporation tax rise and VAT-free shopping for tourists (Truss and Kwarteng had already been forced to ditch plans to scrap the top 45p tax rate).

That left Truss’s low-tax economic vision in tatters, a boil lanced not only for the short term but, to the fury of those who had been in her camp, leaving sufficient scar tissue to warn politicians off repeating the experiment for a generation.

In office but not in power

Hunt’s statements did the trick in terms of settling the markets, but had the opposite effect on Truss’s authority. When she was late to Parliament on Monday to answer a question from opposition leader Keir Starmer, rumors swept Westminster that she was on her way to Buckingham Palace to proffer her resignation to the King.

Her absence meant Mordaunt – who by the way had come third in the leadership contest – was tasked with answering in her place.

Mordaunt was gifted the opportunity to “helpfully” answer a Labour MP’s question about Truss’s whereabouts by repeating the query – about whether the prime minister was “cowering under her desk” – serving up a dynamite clip for broadcasters and further undermining the prime minister’s authority.

A government living day by day

So what now? There are two questions on the lips of every Conservative MP: how long has she got; and how do we get her out?

The answer to the first question lies in the second. The latest rumor suggests that Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the powerful 1922 Committee of backbench MPs, has already agreed with Truss that she will be gone by the end of the week.

Another rumor whispers that she is refusing to budge, gambling that this divided parliamentary party, which threw up no natural successor to Johnson, will be unable to agree on a candidate to replace her.

Having been in government for 12 years, the most electorally successful party in British political history is indeed battle scarred, riven into multitudes of factions and overhung with an air of bitterness.

With voters unlikely to accept another nine-week leadership contest during a time of economic crisis, the received wisdom is that any transfer of power would have to be a coronation rather than a competition.

Polls showing the Conservatives trailing their Labour rivals by a record 36 points, and with Truss appearing increasingly uncomfortable and isolated, mean MPs minds may well have become focused in the last few days.

If the choice is between backing a colleague they disdain and electoral oblivion with Truss, many may well find it expedient to hold their nose and do the former – particularly if their own seat is in peril.

Some now give Truss a few days, some a week or two; few expect her to survive long enough to overtake George Canning to avoid becoming the shortest serving prime minister in British history (in 1827, after barely five months in office, he died suddenly from pneumonia).

For Truss, that would mean surviving another 80-odd days, which in the current, febrile atmosphere feels unlikely if not quite impossible.

Who might replace Truss?

The man who came second to Truss, former chancellor Rishi Sunak, has been very quiet in recent days; suspiciously quiet. Those close to him are briefing that, after a bruising defeat to Truss, he has no appetite to wield the knife himself, but suggest he could be persuaded to step up if the call was nearly unanimous.

Boris Johnson had a favorite expression to hint when he was on maneuvers – an old chestnut he returned to even in his departure speech.

“If, like Cincinnatus, I were to be called from my plow, then obviously it would be wrong of me not to help out,” he said in 2009, a decade before winding up in Number 10.

The reference was to Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, who Livy relates gave up being consul to return to his farm in the hills above Rome, only to return to lead again when the city was besieged.

Truss will not be the only one wondering this week how long Sunak will remain at his plow.

First Native American woman in space awed by Mother Earth

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The first Native American woman in space said Wednesday she is overwhelmed by the beauty and delicacy of Mother Earth, and is channeling “positive energy” as her five-month mission gets underway.


First Native American woman in space awed by Mother Earth© Provided by The Canadian Press

NASA astronaut Nicole Mann said from the International Space Station that she’s received lots of prayers and blessings from her family and tribal community. She is a member of the Wailacki of the Round Valley Indian Tribes in Northern California.

Mann showed off the dream catcher she took up with her, a childhood gift from her mother that she’s always held dear. The small traditional webbed hoop with feathers is used to offer protection, and she said it's given her strength during challenging times. Years before joining NASA in 2013, she flew combat in Iraq for the Marines.

"It’s the strength to know that I have the support of my family and community back home and that when things are difficult or things are getting hard or I’m getting burned-out or frustrated, that strength is something that I will draw on to continue toward a successful mission,” Mann told The Associated Press, which gathered questions from members and tribal news outlets across the country.

Mann said she's always heeded her mother's advice on the importance of positive energy, especially on launch day.

“It's difficult for some people maybe to understand because it's not really tangible,” she said. “But that positive energy is so important, and you can control that energy, and it helps to control your attitude."

Related video: Watch: SpaceX mission brings first Native American woman to space
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Mann, 45, a Marine colonel and test pilot who was born in Petaluma, California, said it’s important to recognize there are all types of people aboard the space station. It's currently home to three Americans, three Russians and one Japanese astronaut.

“What that does is it just highlights our diversity and how incredible it is when we come together as a human species, the wonderful things that we can do and that we can accomplish,” she said.

While fascinated with stars and space as a child, Mann said she did not understand who became astronauts or even what they did. “Unfortunately, in my mind at that time, it was not in the realm of possibilities,” she said.

That changed later in her career. Now, she's taking in the sweeping vistas of Earth from 260 miles (420 kilometers) up and hoping to see the constellations, as she encourages youngsters to follow their dreams.

As for describing Earth from space, “the emotions are absolutely overwhelming,” she said. "It is an incredible scene of color, of clouds and land, and it’s difficult not to stay in the cupola (lookout) all day and just see our planet Earth and how beautiful she is, and how delicate and fragile she is against the blackest of black that I’ve ever seen — space — in the background.”

Mann rocketed into orbit with SpaceX on Oct. 5. She'll be up there until March. She and her husband, a retired Navy fighter pilot, have a 10-year-old son back home in Houston.

The first Native American in space, in 2002, was now retired astronaut John Herrington of the Chickasaw Nation.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Marcia Dunn, The Associated Press

FIRST NATIVE AMERICAN MAN IN SPACE

Poverty remains an ever-present problem in Lethbridge: report

IN RICHEST PROVINCE IN CANADA

Wed, October 19, 2022 

The Social Health Equity Network of Lethbridge and Area (SHENLA) has released a report that identifies the rates of child and family poverty in Lethbridge and surrounding areas.

The report, titled 2022 Lethbridge Child and Family Poverty Report: Laying the Groundwork for a Just Recovery, considers the relationship between poverty and social determinants of health, identifying a variety of recommendations for collective action.

The report was prepared by HELPSEEKER, with partnership from the City of Lethbridge, the United Way of Lethbridge and South Western Alberta, and SHENLA. To date, according to information from Statistics Canada cited in the report, poverty rates among all family types in the city decreased from 15.4 per cent to 12.4 per cent between 2000 and 2019. In 2019, approximately 15.2 per cent of youths were considered to be living in low-income housing in Lethbridge, and children aged zero to five experienced the highest rate of poverty among all age groups.

“The numbers are certainly alarming that poverty is where it is,” said Jacki Zalesak, executive director of United Way Lethbridge. “Poverty went down slightly due to the policies of the provincial and federal governments, with efforts on taxes and cost of living. But barriers are still out there and we still want to be able to support the efforts, and the data is important in helping find out what the barriers are and what the solutions are.”

AB LIVING WAGE $21 PR HR

Zalesak also expressed advocacy for the Alberta living wage, with the higher cost of living adding to higher costs for food and electricity.

“Living wage allows people to meet their basic needs with dignity, and to participate in society,” said Sharon Yanicki, spokesperson for SHENLA. “When we calculate the living wage, it includes opportunities for recreation for children, and opportunities for education for a single adult. It is being able to participate and to learn, not just about being able to keep yourself housed and have food.”

Speaking about the negativity of child poverty, Yanicki notes the fallbacks have a rippling effect.

“Child poverty is associated with a cascade of negative impacts on health and well being,” said Yanicki. “Early life, it’s critical for children’s learning and development. If you are experiencing crowded housing, a lack of food, all of these things have impacts negatively towards children’s health.”

Looking to help towards the cost of living, SHENLA and United Way are working together to help those in the city.

“We have asked city council to consider, and we presented to the Community Safety Standing Policy Committee, asking them for low-income bus passes,” said Yanicki. “Because that’s really essential for low-income people to be able to participate in community life, and to be able to get to work and children to have access to recreation.”

With reports helping outline the risks toward poverty and how they can help, the work of United Way and SHENLA will continue in Lethbridge as they advocate for those in need. “We want to address what poverty looks like and be able to end that,” said Zalesak. “We want to come together as a group and continue on our work. Our work doesn’t stop until we have ended poverty, so we will continue on and make those recommendations.”

Ryan Clarke, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Lethbridge Herald

Vancouver task force on Indigenous rights releases report for city council

Wed, October 19, 2022 

Vancouver could become the first city in Canada to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples with a plan developed alongside the three First Nations on whose territory the city is located.

A joint task force with city officials and members of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh nations has produced a report with 79 calls to action aimed at implementing the United Nations declaration in Vancouver.

The report has passed through the councils of the three nations and it will be considered by city council on Oct. 25 with a recommendation that it be endorsed.

The release of the report today was marked with a ceremony, with attendees including outgoing Mayor Kennedy Stewart; the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, RoseAnne Archibald; and B.C. regional chief Terry Teegee.

Squamish council chairperson and task force co-chair Khelsilem told the gatheringthe strategy came about because of a "genuine, mutual respect" between those involved, and a desire to create a meaningful pathway for reconciliation in the city.

The recommendations are sorted into themes: social, cultural and economic well-being; ending Indigenous-specific racism and discrimination; self-determination and inherent right of self-government; and rights and title of Indigenous Peoples.

Among the calls to action are prioritizing access to cultural sites for the nations' members and developing a policy to assess industrial infrastructure development through the lens of Indigenous rights and environmental racism.

The report also recommends the Vancouver Police Department work with Indigenous Peoples to integrate into its operations the principles of the United Nations declaration and recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

Vancouver city council unanimously adopted a motion in March 2021 to create an UNDRIP task force in partnership with the nations, which produced what officials say is the first co-developed strategy to implement the United Nations declaration between a municipality and Indigenous governments in Canada.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2022.

The Canadian Press

Windsor West MPP calls for 'urgent' repeal of Bill 124 in wake of Essex County state of emergency

Wed, October 19, 2022 

Windsor West NDP MPP Lisa Gretzky says, 'Hearing that Essex County went almost three consecutive hours without a single ambulance available is simply horrifying.' 

(Jason Viau/CBC - image credit)

NDP MPP Lisa Gretzky is calling for the "urgent" repeal of Bill 124 in response to news of a state of emergency declared in Essex County, due to persistent delays and wait times for ambulances in the region.

The law was passed in 2019 and limits wage increases at one per cent per year for Ontario Public Service employees as well as broader public sector workers, including nurses and teachers.

The provisions of the bill were to be in effect for three years as new contracts were negotiated, and the Tories had said it was a time-limited approach to help eliminate the deficit. Critics have long called for the bill to be repealed, saying it has contributed to a severe nursing shortage.

"Hearing that Essex County went almost three consecutive hours without a single ambulance available is simply horrifying," said Gretzkey, in a news release.

It's stressful and it adds to a lot of heart ache for county workers. — James Jovanovic, president of the paramedics union, CUPE Local 2974

"A critical and systemic lack of hospital funding, staff, and access to primary care physicians are forcing them into impossible situations. Doug Ford has not acknowledged the depth of this crisis. It's clear that in Essex County, Ford's lack of health care funding has reached an emergency level," she said.

Gretzky added that the Ford government should direct money from its $2.1 billion surplus into health care to ensure critical care is available to Ontarians when they need it.

In the first two weeks of October alone, Essex-Windsor EMS issued more than 500 Code Black alerts, to notify community members trying to access care about delays and wait times.

Photo courtesy of @CupeMedics2974 on Twitter

Contributing factors

On Monday, EMS Chief Bruce Krauter said the issue is caused by offload delays at hospitals, saying, "The causes of off-load delays are complex and relating to long-standing issues of hospital capacity, patient flow, a lack of local primary care providers, which causes increased usage of [the] 911 system."

But James Jovanovic, president of the paramedics' union, CUPE Local 2974, told CBC Windsor that there are other contributing factors that need to be addressed.

"Such as increase in call volume, in EMS specifically, due to such things as an increasingly aging population," Jovanovic said.

Jacob Barker/CBC

"Ultimately it's a bottleneck of, again, those increasing emergency calls, increasing volumes of patients going to the hospital and not enough beds, not enough staff to care for them and properly process them," he said.

Jovanovic added that the situation has contributed to poor morale among the county's paramedics.

"When we are faced with these conditions where no matter what we do we're unable to help the situations we're seeing - that weighs heavily on health-care workers and the emergency responders, so it certainly adds to a decrease in morale, the level of burnout," he said.

"It's stressful and it adds to a lot of heart ache for county workers."

Jovanovic said the union is in full support of the state of emergency. Hopefully, he said, the declaration will motivate different levels of government to take action.

He said more staffing and increased funding is critical in addressing the issue in a meaningful way.

Some P.E.I. businesses and workers feeling overlooked by Fiona wage rebates

Wed, October 19, 2022

The 5th Wave Espresso & Tea Bar in downtown Charlottetown, P.E.I. had its power restored the Monday after Fiona, but owners say it could only operate at 30 per cent capacity with limited hours due to issues with the district heating system. 

(Steve Bruce/CBC - image credit)

Despite more government supports being announced Wednesday for those who lost income after post-tropical storm Fiona, some businesses and workers on the Island say they're being overlooked.

The 5th Wave Espresso & Tea Bar in Charlottetown just opened about eight months ago, and now co-owner Laura Noel said they're trying to figure out how to make up for losses suffered after Fiona because they don't qualify for the province's wage rebate programs — something she said is "discouraging."

"The government support is lacking a little bit," said Laura Noel. "I find we fall between the cracks."

Steve Bruce/CBC

Noel said the cafe's power was restored the Monday after the storm, but the building is old and part of a district heating system that was still having issues, meaning they couldn't use their dishwasher or espresso machine.

They were only able to function at about 30 per cent of their usual capacity, said Noel, but decided to open anyway with limited hours so that staff would earn some money working reduced hours and customers would have a place to get hot coffee and Wi-Fi.

Mid-week following the storm, the P.E.I. government announced a wage rebate program meaning businesses that had to stay closed due to power outages or major damage could apply to have their workers' wages covered.

But since The 5th Wave didn't shut down entirely, Noel said she's had no luck getting wage help for staff who only worked about half of their regular hours that week.

Steve Bruce/CBC

"We were trying to be open, accessible, inclusive to the community," she said. "And it didn't get us anywhere. In fact, it kind of put us back a few steps."

CBC News has heard from other small businesses in similar circumstances. Noel said for a relatively new business, the lost revenue could mean "making or breaking it."

"This could unfortunately take out a company similar to ours," she said. "We're going to stay positive and push through this. But I can see how some people would want to give up with all the struggles."

New relief announced Wednesday

On Wednesday, the province announced that people who typically work remotely for off-Island companies, but couldn't do so without power — or workers who had to take time off to look due to child-care issues — can now apply for a one-time $500 payment.

"It's one of those programs where you try to help as many as you can, and as quickly and as simply as you can," said Bloyce Thomson, Minister of Economic Growth, Tourism, and Culture. "We figured 500 [dollars] was a fair value."

Steve Bruce/CBC

But for some workers who spoke to CBC News while in the lineup for Red Cross relief payments this week, this wage relief program doesn't apply.

Some lost hours and wages because, like The 5th Wave, their workplace was open but not fully operational, or in some cases, not busy enough to keep regular staffing levels.

Those people will still get the $250 relief payment from the province for every household impacted by the storm, and some will qualify for the additional $500 payment from donations to the Red Cross Hurricane Fiona in Canada Appeal.

Although there isn't a specific government program to cover lost income in those situations, Thompson said there will be more to come, and his department welcomes feedback and suggestions from small business owners and workers.

"These are tough situations and we're trying to continue to evaluate as best we can all the one-offs and the situations out there," Thompson said.

"There will continue to be other programs as the weeks go along ... we hope we can help as many people in these financially troubling times as we can."

Estimate puts hurricane Fiona insured damages at $660 million

Wed, October 19, 2022

An initial estimate by Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. suggests hurricane Fiona caused $660 million in insured damage.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada says the storm was the most costly extreme weather event ever recorded in Atlantic Canada in terms of insured damages based on the estimate provided by CatIQ.

It added that many of those affected by the storm were located in high-risk flood areas and floodplains where residential flood insurance coverage is not available.

As a result, the bureau says the overwhelming majority of costs for the disaster will be borne by government.

The storm made landfall in Nova Scotia on Sept. 24 and ripped through the region, knocking out power to more than 500,000 customers in the Maritimes.

The bureau says the storm also washed at least 20 homes into the ocean.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2022.

The Canadian Press

Another P.E.I. health-care union enraged over selective retention bonuses

Wed, October 19, 2022 

Tracy Robertson is president of IUOE 942, which represents P.E.I workers from sectors like construction and healthcare. (Mary-Helen McLeese/CBC - image credit)

Union leaders came to the P.E.I. legislature Wednesday to discuss scope of practice, but those discussions were overshadowed by the $8 million in bonuses the province announced on Monday for a select group of health-care workers.

On Tuesday, CUPE spoke up for its members who work in health care but will not be offered the bonuses and on Wednesday, it was IUOE with strong words for the government.

"Sorry, I'm getting a little upset here, it was just such a slap in the face, and such disrespect that only nursing would be recognized," said Tracy Robertson, president of IUOE Local 942.

IUOE represents hundreds of health-care workers including lab and X-ray technicians, respiratory therapists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists.

Mary-Helen McLeese/CBC

The provincial government announced the $8 million incentive program Monday, offering thousands of dollars in bonuses if people keep working in the province for one year.

Registered nurses and nurse practitioners will get $3,500 for a one-year return in service agreement. Licensed practical nurses and paramedics will receive $3,000 and residential care workers, home support workers and patient care workers will receive $2,500.

Workers feel 'insulted'

IUOE members are not included in the retention incentive program, and Robertson said workers feel "insulted."

"Lab worked above and beyond, completely excluded. Respiratory therapists, the people who would have looked after you if you had COVID — completely excluded. People who make sure you walk after a stroke, physiotherapists, occupational therapists — completely excluded," she said.

"So, I'd really like to see Premier King and Minister Hudson go back and explain to everybody why their work is not worth [a bonus]."

Michele Beaton, Green Party MLA for Mermaid-Stratford, said she has heard from many IUOE and CUPE members about this issue already.

"I wholeheartedly agree with you, that if we're going to look at retention, we have to look at the entire team," Beaton said.

'Pick and choose' will create 'unease'

Robert Henderson, Liberal MLA for O'Leary-Inverness, agreed and said it will likely be bad for morale.

Mary-Helen McLeese/CBC

"All of a sudden to pick and choose some professions for certain bonuses and certain retention initiatives will obviously create some sense of unease amongst many of these professions," Henderson said.

Union leaders said the government's decision could lead to health-care workers leaving the Island, and said some are already looking for work elsewhere.

"I mean, this would create a lot of toxicity in the workplace — 'You got the bonus, you didn't.'" Robertson said.

Government response

The Department of Health and Wellness said it has reached out to other unions to hear their concerns, and meetings are planned for later this week.

"In developing our most recent workforce stabilization programs, our government began with the areas where human resource needs and vacancies were most pressing," Minister of Health and Wellness Ernie Hudson said in a statement.

"We were very pleased with the programs developed to date and we look forward to meeting with representatives of P.E.I.'s remaining health-care unions in order to hear their concerns and do our best to support them and their members."

Robertson said her members have been without a contract since March, and this is not the way she wanted to kick off contract talks.

Ultimately, opposition MLAs and union leaders both say it will be Islanders who are going to suffer, especially if more health-care workers decide to leave the Island.

IUOE ineligibility for management positions

Robertson said another issue is that her members, including occupational and physiotherapists, cannot apply for management positions within Health P.E.I. She said these positions are only available to registered nurses, which leads to even more RN shortages.

She said this is not the case in other provinces and has asked for changes in P.E.I., with no results yet.

Health P.E.I. said its leadership is aware of this concern and is exploring options to address it.

"While some management positions do require the position holder to be an RN, Health P.E.I. is looking at ways to ensure areas that where nursing expertise is not required are able to filled by professionals from other backgrounds," spokesperson Everton McLean said in an email.

"There are many system-wide concerns that are being worked on, and this is one of them."

LET'S BECOME A REPUBLIC
Quebec opposition party refuses to swear oath to King, reopens constitutional debate

LEFT WING QUEBEC SOLIDARE

Wed, October 19, 2022 



MONTREAL — The debate over Quebec's power to unilaterally change the Canadian Constitution has resurfaced as members of an opposition party refused Wednesday to swear allegiance to King Charles III.

The 11 members of Québec solidaire declared their loyalty to the Quebec people, but they did not swear loyalty to the King, as required by the Constitution.

Describing the oath as "colonial, archaic and out-of-date," Québec solidaire spokesman Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois said after the swearing-in ceremony that he's been told his party's members won't be able to sit in the legislature until they swear the full oath — though they will have access to their offices and funding.

Nadeau-Dubois told reporters he now wants to work with the other parties to find a way for his members to sit when the legislature reconvenes Nov. 29 without having to swear the oath.

"It's our responsibility as parliamentarians to find a way out of this current cul-de-sac," he said.

Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said earlier this week that the three members of his party elected Oct. 3 will also refuse the oath when their turn comes Friday.

Constitutional experts are divided on whether the legislature can allow members to sit without swearing the oath and whether Quebec has the ability to change the oath on its own.

Patrick Taillon, a law professor at Université Laval in Quebec City, said the Constitution is clear that members of all legislatures have an obligation to swear allegiance to the monarch, but that the consequence of not swearing the oath — and whether those members will be able to sit in the national assembly, participate in debates and vote — is up to the legislature itself.

While Taillon acknowledged in an interview that constitutional law experts are not unanimous, he thinks the province could unilaterally change the oath through its power to change elements of the Constitution that affect only Quebec.

In 1968, he noted, Quebec unilaterally eliminated its upper house, a body whose existence and structure was provided for in the Constitution. More recently, Quebec passed language legislation in May changing the Constitution to declare that Quebecers form a nation and that French is the province's only official language.

Taillon said the oath is not a declaration of personal loyalty to King Charles, but rather to what the Crown represents. Replacing the name of the monarch with “our laws and our institutions" would create an oath with essentially the same meaning, he said.

“I think that would be a very minor constitutional change, quite in keeping with the spirit of the Constitution, and I don't see how the courts could overturn it," he said.

But Emmett Macfarlane, a political science professor at the University of Waterloo who studies the Constitution, said he doesn't believe the province's legislature can allow people to sit without swearing the oath.

"It means they are constitutionally ineligible to sit in the legislature," he said in an interview. "The Constitution is quite clear that this particular oath is required."

Macfarlane said that unlike the elimination of the upper house, which applied only to Quebec, the oath is a requirement of the Constitution that applies to all members of provincial legislatures and Parliament.

"It is not a feature of the provincial constitution of Quebec. It is a feature of the federal Constitution and so it's out of reach for the Quebec national assembly to unilaterally change," he said, adding that it would require a constitutional amendment.

While Macfarlane said there's nothing wrong with debating the wording of the oath, it remains part of the Constitution.

"We should be deeply concerned any time the Constitution is flagrantly ignored by elected officials. It's dangerous. It's corrosive to our existence as a democracy," he said.

In Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters it is up to the Quebec legislature to decide how it manages the swearing-in process.

Later in the day, he closed the door to any constitutional change. "I won't speculate on what the national assembly can or cannot do. What I can tell you is that there's not one Quebecer who wants us to reopen the Constitution," he told reporters.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2022.

— With files from Émilie Bergeron in Ottawa.

Jacob Serebrin, The Canadian Press