{"id":326932,"date":"2025-12-05T11:38:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T11:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/326932\/"},"modified":"2025-12-05T11:38:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T11:38:13","slug":"consultations-on-quebecs-controversial-constitution-bill-set-to-begin-thursday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/326932\/","title":{"rendered":"Consultations on Quebec\u2019s controversial constitution bill set to begin Thursday"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Quebec Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette agreed to open the consultations to the general public as a gesture of goodwill, after being criticized for drafting the bill behind closed doors.Jacques Boissinot\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

A draft constitution tabled two months ago by the Quebec government was supposed to be a unifying declaration of Quebecers\u2019 common values, but it has instead been denounced as ill-conceived, divisive and authoritarian. <\/p>\n

Critics say the constitution bill would erode human rights and limit dissent, and could reopen an unnecessary debate on abortion. Some civil society groups are calling for it to be withdrawn outright. <\/p>\n

Wide-ranging consultations on the draft legislation will begin on Thursday and will continue into the new year. Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette agreed to open the consultations to the general public as a gesture of goodwill, after being criticized for drafting the bill behind closed doors. More than 200 individuals and groups are scheduled to appear. <\/p>\n

Still, the Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec majority does not need co-operation from other parties to pass the law. \u201cI\u2019m very pessimistic that there will be anything changed,\u201d said St\u00e9phane Beaulac, a constitutional law professor at Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al. <\/p>\n

The constitution bill is intended to protect Quebec\u2019s distinct identity and culture while boosting the province\u2019s autonomy within Canada. It outlines a set of \u201cfounding principles,\u201d including secularism, equality between men and women, the right to abortion and the status of French as the only common language of Quebec. <\/p>\n

Opinion: Quebec\u2019s proposed constitution may be ludicrous \u2013 but it might still pose a real threat<\/a><\/p>\n

It also spells out a process for the Quebec premier to recommend candidates for Senate and Supreme Court seats, as well as for the lieutenant-governor position, which would be renamed the \u201cofficer of Quebec.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of the loudest criticisms of the bill have focused on a provision that would forbid organizations that receive public funding from using that money to pay for court challenges of laws deemed to protect \u201cthe fundamental characteristics of Quebec.\u201d The move is in part a response to legal challenges of Bill 21, Quebec\u2019s secularism law, which is currently before the Supreme Court of Canada. <\/p>\n

Jolin-Barrette has said such cases must now be financed \u201cin some other way than by using Quebecers\u2019 money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marcel-Olivier Nadeau, president of the Quebec bar association, said the ban would effectively prohibit court challenges. \u201cWhat money are they going to use?\u201d he said. \u201cAttacking those who in the past have expressed opinions contrary to our own, that is quite authoritarian.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a brief submitted to the national assembly, a group representing Quebec universities warned the bill could prevent challenges of laws that threaten academic freedom and could create \u201ca climate of institutional self-censorship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several groups have also raised concerns about the government\u2019s move to enshrine the right to abortion in the new constitution, which they say would give anti-abortion groups an opportunity to challenge the provision in court and try to restrict abortion access.<\/p>\n

Opinion: The rights of Quebeckers aren\u2019t a political plaything<\/a><\/p>\n

In an open letter published Wednesday in Quebec newspaper Le Devoir, more than 400 doctors called on Jolin-Barrette to remove the reference to abortion from the bill. <\/p>\n

\u201cAny law on abortion ultimately becomes a law against abortion,\u201d the letter reads. \u201cWhat was intended as a floor becomes\u2026 a ceiling: a limit to be attacked, restricted \u2013 the dream of the anti-abortion movement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jolin-Barrette told reporters on Wednesday that his goal is to protect the right to abortion, though he suggested he was open to modifying the bill to reassure critics. He said women\u2019s rights have come under attack in Western countries, and he wants to ensure safeguards are in place. <\/p>\n

The legislation also has proponents, including Droits collectifs Qu\u00e9bec, a group that supports Quebecers\u2019 linguistic and constitutional rights. \u201c[The bill] includes numerous and significant legal and constitutional advances for Quebec,\u201d the group said in its brief, adding that there should have been more consultation as it was being drafted. <\/p>\n

Earlier this week, the Quebec chapter of the International Commission of Jurists Canada asked the United Nations to look into the constitution bill, claiming it infringes on universal human rights. In its submission, the group said the legislation places the collective rights of the \u201cQuebec nation\u201d above those of individuals, minorities and Indigenous peoples. <\/p>\n

Beaulac, who heads the Quebec chapter, has sent the submission to 10 different UN special rapporteurs and hopes they may pressure the Quebec government to reconsider the legislation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is illiberalism. It is a slippery slope,\u201d he said, adding that the bill is destined to wind up in court if it becomes law. \u201cWe are going down a rabbit hole.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Quebec Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette agreed to open the consultations to the general…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":326933,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,66,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-326932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-science","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}