Quebec\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
In 2022, Quebec abolished the oath after three Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois members refused to swear allegiance<\/a> 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 \u2014 and potentially the laws they pass \u2014 in doubt.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s faculty of law, filed the application with the Public Interest Litigation Institute, which he founded.<\/p>\n \u201cThe oath is not a personal oath to the King,\u201d he told The Gazette. \u201cIt 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. \u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n