Oath  to the King: 'No Quebecer wants the Constitution reopened,' says Trudeau

After noting that elected officials in Quebec City are free, if they wish, to pass legislation to remove the oath of office from King Charles III, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is closing the door on any constitutional change.

"I'm not going to speculate on what the National Assembly may or may not do. What I can tell you is that there is no Quebecer who wants the Constitution to be reopened," he said Wednesday before taking part in Question Period in the Commons.

In the morning, he had said that Quebec elected officials are willing to pass a bill on the swearing-in procedures that concern them.

"It must be understood that these oaths are governed by the Assembly and Parliament themselves. The National Assembly has the right to decide how they want to organize their swearing-in process," he argued.

"It takes a bill, but for that, it takes members who sit and vote on bills," he added.

Asked whether he believes Quebec has the power to change the 1867 Constitution by passing such a bill to abolish the oath to the British monarchy, Trudeau did not clearly answer.

Later Wednesday, he argued that debates about the monarchy are far down the list of people's priorities.

"Quebecers, like Canadians, want us to worry about the cost of living, the jobs of the future, climate change and that's what we're going to spend our time on," he said.

Trudeau said his team has 'no intention' of making any changes to the oaths of office that must be taken by members of the House of Commons.

"I'll keep my thoughts to myself," said Gérard Deltell, after recalling that he was once an elected member of the National Assembly.

The Conservatives' Quebec lieutenant, Pierre Paul-Hus, said his party was not keen on the idea of changing the oaths of office at the federal level.

"For the Conservative Party, we are not in a mode of wanting to shake things up. For the moment, we are satisfied with the status quo," he said.

Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet said his party intends to introduce a motion next week to force a parliamentary debate on the issue of a possible abolition of ties to the monarchy.

The issue of the oath of allegiance to the monarchy has recently resurfaced in the National Assembly in Quebec City, as the Parti Québécois and Québec solidaire refuse to go through the exercise to complete their swearing-in.

Québec solidaire spokesperson and re-elected MNA for Gouin, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, sent a letter on Tuesday to the leaders of the other parties represented in the National Assembly with the aim of convening a meeting as soon as possible to resolve the 'impasse.'

Only 'a transparent meeting' will allow to 'get out of the dead end', he insisted in an interview with The Canadian Press.


- With information from Michel Saba, in Ottawa, and Jocelyne Richer, in Quebec City

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