Quebec’s next election could produce an unlawfully constituted National Assembly, a constitutional lawyer has claimed in a lawsuit seeking to restore the mandatory oath of allegiance to the King.
In 2022, Quebec abolished the oath after three Parti Québécois members refused to swear allegiance to King Charles III and were barred from sitting in the legislature. But Lawrence David argues that MNAs who do not take the oath cannot legally sit, putting their votes — and potentially the laws they pass — in doubt.
The lawsuit, obtained by The Gazette, was filed in Quebec Superior Court Monday, less than two months before the Oct. 5 election. David, who teaches at the University of Ottawa’s faculty of law, filed the application with the Public Interest Litigation Institute, which he founded.
“The oath is not a personal oath to the King,” he told The Gazette. “It is an oath to the monarchy as the personification of the Canadian state, of the Canadian constitution, its democratic values and the structure and nature of the government it establishes. ”
As such, the lawsuit seeks to strike down Bill 4, he said, which added a provision to the Constitution Act of 1867, exempting Quebec legislators.
David, also a Montrealer, argues the change affects the role of the Crown and therefore required the unanimous approval of the House of Commons, the Senate and every provincial legislature.
The application also alleges the law violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms by infringing on Quebecers’ right to effective representation and elected politicians’ right to sit in the legislature.
The lawsuit names Quebec’s attorney general Simon Jolin-Barrette as the respondent and Canada’s attorney general, Sean Fraser, as an interested party.
The Gazette reached out to Jolin-Barrette but did not receive a response before publication. A spokesperson for Fraser, who is also the federal justice minister, said it would be inappropriate to comment on a matter before the courts.
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