{"id":526820,"date":"2026-03-10T12:56:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/526820\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:56:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:56:11","slug":"is-the-caqs-controversial-quebec-constitution-really-going-to-happen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/526820\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the CAQ’s controversial Quebec constitution really going to happen?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Quebec Liberal Party\u2019s new leader is asking the Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec (CAQ) government and all parties in the National Assembly to agree to abandon Bill 1<\/a>, the government\u2019s proposed constitution for the province.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe current conditions are not conducive to uniting Quebecers around a project that requires their concrete and profound support,\u201d Charles Milliard said in a letter<\/a> last week addressed to Premier Francois Legault, the other party leaders, and the two people running to replace Legault as CAQ leader.<\/p>\n

The letter comes after a consultation process that many saw as highly flawed, particularly for such a major piece of legislation.<\/p>\n

Louis-Philippe Lampron, a law professor at Universit\u00e9 Laval, is among those who appeared at National Assembly committee hearings into the bill, which ended in February.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, that was a non-consultation process,\u201d Lampron said.<\/p>\n

He agrees with Milliard that the bill is untenable and should be abandoned, and hundreds of other groups<\/a> are saying the same thing.<\/p>\n

That, coupled with the fact that Legault announced he\u2019s stepping down, has many wondering if the CAQ\u2019s project will ever see the light of day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m still scratching my head. Why would a party as low as they are in the polls try to do something like that?\u201d Lampron said.<\/p>\n

\"CloseLiberal Party Leader Charles Milliard is asking other party leaders to agree to scrap Bill 1, saying National Assembly consultations showed that many groups have major concerns. (Sylvain Roy Roussel\/Radio-Canada)Constitution lives on \u2014 with or without Legault<\/p>\n

The CAQ\u2019s constitution plan<\/a> was part of a series of pieces of legislation introduced by Legault last fall as he tried to relaunch<\/a> his unpopular government.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t work, and Legault announced in January he would be stepping down<\/a> as premier.<\/p>\n

But his constitution project lives on, piloted by Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette, who wrote the law and presided over the consultations at the National Assembly.<\/p>\n

From the start, Jolin-Barrette was criticized for drawing up the legislation before holding any formal consultations.<\/p>\n

Laurence Gu\u00e9nette, spokesperson for the Ligue des droits et libert\u00e9s (LDL), a non-profit civil and human rights advocacy group, said that\u2019s not how things are done.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you adopt a constitution? There are standards, international standards,\u201d Gu\u00e9nette said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou should consult people before writing the legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Fran\u00e7oisThe constitution was part of Premier Francois Legault’s effort to revitalize his unpopular government last fall. It didn’t work, and Legault stepped down in January, but the constitution project is still kicking. (Sylvain Roy Roussel\/CBC)<\/p>\n

Jolin-Barrette defended himself, saying he met privately with several groups before drafting the law.<\/p>\n

Among other things, the CAQ\u2019s constitution protects common values of the province, including the French language, secularism, and equality between men and women.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It also forbids any organization or institution that receives public funding from challenging provincial laws in court.<\/p>\n

Tumultuous consultations<\/p>\n

The National Assembly hearings<\/a> on Bill 1 heard about 200 presentations from groups and individuals, in addition to receiving more than 300 written submissions.<\/p>\n

When the consultations began, Jolin-Barrette said he hoped the process would bring people together and build support for the law.<\/p>\n

That hasn\u2019t happened. In fact, the hearings have often been confrontational.<\/p>\n

\"AIndigenous leaders from across the province spoke out against the Quebec government’s proposed constitution at consultations into Bill 1 last month. Manawan Chief Sipi Flamand, right, was denied access to the room because he was carrying an eagle staff. (Sylvain Roy Roussel\/CBC)<\/p>\n

During a tense presentation that got off on the wrong foot when First Nations leaders weren\u2019t allowed<\/a> to bring a ceremonial eagle staff with them into the hearing room, Indigenous leaders called the law colonialist and said the consultation process was woefully inadequate.<\/p>\n

Despite saying he was willing to listen, Jolin-Barrette often sparred with presenters at the hearings.<\/p>\n

When the head of the Quebec English School Boards Association, Joe Ortona, expressed concerns about the law, Jolin-Barrette ignored the concerns and instead interrogated<\/a> Ortona about his personal views on equality between men and women and the supremacy of the French language.<\/p>\n

France-Isabelle Langlois, the head of the francophone arm of Amnesty International Canada, had a similar experience<\/a>, and accused Jolin-Barrette of putting words in her mouth and being a demagogue.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, Jolin-Barrette didn\u2019t listen at all, such as when Christian Lapointe, director of the Carte Blanche theatre company, made a presentation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to signal to people watching and listening that the minister of justice has left the room!\u201d an exasperated Lapointe said during the hearing.<\/p>\n

\"ChristainChristian Lapointe, director of the Carte Blanche theatre company, became exasperated during National Assembly hearings into Bill 1 when he noticed Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette had left the room during his presentation. (National Assembly)<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s staging the whole thing, putting on a show of a consultation,\u201d he said before being cut off by the committee chairman, who said the minister had to leave for \u201cunforeseen reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe consultations were not satisfying for most people who went there,\u201d Gu\u00e9nette said.<\/p>\n

Guillaume Rousseau, a law professor at the University of Sherbrooke who has worked closely with the CAQ and also made a presentation at the hearings supporting Bill 1, disagrees. He told CBC he thought the process was useful.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the consultations were constructive. There were really good presentations, even from those criticizing the bill,\u201d Rousseau said.<\/p>\n

Liberals say it\u2019s enough<\/p>\n

Milliard\u2019s letter to the other party leaders said the rocky consultations show the project should be scrapped.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is already very clear to us that there is no way to bring Quebecers together around this project, in its current form,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Milliard would still like Quebec to have its own constitution, just not this one.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe propose that we present a united front to withdraw the current bill and that all the various political parties represented in the National Assembly commit to establishing a genuine consultative process,\u201d he said in the letter.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Milliard said the only party leader to respond so far is the Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois’s Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.<\/p>\n

Milliard<\/a> and St-Pierre Plamondon<\/a> have posted their correspondence online, publicly jousting about whose constitutional proposals are better.<\/p>\n

Qu\u00e9bec Solidaire and the Conservative Party of Quebec have already said they don\u2019t support Bill 1.<\/p>\n

WATCH | Quebec backtracks on enshrining abortion rights:\"\"<\/p>\n

Quebec backtracks on plans to enshrine abortion rights in proposed constitution<\/p>\n

The justice minister intends to remove Article 29 in the CAQ\u2019s Bill 1. It would have enshrined abortion rights in the province\u2019s proposed constitution. During consultations, groups raised concerns the provision could open the door to legal challenges. <\/p>\n

Jolin-Barrette has insisted the bill will proceed, as have both CAQ leadership candidates \u2013 one of whom will be the next premier \u2013 Christine Fr\u00e9chette and Bernard Drainville.<\/p>\n

In a statement to CBC, the PQ said it would draft its own provisional constitution within a few months of being elected.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe acknowledge that Charles Milliard wants Quebec to adopt its own constitution. This is an admission that Canada’s constitution does not work for Quebec, is not adapted to our reality, and does not serve our interests,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

None of the other party leaders responded to CBC\u2019s request for comment. Neither did Jolin-Barrette, Fr\u00e9chette or Drainville.<\/p>\n

Will it happen?<\/p>\n

Jolin-Barrette has already been forced to change his bill.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Initially it included a proposal to enshrine the right to an abortion in the constitution, despite widespread opposition<\/a> from feminist and pro-choice groups.<\/p>\n

Jolin-Barrette backed down<\/a> after Fr\u00e9chette publicly expressed concerns<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Legault\u2019s departure and the limited time left in this legislative session have cast doubts<\/a> on whether the CAQ will be able to pass the bill.<\/p>\n

Lampron fears if the opposition tries to delay it,<\/a> the CAQ, low in the polls and possibly soon to be routed in an election, might try to invoke closure and ram it through, as it has done with other major pieces of legislation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Quebec Liberal Party\u2019s new leader is asking the Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec (CAQ) government and all parties in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526821,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-526820","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526820","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=526820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}